Singing Aloud in Town

Photos courtesy of MWNN (click through for larger versions)

I spent the afternoon of Saturday 9th of October in town, singing.

We began with rehersal in Bancroft Hall (a run-down prefab hut behind the bowls' club) from 12noon until 2pm with a break for sandwiches and tea. I was very unsure of two songs as I'd been away when they'd been taught so was relieved to discover that the bass section was larger than usual thanks to some additional voices from the second group run by our Director.

There were eighteen of us in total, about nine from Singing Aloud (that's me, the little one in red on the right of the photo) and nine from Unity Singers.

We walked into town and set up 'shop' in the doorway of the empty Woolworth's store. The aim of the performance was to gain more recruits, particularly for the Hitchin-based Singing Aloud group.

We ran through our programme Li li li li, Iqude, When there is light,  Nowhere Man, Tender,
Wild Mountain Thyme and
Valerie, and were largely ignored, except for a lovely woman who sat on a bench opposite and gave us a potted plant (pictured, on the ground) after the opening lullaby (Li li li li)

As we began 'Valerie', a group of teenage girls stopped and bopped along. I think they were amazed that a bunch of 'oldies' even knew it let alone could sing it acapella in five part harmony.

By the end of the first run through, people were beginning to take notice. Our 'helpers' distributed leaflets as a member of staff from Thornton's Chocolates handed out free sample to the 'audience'. We ran through the programme again and received some warm applause at the end of each song.

Then it was time for coffee and a sit-down in the warmth of Cafe Nero to plot the next joint-venture. Keep everything crossed for us that we gain more members as a result. Singing in a larger group than we normally do made us all very aware of how much easier it is to really enjoy the singing and appreciate the wonderful harmonies.