Nella Fantasia

Well, as you know the Pinkies performed at the IndigO2 last week. It was quite thrilling for us because we are an amateur choir and don't often get requests to do this kind of gig, in this kind of venue. All in all it was a fantastic opportunity.

I had a number of friends coming along for the show, some of whom had never heard us perform before, and none of whom had ever heard of Gari Glaysher. They were in for a real treat! Gari's repertoire certainly suited those who were more intrested in popular classics, and gentlemanly as ever, between songs he kept the banter going. Unlike other concerts I've been to, Gari is an open-hearted performer and kept the tone quite personal, which certianly worked to his advantage as it established a good rapport between him and the audience. And it helped that he also had ties to each of his guest performers. Apart from us, he also had a pianist, a rather interesting flamenco dancer, a pop singer, guitarist and an operatic soprano. So something for everyone then!

Of course, what people came to hear was Gari's voice, and what a wonderful voice it is too. He managed to fill the IndigO2, which is a cavernous venue to say the least, and there was a warmth and character to it which I had not heard at our rehearsal. Sustaining that level of quality through a two hour concert is no mean feat, and I was impressed that Gari did admirably.

On our part we started gathering form 7pm at the venue. Unfortunately the tube was jammed after work on a Friday and I was running very late. I had organized for some of us to meet in advance for a meal, but by the time I had arrived (with a dozen text and answer phone messages beeping on my poor mobile) the other Pinkies had found each other. We were seated in Pizza Express with a table that seemed to extend every five minutes as more Pink Singers showed up!

What was expecially great was seeing people like Ben R there. It is always heartening to see old Pinkies come along for support. In fact, when it comes to the concerts there is nothing like seeing familiar faces in the audience. The choir is getting larger and larger, and I will admit that getting to know everyone now is a much more arduous task than before, but I think we are still maintaining a sense of cohesiveness which keeps even retired Pinkies coming back.

Our warm-up space backstage was really huge and included a proper dressing room with an attached bathroom/shower. I felt really posh - normally we have nowhere to change apart from the loos, and our rehearsals just prior to the gigs have generally been in more makeshift surroundings. Unfortunately, the run through left me with a false sense of security. When we finally got onto stage and started singing I was shocked to find my voice being swalowed up by the venue, and not only that, I couldn't really hear anyone else either.

Most choirs, but expecially ours, needs some kind of reverberation, if only as a means of feedback so we can tune into each other, and also as a confidence boosting measure. When we can't hear ourselves, much less the rest of the choir, we tend to sing more tentatively, and that reduces our volume. There may have been some problems with our amplification as well because my friends in the audience said they had trouble hearing us over the piano. That said, despite all of the anxiety, I think we did pull it off, and with aplomb. Things can only get better for our concert on the 12th of July.