The always-fun and ever-talented Paleday are having a gig the Sunday after the concert. Most of the Pink Singers will be heading down that way after the post-concert brunch for an evening of cool grooves. The Pink Insider will see you there!
The details:
Sun 14 December, 8pm
Soho Revue Bar
11 Walker Court, Brewer St,
Soho, London W1F 0ED
Tickets £8 from Paleday, or Anthony S of course!
Yup! It is another Paleday gig. The best bit? it is a full 45 minute set, and it is free!
The details:
Paleday @ The More Music Festival
The Scoop
Queens Walk
South Bank
London SE1 2AA
I think everyone knows I'm a big fan of Paleday, Anthony's band. They are really talented songwriters, and Anthony has a great voice and stage presence. Over the last year they've gone from strength to strength, culminating in their official record launch yesterday at the Soho Review bar. Naturally, a few Pinkies went down for a beer and a boogie.
Simon and I got there quite early to find Emelda and Sue had already staked a seat at the front. Part of Paleday's branding is the three coloured bowler hats, white for Anthony, red for Sam and black for Stephen, so it was quite cool that they were giving away spangly plastic ones on each table. So, no, the ruby hat was not part of Celso's original outfit, or a co-ordinated look on the part of the rest of the Pinkies. That said, why isn't Andrew F wearing one?
Paleday produce reliably dance-inducing disco, so it wasn't long before we were all jumping away on the floor. It looked like the band have a sizeable fan base, especially for Stephen, and there was a bunch of terribly trendy younglings in super retro 80s gear celebrating one of their birthdays. Didn't stop us oldies from shaking our groove thang, and I even managed to get Mama and Auntie Stubbs to dance too.
What really surprised me though, was some of Paleday's slower songs. Of course the Pinkies already know Look Up At The Stars quite well, and of course we sang along, but they also performed a new number called Blue Sky which was really very sweet.
Anyway, good luck to them, and I am sure we will be hearing more of them on the airwaves in the future.
I've been manic with work so haven't really had a chance to do a post on our recent concert. That said, here is a video of us in action (or mainly Mladen's bum in action) as we debut Anthony's song "Look Up At The Stars" at the Royal Academy.
Not much movement from us since we were singing backup. In rehearsal and on stage all you can hear is your section's line, so it is pretty amazing to hear it all from the front and what it sounds like when it actually comes together. I think it is really super that we are supporting Anthony, especially since this song is all about his father and Alzheimer's disease. The lyrics and the music (and we) really are beautiful.
Last Sunday Anthony let me have a sneak preview of his latest song for his band Paleday. Fresh off the recording studio, it is a really catchy, lighthearted, summer, driving with the top down kind of song, and I was humming it on the way home from the pub with Simon. You can hear If I Lived On The Moon on their MySpace page.
Anyway, the really good news is that they have finally signed a worldwide publishing deal this week with the lovely Respect Music Limited. Could it be that I now actually know someone famous? Wow!
To go with this good fortune, Paleday have launched a new website, and they also have a new gig planned. If the last gig is anything to go by, this one will be equally fantastic. The Soho Review bar is a really superb venue!
Paleday
live at the Soho Revue Bar
11 Walkers Court, Brewer St,
London, W1F 0ED
Tuesday 1 May, 8pm (onstage 9pm)
Tickets:
£8 on door, but if you contact Paleday on their website specifying your full name, you can request to go on the £5 guest list.
This is my first late night post, but I thought I'd strike while the iron is still hot! I have just got back from Camden where the Pinkies were performing choral backup to Anthony's song Look Up At The Stars. The song itself is very touching and the choral arrangement, by Zara Nunn, really is beautiful. We have been rehearsing it for the last few weeks, but it is quite different when there is a band involved. First of all, I doubt any of us were aware of just how loudly Paleday were going to be amped. I could barely hear myself sing, and to be honest, if we missed a cue here and there no one could have noticed. That said, we weren't centre stage this time; singing backup, and a pop backup at that, was a challenging experience for me at least.
We were supposed to be playing incognito, then spin around at the last minute to surprise the audience. I was slightly worried about how we were to make our way to the stage, but to be honest, we had already staked our places at the front and were boogie-ing away like crazy.
I don't think anyone was surprised when we came in, but I totally enjoyed it, and so too did the audience. At the end when we raised our right arm on the last word "Shine!" I swear one of the guys who was dancing quite vigorously in front of us very nearly hugged Mel. Moving stuff.
I asked Debs along to the show, and she really loved the song, although I think she actually preferred all the disco stuff a lot more - this coming from a woman who lives and breathes U2. We snuck off after the performance for a bit of sushi back near Leicester Square, but in the end had Thai instead.
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Another interesting rehearsal yesterday, with two cool bits.
Firstly, as you know, we are currently going through a season of singing training sessions, and had (yet another) voice coach. This week we had a woman called Sandra. She was confident, colourful and larger-than-life, and quite clearly had had much experience in teaching people how to sing, particularly when working in groups.
We went through through bel canto again, and she made both Andrew F and Arnaldo giggle with her pronunciation of voce di petto. Unlike the previous trainers though, she started with the absolute basics before even allowing us to make a sound. We went through the anatomy of the head, mouth and throat resonators and how they affect tonal quality, and I learned that each note in every singer's range is a continuum of tonal components, made up of where that sound comes from.
Forty minutes of theory later, she made us hum notes in a scale to detect the source of the sound, before we could open our mouths to let the sound come out. What was interesting was that each of us had different experiences of where the sound originated for exactly the same note. At the end of the session I felt a whole lot more aware of how I personally achieve the tonal quality of each note. It remains to be seen, in future sessions, whether what I am doing is right or not. Overall, I thought she was really good, and there is certainly potential for future development.
Secondly, it was the inaugural rehearsal of Anthony's song "Look up at the stars". The story behind it is really touching, and the plan is for his band Paleday to perform it a couple of times before releasing it as a CD for Alzheimer's Research. To give it that extra kick, he has added a choral backing arrangement to swell the second half, and we ran through it yesterday. Despite my initial misgivings, and the inevitable horror as everyone tries to pick up the notes, it actually sounds wonderful. Anthony sang the solo part on the piano, and I had goosebumps it was that good.
It looks like the first live performance will be in Dingwalls, Middle Yard, 8 Camden Lock, NW1 8AB at 8pm on Wednesday, the 28th of March. I'm sure details will be posted on the Pink Singers website soon, but you can also check out Paleday's website for the latest info. Tickets are only £6 in advance and £8 on the door for a brilliant night of music and disco!
Anthony from the tenors has a really talented band called Paleday. He is the lead singer, and they are performing tonight!
I strongly recommend going down to the Soho Revue Bar for 9 p.m. when they go on. They have a really great sound. Pinkies get a discount by getting in touch with Anthony in advance too, so there's no excuse to not have a good night out.
