Three singouts later...

[pensnest]

Three singouts later… I (amazingly) still have a voice.

On Friday evening my quartet, supplemented by a few others from chorus, went to sing at a garden centre café which was serving dinner.

This was something of a first for us. The café is a very fun place, in the usual way, with sofas tucked into little nooks of, basically, a forest with a stream (and gigantic carp—seriously, you could ride them. If you were very small). So we stood on a bridge, behind walls of greenery, and sang to the fish, or meandered about and inflicted ourselves on the diners. Customers ate while we warbled at them, and when they'd eaten, we exhorted them to join in with some general carols and Christmas songs. The Twelve Days of Christmas got quite exuberant, with different lines allocated to different tables (the Five Gold Rings gang did splendidly). Despite the many difficulties of team singing in such a situation, it seemed to go over well.

Saturday night was the Masonic do. Twelve of us wombled over to the Masonic hall and joined in their carol service, in which a selection of Brethren recount silly and largely unoriginal stories and then introduce the next carol. They'd been adamantly against employing a barbershop group, but I think they learned their mistake! I had a great time singing descants to all the carols (even though carols for Ordinary People are pitched a lot higher than we barbershoppers generally sing them). The service preceded their dinner, so we were back at home before nine, which was very nice indeed.

Then at noon today most of the chorus assembled to sing in The Forum as part of a local charity's fund-raising effort. We looked very smart in our new red jackets, and sang, I thought, rather well. At one point, an elderly couple in the audience started dancing (to Rocking Around the Christmas Tree, I think).

Still more singing to come, as my quartet is going to perform to the chorus at our Christmas party on Thursday, so we have practise tomorrow morning; then off to another garden centre singout on Friday.

After which I… probably won't actually stop singing, but it will be very nice to have a bit of a rest.

*

For anyone who hasn't done this before, I recommend it:



I always get behind (maybe we should do them on alternate days) but it's fun, and it's a good place to pick up new people to follow, too.

*

We had lunch out today and then went to see Spiderman: Into the Spider Verse, which I enjoyed very much. As a non-comics-fan I'm sure lots and lots of allusions passed me by, but it worked anyway.

Comments

[sylvaine]

\o/ singing \o/

[pensnest]

Too much singing! Although, perhaps not, as I have been warbling along with my Ladies of Jazz CDs today, in the kitchen.

[turps]

That sounds wonderful, especially the garden centre singing.

[pensnest]

It was quite... odd, but actually good fun. It's nice to be so close to the audience.

[wenchpixie]

oh what a splendid lot of singing! Sounds fabby

[pensnest]

It's a lot of fun while you're doing it, although a bit exhausting!

[turlough]

So much fun singing! The garden centre café sounds particularly entertaining.

[pensnest]

It was a first for everyone involved, I think. The garden centre is lovely!

[frausorge]

Those sound like excellent performances, go you! I'd be afraid of getting distracted if people were eating while I was trying to sing. But otoh perhaps that makes the whole atmosphere more relaxed?

[pensnest]

We started out keeping our distance a bit, and then gradually began wandering round and singing at little groups. It wasn't, hmm, *fantastic* singing, to be fair!

[rikes]

(even though carols for Ordinary People are pitched a lot higher than we barbershoppers generally sing them)

And often end up being way too hight for Ordinary People, especially without any sort of a warmup...

Sounds like you're having fun! Good luck with the Christmas party singing!

[pensnest]

They are very much too high, generally! I must have been very much loosened up by Saturday evening, I dunno how high I sang, but it was a lot higher than usual. Probably an A, I should think.

[ephemera]

That sounds like a wonderfully varied set of performances!

[pensnest]

Yes, indeed - I'm a bit dizzy from it all!

[sperrywink]

Go you, singing demon, you!!

I hope your voice holds out.

[pensnest]

It did! Phew!