A visit to northern parts
Nov. 1st, 2018 10:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pensnestI was away in Harrogate last weekend for the Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers convention.
Had to be at the end of the drive at 6am to be picked up and taken to the coach collection point, urgh, so for the first half of the coach journey I wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders. But there was, inevitably, singing on the coach, and I did manage to sing. We sang at the Robin Hood Services, too, when we eventually stopped there for coffee and egg-and-mushroom muffins.
One of our members is in a quartet that is rather spread across the nation, but they had made it to the semi-finals, and we were in time to get to the convention centre to see their performance in the semis. It was rather nice, it seemed to me, to provide strong chorus support! They made it into the finals, and came eighth overall.
The afternoon was enlivened by the drama of my roommate being locked in the bathroom. I arrived at around 3.30 to actually check in, and she was in there when I got to the room. We had a brief conversation through the door, and then, she tried to get out. Hmm. I did the usual helpful things of trying to open it from the outside, and then rang reception. A woman turned up, did… all the things I had just done, and went away again. A second woman turned up, helpfully bearing a screwdriver, but there being no screws on our side of the door… fortunately it fitted under the door, so entrapped roomie removed the screws on her side and we took the handle off. Still no help. A Man arrived! Well, obviously things were going to yield to the Man and his screwdriver, except that they didn't. It was only when, forty minutes after this nonsense began, they sent up a man with a toolbox, that the lock was persuaded to undo.
There being no available twin room elsewhere in the hotel, we ended up with a room each—a bathroom that is not only un-lockable, but actually has a fist-sized hole in the door, not being conducive to merry room-sharing.
Anyway.
Evening quartet finals, and a show involving the top British men's quartet, last year's LABBS gold medal quartet, and GQ from America, who are incredibly polished and talented.
Our own contest was on Saturday, and we'd been drawn rather late in the proceedings, which meant we didn't get to see many of the other performers, as we had warm-up from 12.30 and then on to the dressing room, photos, final pre-stage practice, and performance. Afterwards there was time to catch the last couple of choruses, and the "mike-coolers", including the White Rosettes—last year's winning chorus, who are magnificent. Check them out on YouTube.
We were at our chorus dinner when we learned that we had scored over 70 for the first time ever, and gone up four places in the rankings. Much rejoicing ensued!
After our very fine dinner, there was another show, this time with a mixed quartet, the top UK men's chorus, and a lot more of GQ—who were amazingly good. Much of what they sang was not, really, barbershop, but it was a showpiece of acappella singing. After singing briefly in the convention centre, amidst the horrendous crush of the 'afterglow', I escaped and went back to the hotel, where not long afterwards my chorus had reconvened in the hotel bar for, heh, more singing. This was mostly appreciated by the other patrons, three of whom asked us to sing Happy Birthday (one recorded it to play to his aged mother). Not too late a night, considering.
Sunday morning I happened into a small group who wanted to go for a walk, so we found a very nice park with some woodland and had an agreeable stroll followed by a coffee, then it was back to the convention centre for the homeward coach. More singing at the service station—these days when something slightly unusual happens, it gets videoed by half a dozen people. I believe it was on YouTube before we got back to Norwich! And very dramatic weather on the journey, with many stubs of rainbow (the clouds were very low) to our left, and a fabulous orange-coloured sky to the right.
Anyway, I'm back, and now plunged into further barbershop-related events such as producing posters for our first Ruby Year event next January. Sigh.
Really, I just want to kick back, finish my knitting, work out how to do *two* Christmas sweaters, as my niblings both seem to think they are getting them for Christmas,and think about my MTYG story. No thinking about MTYG story, because, woe, after ELEVEN FABULOUS YEARS, MTYG is no more.
Bloody good run, say I. Perhaps we could have a memorial re-read sometime, and talk about our favourites?
Had to be at the end of the drive at 6am to be picked up and taken to the coach collection point, urgh, so for the first half of the coach journey I wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders. But there was, inevitably, singing on the coach, and I did manage to sing. We sang at the Robin Hood Services, too, when we eventually stopped there for coffee and egg-and-mushroom muffins.
One of our members is in a quartet that is rather spread across the nation, but they had made it to the semi-finals, and we were in time to get to the convention centre to see their performance in the semis. It was rather nice, it seemed to me, to provide strong chorus support! They made it into the finals, and came eighth overall.
The afternoon was enlivened by the drama of my roommate being locked in the bathroom. I arrived at around 3.30 to actually check in, and she was in there when I got to the room. We had a brief conversation through the door, and then, she tried to get out. Hmm. I did the usual helpful things of trying to open it from the outside, and then rang reception. A woman turned up, did… all the things I had just done, and went away again. A second woman turned up, helpfully bearing a screwdriver, but there being no screws on our side of the door… fortunately it fitted under the door, so entrapped roomie removed the screws on her side and we took the handle off. Still no help. A Man arrived! Well, obviously things were going to yield to the Man and his screwdriver, except that they didn't. It was only when, forty minutes after this nonsense began, they sent up a man with a toolbox, that the lock was persuaded to undo.
There being no available twin room elsewhere in the hotel, we ended up with a room each—a bathroom that is not only un-lockable, but actually has a fist-sized hole in the door, not being conducive to merry room-sharing.
Anyway.
Evening quartet finals, and a show involving the top British men's quartet, last year's LABBS gold medal quartet, and GQ from America, who are incredibly polished and talented.
Our own contest was on Saturday, and we'd been drawn rather late in the proceedings, which meant we didn't get to see many of the other performers, as we had warm-up from 12.30 and then on to the dressing room, photos, final pre-stage practice, and performance. Afterwards there was time to catch the last couple of choruses, and the "mike-coolers", including the White Rosettes—last year's winning chorus, who are magnificent. Check them out on YouTube.
We were at our chorus dinner when we learned that we had scored over 70 for the first time ever, and gone up four places in the rankings. Much rejoicing ensued!
After our very fine dinner, there was another show, this time with a mixed quartet, the top UK men's chorus, and a lot more of GQ—who were amazingly good. Much of what they sang was not, really, barbershop, but it was a showpiece of acappella singing. After singing briefly in the convention centre, amidst the horrendous crush of the 'afterglow', I escaped and went back to the hotel, where not long afterwards my chorus had reconvened in the hotel bar for, heh, more singing. This was mostly appreciated by the other patrons, three of whom asked us to sing Happy Birthday (one recorded it to play to his aged mother). Not too late a night, considering.
Sunday morning I happened into a small group who wanted to go for a walk, so we found a very nice park with some woodland and had an agreeable stroll followed by a coffee, then it was back to the convention centre for the homeward coach. More singing at the service station—these days when something slightly unusual happens, it gets videoed by half a dozen people. I believe it was on YouTube before we got back to Norwich! And very dramatic weather on the journey, with many stubs of rainbow (the clouds were very low) to our left, and a fabulous orange-coloured sky to the right.
Anyway, I'm back, and now plunged into further barbershop-related events such as producing posters for our first Ruby Year event next January. Sigh.
Really, I just want to kick back, finish my knitting, work out how to do *two* Christmas sweaters, as my niblings both seem to think they are getting them for Christmas,
Bloody good run, say I. Perhaps we could have a memorial re-read sometime, and talk about our favourites?
no subject
Date: 2018-11-01 01:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-11-01 01:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-11-02 11:55 am (UTC)I'm doubly-pleased that I participated in MTYG last year and wrote sucha joyous story and had so much fun doing it. Leaving it on a personal high note helps for me.
It will be missed, and I'm glad the site will stay up.
no subject
Date: 2018-11-02 08:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-11-02 06:16 pm (UTC)That's such a shame about MTYG. It was an amazing challenge and you and A did an incredible job taking on and then running it all these years. Like Kimberly, I'm glad I joined last year, so had one last story in me before everything ended.
no subject
Date: 2018-11-02 08:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-11-03 04:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-11-04 09:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-11-05 04:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-11-07 05:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-11-03 07:40 pm (UTC)I'm a little sad to hear that there will be no more MTYGs. But yeah, it was a fabulous run! First SeSa for I don't know how many years and then eleven years of MTYG. Who would have thought popslash to have so much staying power!
no subject
Date: 2018-11-04 09:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-11-05 04:17 pm (UTC)I'd like to have heard you.