March and September Gigs

Well another cracking night was had by all as the Loughborough Male Voice Choir performed for a good sized audience at St. Andrew's Church, Kegworth on Saturday night. But, before I give you all the run-down on that fine evening's entertainment, I'd better bring you up to date on the Caroline Sharpe Singers. I'll spare you the feeble excuses for the delay and just get on with it okay?

Yes indeed, after the triumphant Enchanted Tour of 2012 a return trip to the Norfolk/Cambridgeshire region was always a possibility and a date in March was secured by Caroline for Saturday 31st August. That's March the village as opposed to March the month. Ha-ha! This 'away' gig would naturally necessitate a coach trip and late return but hey, we were up for it! The concert would involve Caroline Sharpe Singers and Enchanted plus the music of a newly formed foursome called Cantabile Brass, comprising Paul, Nick, Emily and Jo.

Waiting for the coach...

So, despite the words of 'Masquerade' stubbornly refusing to adhere to my brain-cells (and I wasn't alone there!) we assembled at Trinity in good time to board the Ausden Clark coach. Now anyone who has watched the hysterically funny sitcom '2012' about the Olympic Games Deliverance Committee, may remember a fantastic episode where the committee were to take a bunch of foreign dignitaries to the Olympic Park, but never quite got there after a farcical coach trip around London. Well, our journey to March took on bizarre similarities to that trip. The route we took I am yet to fully fathom, but there was a point when I felt like shouting out to the driver "whatever you do, don't go through the Dartford Tunnel, cos that would be like, madness"!

But we got there. Eventually! I spotted a Fossil Shop as we drove through March, but was cruelly denied the opportunity to have a 'butchers'. No matter, singing was afoot, and a quick rehearsal, before a pre-gig bite to eat. Between us, the Kings and the Oldales, we had assembled a banquet fit for a multitude. I would estimate there was enough left over to fill twelve baskets at least!

Preparations for the concert were, how shall I put it, interesting? Such was the size of the audience, there was woefully inadequate seating left for us artists, so we had to hastily arrange a few rows of seats along the sides to accommodate us all. 

Caroline Sharpe Singers getting organised 

before the concert in March, Cambs.

On to the concert and it started well with I Will Sing with the Spirit followed by Locus Iste which itself did start well, but the 'dreaded note' got to the tenors again! 'Irreprehensibilisest' began with a quiet horrible clash. I was confident I was hitting the right note, so increased my volume and prayed. Thankfully the whole thing didn't fall apart and Locus rescued itself. Phew!

Enchanted were great yet again performing seven songs in the first half including Hallelujah and my personal fave, Fever. It was nice to see the 'college girls' back in the line-up too! In between the girls songs we were treated to three tunes from Cantabile Brass. The one musician that stood out for me was the Euphonium player. The quality of tone he produced from his instrument was truly breathtaking and I felt compelled to tell him so after the concert. In the second half they rounded off their set with an ambitious rendition of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, which they had only thrown together days before apparently! Well, it was brilliant guys!

Other highlights were Enchanted's Chatanooga Choo Choo and the ol' fave, Oklahoma Medley which was the gals at their best. Then of course there was Masquerade. Strangely, the issue of singing without copies became pretty much academic as we didn't use copies for anything. And it showed in the performances. There's something a bit naff about standing in front of an audience with your folder of music I think. It would've been impossible to read any music anyway as the splendid Masquerade mask prevents spectacle wearing anyway. Despite a few rough edges, Masquerade went pretty well and the soloists did a great job just when they needed to. After a bit of a mess first time in rehearsal, they did great on the night. Special mention must be made of the staggering versatility of my wife Ruth. Standing in for the Alto Masquerade solo in the Sileby gig, this time she took the Soprano solo. Look out Jeff and Terry - you could be next.  Bravo all!

It seemed the audience really loved this concert, with the compere talking about wanting to make it an annual event. I have to say, there really is something special about singing in front of such an enthusiastic and receptive audience. Sometimes an audience can be a bit flat leaving you unsure as to whether they've enjoyed what they've heard. No such doubt with the March audience and it would be a pleasure to return.

The return coach trip was marginally less random than the outward trip and was highlighted by a music-less 'pass-the-parcel' game won by I know not who. There was also a rendition of an alternative Almost Like Being in Tune (love).

Well, I will leave you with that for now and return in a day or two with a round-up of the Male Voice Choir's concert at Kegworth.

Cheers for now,

Alyn

March in August and ladies with large posteriors?

So summer is here and singing takes something of a back seat. Loughborough Male Voice Choir rehearsals are on hold until early September but recent emails from the MD Chris Hill reminds us all to do a bit of work on a few parts in readiness for 'hitting the ground running' when we return as concerts in Kegworth, Trinity MCC and Merthyr Tydfil come thick and fast.

Caroline Sharpe Singers though aren't quite so idle, with regular Saturday morning rehearsals continuing throughout the summer, albeit interrupted by the occasional holiday. A concert in the town of March in the county of (I think) Cambridgeshire is focusing our minds at present and the aim of singing Masquerade without copies seems to have induced a state of panic in one or two.

Admittedly, yours truly needs to get his 'finger out' and learn his lines. As with most pieces this isn't usually too much of a problem when singing in a choir. Solo singing is a different kettle of frogs all together, but in a choir and with a conductor mouthing the words a bit, it will be fine. The trip to March will be great, with the choir plus fans and groupies taking the trip by coach. Should be fun!

With eyes on future gigs, Caroline introduced a new piece at this morning's rehearsal. Arranged by a certain Chris Hill, we are to attempt the Freddie Mercury and Queen classic Fat Bottomed Girls. This requires one or more male singers to take on the main verses as solos. The chorus provided by the rest of the choir seems quite tricky in parts, particularly the tenor part which is higher than the soprano part. Hmm, must have words with Mr Hill! Anyway, I am destined to take on one of the solo verses, probably the first verse which contains those immortal words "left alone with big fat fanny".

Now, I remember a chap called Simon Cowell of X-Factor fame, saying to one deluded fool after attempting to cover a Michael Jackson song, "if you are going to take on an icon, you have GOT to do it well". Whatever you may think of Mr Cowell, he does know what he is talking about. Freddie Mercury is probably the dictionary definition of 'icon', so a great deal of Youtube study of Freddie and videos of this song will inevitably follow. This is no place for Alfie Boe type 'proper'singing, but an opportunity to 'let ones-self go'.

I just hope I have got the nerve for this. It will provide me with the chance to live my fantasy of being a rock star for the day and God willing I won't need to be too intoxicated to achieve it! Next Monday evening's singing lesson with Caroline will include my first stab at FBG and I'll let you know how it goes. 

Cheers for now,

Alyn.

Time to catch up.

This working for a living really does have its drawbacks. Okay, it pays the bills (almost) but it does get in the way of the interesting stuff.

Like keeping this l'il ol' blog up to date. What have I been up to over the last month? Well another splendid Caroline Sharpe Singers concert for a start. Back on Saturday 6th July we presented a great concert at St Mary's Church, Sileby. The choir made its performing debut in Sileby to an embarrassingly tiny audience before Christmas 2011, so fingers were crossed that this time a larger proportion of the population of Sileby would turn up this time. No worries mate - we did indeed have a creditable audience. Sighs of relief!

The concert featured six songs by the choir plus twelve from the new look Enchanted. Additionally there were two sets from our special gust soloist for the evening, Alan Speight. While Alan was new to me he is actually very well known in these parts and has a wonderful baritone voice.

Highlights of the evening for me were definitely Alan Speight's solo spots, in particular his rendition of Linden Lea. Oh how that little song brought back memories for me! Alan's singing was quite beautiful and he is now another singer to add to my list of voices to aspire to. Great stuff and I think it won't be the last time that he is asked to be a guest of Caroline Sharpe Singers. It was funny to hear him say at the interval how he struggles to remember words these days. It gets worse with age apparently, so there's no hope for me then.

Enchanted were excellent again and appear to have suffered no ill-effects of the recent personnel changes. If anything, the sound is more balanced than previously or is that just the beneficial effects of my lovely new hearing aids? However, the biggest highlight, for all the wrong reasons was The Rose, sung heroically by the girls, but featuring a solo bit by Rose Lucas at the beginning and end. Heroically? Well yes, because of a certain embarrassing but unintentional blunder by the oblivious Chris Hill. You see, prior to The Rose, Alan Speight had completed his first set of songs. Chris had adjusted the key of his final piece on the piano from that of the music he had, to a key more suitable one for Alan. Obviously the piano would need to be re-set back to normal afterwards and it was. Well was supposed to have been...

Sadly I was sat behind the girls with the choir, so missed out on the look of sheer blind panic in the eyes of the girls, Livvy particularly, as they realised something was horribly wrong. The Rose commenced, way, WAY too low. To be frank, Bryn Terfel would've struggled to sing this low, but somehow the girls heroically gave a splendid if somewhat butch rendition of this lovely song. If you ever fancy joining the LMVC's baritone section Rose, you'd be very welcome. Ho-ho!

Chris Hill meanwhile blundered on regardless, blissfully unaware of any problem. Live music eh? Don't ya just love it?

The other highlight on the night was Masquerade from Phantom of the Opera. The sight of Jeff Buckley in his mask (see photos below) is something not to be missed. In truth this piece was far from perfect and moves are afoot to get us singing it without copies in future. Let's face it, everything is so much better without copies as the male voice choir has found lately.

We rounded off the evening with the dramatic I Believe which I thought was grrrr-eat! It needs to be the last piece, simply because it takes so much lung power to deliver that I'm good for absolutely nowt after it! A cracking night was had by all I think.

I will leave you with some superb photographs ruthlessly stolen from the Caroline Sharpe Singers Facebook page. Posted by Kate Pemberton, so presumably taken by her 'other half? Nice work mate!

Enjoy!

Will return soon with news of exciting developments for both the LMVC and CSS who both have up-coming 'away fixtures'. Exciting stuff!

Cheers for now, 

Alyn.

 Enchanted's Rose,Alice and Livvy 

 Caroline introduces The Caroline Sharpe Singers as only she can.

 The Caroline Sharpe Singers perform Masquerade.

More Caroline Sharpe Singers performing Masquerade. 

 A typical Caroline Sharpe Singers photo with Chris Higgins, Anna-Ruth and Livvy Thornber

the only ones looking at the musical director!

 The Caroline Sharpe Singers perform at St Mary's Church, Sileby.

 The Lone Ranger and Tonto?

No, it's Jeff Buckley and Terry Jones performing Masquerade.

Enchanted perform Fever.

L-R Holly,Alice, Kate, Amy, Caroline, Livvy, Rose and Anna-Ruth.

No rest for the wicked

Such is the congestion of concert engagements at the moment and the severe lack of spare time to blog about them all I will have to give a fairly brief run through the latest three. Yes, three! With a fixture congestion akin to Bolton Wanderers in the Championship, the Coward household has just been subjected to three away fixtures in six days! Thankfully a bit of squad rotation that Dougie Freedman (who?) would be proud of was possible, in that I played in the first, while Ruth and Amy took to the field for the second. Then I returned to the first team along with the LMVC's on loan secret weapon Anna-Ruth, for the third.

Okay, that's stretched the football analogy well beyond breaking point, so I will explain. 

Sunday 26th May was the date for the Male Voice Choir's now annual tradition of Singing in the Park, under the Bandstand in Queen's Park, Loughborough. In the week prior to this, some of the keen followers of our Facebook page will have seen some strange images of dolls. No not voodoo dolls as Messrs Weston and Booth seemed to think, these were Teru Teru Bozu dolls. I won't waste time explaining all about them now, you can just click here and read for yourself. Suffice to say, no choir member was ritually sacrificed, and the little chaps worked a treat in keeping the rain away for our outdoor gig! In fact, it was the best day's weather yet for our gig in the park, with the beautiful weather guaranteeing a great audience. The highlight for me was Pleasant and Delightful in which I think I gave my best effort yet at my solo third verse! Ruth and Caroline certainly approved and there's no sterner critics than those two!

The Loughborough Male Voice Choir perform for the sun-drenched crowds

at the Bandstand in Queen's Park, Loughborough, on Sunday 26th May 2013.

(Photo by Ruth)

What a great, fun day in the sun it was. Same again next year I hope Mr Hill?

Next it was the turn of Ruth and Amy, who were singing in Caroline's latest venture, Music in Me, a ladies singing group that meet in Woodhouse Eaves every Tuesday. Rather like Caroline Sharpe Singers, this choir has grown from modest beginnings to a good sized group and Friday at the Methodist Church in Woodhouse they performed a concert as part of a preview of an art exhibition and was their second public appearance. It was to feature solos from both my wife Ruth and my step-daughter Amy as well as Gail Morgan too. 

Well, I was well proud of both of them! Amy's powerful rendition of To The Sky was mightily impressive and amazed everyone I think. Slowly but surely Amy is growing in confidence and is showing it in performances. Not that you'll ever hear her admit it though!

And my wife nearly had me in tears! She swore that she would never, ever sing solo, but somehow, the ever persuasive Caroline had successfully twisted her arm to sing the Carpenters song Rainy Days and Mondays. And she was bloody marvellous as my Soundcloud recording proves. I think she genuinely surprised herself at how good she sounded. Well done Mrs Coward! How about November?

And finally, it was my turn again as the Loughborough Male Voice Choir performed a concert at the request of Sileby Methodist Church. Guest soloist for the evening was step-daughter Anna of Enchanted fame. This engagement naturally required a brand new frock - for Anna, not me! Obviously? Anyway, thankfully Ruth was to accompany Anna to town on Saturday morning to search for said frock. Apparently things were getting desperate when the perfect dress was located on Loughborough Market. Stunning it looked too as the photo below shows.

Anna-Ruth Gray prior to the concert at Sileby Methodist Church

(Photo by Ruth)

Nothing quite so glamorous for us chaps, just the usual blazer tie outfit. No bow-tie this time strangely, but what the heck. Again we had the now comic ritual of getting 30 plus men organised on stage in slightly less shambolic fashion than the May 18th gig. No need for Lyndon to blow a gasket this time! One member noticed the lack of Derek. Strange that he hadn't made it we thought until he suddenly emerged, as if by magic, from the toilet! When did he arrive? No-one saw him come through the front door. Spooky!?!

Hey-ho, on with the show. This proved to be a much better balanced show than the concert with Enderby Band, with much less 'clutter'. Just enough of each and a concert of just about the right length. I think one slot each by Lyndon and Mike & Gerry was right, giving our guest  three songs on two slots. 

And Anna did not disappoint. I know I'm a bit biased, but Anna performed with a quality and confidence that belies her young age. Silent Noon, followed by I Could Have Danced All Night were superb. She assures me she was very nervous before she started , but it wasn't evident to the audience. her final song in the second half was What Good would the Moon Be? which was new to many of the LMVC chaps, Paul Blakemore included and was met with quite some acclaim! Well done girl! Methinks it won't be the last time Anna guests for the LMVC - not if I have anything to do with it anyway.

While, I mention Paul Blakemore, perhaps I should mention another of the evening's highlights - the Blakemore arranged Blue Moon. This song continues to feel a bit of a mess when we're singing it, but as Ruth managed to record the entire concert, I could at last listen to what the audience hears. I'm happy to report that it actually sounds pretty damn good. The seemingly disjointed four parts all come together as a rather delightful whole. Nice one Paul!

My final highlight of the night was to see John Culpin join the choir for Gwahoddiad. After years too numerous to mention, John is sadly retiring from the choir and if ever a man is worthy of being awarded a 'life membership' it is this man. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say thanks for everything you've done for the choir.

I'll leave you all with a selection of photo from the concert, while us at Chateau Knightthorpe enjoy a well earned rest. 

See y'll soon!

Cheers, Alyn.

 Anna-Ruth and me definitely NOT eating cake at the interval

(Photo by Ruth)

Loughborough Male Voice Choir at Sileby Methodist Church

(Photo by Ruth) 

 The Shanty Folk aka Ray, Jim H, Chris,Peter, Jon, Gerald, Jim L and Terry.

(Photo by Ruth)

 Another LMVC photo without me on it!

(Photo by Ruth)

 John Culpin joins us for Gwahoddiad

(Photo by Ruth)

 John Culpin receives his Life Membership from Chairman, Chris Higgins.

(Photo by Ruth)

The Loughborough Male Voice Choir, conducted by MD Chris Hill.

Wey-hey, I'm on this one!

(Photo by Ruth)