Blog
Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall
25th October 2011 | Larry
Larry’s lost both his G strings…
25th October 2011 | Juliet
Soup was carrot and ginger with a cinnamon undertone.
After the first bus overnighter Dave had two breakfasts. Full English twice. Top catering.
These classical venues carry a glut of pianos backstage. One in every dressing room it seems.The result is Mark is found plinking the ebony and ivories at any opportunity.… very nice it is too. Let There Be Love (…. a hawk and a dove ), some boogie woogie, and Mozart….and on request As Time Goes By…
The band tried out two new orchestrations for Nottingham…the set is a-changin’.
During the gig Larry had dangling wires whilst having a spar off with David la Page in Why so Close. Yes, Larry was without both his G strings.
Larry paid tribute to John Milne/Paranormalhandy, a big James fan, dedicating Hymn From A Village…which Andy started up in the gods…
After the gig there was a big party at Nice and Sleazy’s chosen by the choir. Tim and Larry danced in the basement fog…
And then it was time to go to Nottingham…It’s an overnighter, again.
Birmingham, Symphony Hall
24th October 2011 | Larry
Unanimous
24th October 2011 | Larry
Chatting to the fans at the back gate afterwards, I get a chance to see what they really thought about the show.
Praise seems to be unanimous, no dissenting voices moaning about the absence of their fave song/hit etc even though that was a fear of some, all were convinced :-)
Birmingham Essential Lobster
24th October 2011 | Juliet
The crew go very early. They kick off at 5am to make the show happen.
American Chris is back. He got a new tattoo in Rio. It’s awesome. It’s Shiva. He is lighting without strobes.
Soup is a spicy cumin lentil one. Saul has instigated hygiene notices by the bread. Please hold the bread with the cloth etc. This does and does not happen..
There is soundcheck and VIPs come in and there are questions…there are answers.
Saul tells the assembled that Waitrose in Crouch End now do Essential Lobster. (Not in reply to any question, just something he thought worth mentioning.)
There are lots of tweaking of arrangements and mini run-throughs going on here and there in multiple dressing rooms somewhere in the backstage maze again…
Two choir girls are singing harmonies with Tim.
And then it’s nearly time to go on…but where are the black shoes?
They are located and the show begins…it’s a long one going way past the 10.30 curfew….
Phil from The Twang called into the aftershow, and Nathan from Frazer King came too…
Cardiff, Wales Millennium Centre
23rd October 2011 | Larry
Never been so fearful
23rd October 2011 | Larry
Never been so fearful before a gig as this one.
Mr. Negative was in full voice, what if they hate it? What if it all goes wrong? What happens if we FAIL?
I’m terrible company and avoid people; then 4 bars into Dream Thrum I settle, the orchestra come in on cue, the ending with choir in full flow takes the roof off the place. Mr. Negative skulks away, I give him the finger as he leaves and I start to beam, this fekkin WORKS!!!!!!!
Was it all going to come together on the opening night?
23rd October 2011 | Juliet
We got to Cardiff on Sunday after a two day stint holed up in hotel somewhere and long disciplined days of rehearsals with choir and orchestra.
Was it all going to come together on the opening night?
Luckily Yates Wine Lodge in Cardiff had Sky Sports and was showing the City United match. The score made Jim very happy.
The venue was very beautiful, modern and grandly architected.
Classical concert halls are backstage mazes, it’s possible to go round and round in circles looking for where you want to go despite endless signage. Endless doors, floors and corridors, and genteel people to point you in the right direction.
There was a lot of concentration in the afternoon and lots of discussion about set lists which kind of have to be a bit less random on the night with so many people needing to know what’s on…
Despite the set list being fixed there were three set lists on stage, creating a minor lilt on what came next.
Tim did his walkabout thing during Fred Astaire…the crowd were standing at the front and it started to feel like a normal gig. Big blokes making their bodies into X’s, arms up and out, standing solid giving it some welly.
Tim danced a duet of sorts with his Five Rhythms dance pal from Wales.
And after the show smiley Neil from the old days wanted to know what the soup was. It was sweet corn chowder (wheat and dairy free).
Rehearsals, Redditch
21st October 2011 | Larry
Summertime catch-up
19th October 2011 | Larry
Many apologies for the photo blog omissions over the summer but a nice burglar borrowed my camera and my two laptops and never returned them :-(
Most of my photos were backed up elsewhere but a few (Hyde Park/Madeira etc) slipped through the net. I have sourced a replacement camera on eBay now (the replacement or ‘upgrade’?? as it was sold to me was a frustrating disappointment, hey ho) so all is good.
Next stop: all things orchestral, see you soon.
Larry x
