Christmas Comes Early

I am not a particularly religious person - I approach most belief systems from a utilitarian perspective - but I do love the Christmas season, mainly for the opportunity to stuff yourself silly with mince pies and pudding, and the chance to sing jolly Christmas carols. However, much as I enjoy this time of the year, I also think that the way an end-of-December event starts to creep into the middle of November is a worrying trend.

So it was with a little sigh that I found out we were due to sing Away In A Manger and other Christmas Carols in Victoria Station two Saturdays ago. Then again, the Pink Singers have a tradition of carolling at this time of the year (even if we've not done it so early before) and we also always perform for charity. This time it was for Marie Curie Cancer Care, so the motivation was good. Carolling in mid-November is more a reflection on how charities function in this holiday period, especially in a year when pockets are tight and charity fatigue sets in early.

A bunch of about twenty of us, accompanied by Cilla on guitar, ran through our song sheet of six carols. As last year, the music starts off in unison, and as the cycle progresses, the harmonies become more and more complex as ther various Pinkies improvise their own line. By the time we got to the end of a two hour stint we were back to singing like a regular choir again! Michael De's sleigh bells certainly helped add a touch of Christmas cheer to the proceedings.

Of course, with the Manchester competition looming it was also a chance for us to perform a few of our competition pieces to the unsuspecting public. The irony of singing Now Is The Month Of Maying on the freezing wind-swept Victoria train station concourse was not lost on the audience, and they seemed to appreciate it all the more.

Do we make a difference? I think we do: an informal chat with the collectors suggested that when we are around they tend to collect up to three times as much as if they were standing there jangling their buckets alone. If that is true, then Christmas in November is entirely justified, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

Edit: Bonus! Check out Oskar's photos of us in Victoria Station!

Glamour Shot?

From this week's QX magazine. Guess who was considered hot enough to make it into the photos?

With WAD on December 1st, it was always going to be a week packed full of charity fundraising nights, but rather than boring, dry, dull-as-dish-water affairs, we usually find they are stacked with fun, frolics and dragtastic performances designed to lovingly coax the pennies and pounds from our pockets rather than extract them by guilt! ‘Speaking Out for Ourselves’ (an HIV positive support group in Haringey) and ‘Positive Rainbow’ (a group of positive gay men working in north London) organised a joint fundraiser at Catch 22, a cute, small local boozer in Turnpike Lane, complete with a full complement of Pink Singers who ran through a set of traditional, as well as more modern numbers, that will form part of their huge forthcoming show at the Royal Academy of Music (Dec 13th). The evening was hosted by the inimitable W.O.H, Sandra who spiced it up with close-tothe-
knuckle comedy and songs, as well as drag terrorist Miss Rose Garden and the lovely Mrs Moore in one of Rose’s cast offs! With food and drink served by friendly (and hot … Lewis … mmmmm!) bar staff, it was one charity event that was a joy to be at.

Ding Dong Merrily On High!

I thought I was sick of carols on Monday, but then the Pinkies did another carolling gig, this time on behalf of Marie Curie Cancer Care at Victoria Station last night. Then I realised I didn't truly know what 'sick' was. Let me first of all say that I am thankful that I do not have to take public transport to go to work since I cycle most places. The crush getting from home to the station was not a pleasant one, and not one I wish to experience again. On the flip side, however, it did mean that there were more people to see us sing.

In fact, I'm not sure we could have had a more different venue if we tried. First of all there was a constant stream of people walking from the underground to the train platforms. There was talking, announcements over the tannoy and flashing advertisements around us, so it was entirely different from the near empty streets of Soho last night. We could barely hear ourselves sing it was so noisy.

As events go, however, I think this time round was more successful because many more people stopped to listen and donate a bit of cash. After having spent most of yesterday's carolling trying to find harmonies for the six carols in our set, I was also more confident of singing out. In numbers we were fewer, but in music we were stronger.

When I was a tourist in London at Christmas many years ago I remember seeing a group of carollers performing outside Penhaligon's in Covent Garden. It was such a wonderfully twee scene, just thinking about it makes me feel all warm and mushy inside. So it is pretty wonderful to be view things from the other side, and even more so knowing that we are doing our bit for charity, and having a good time at that!

Fa La La La La La La La La!

Is it possible to be sick of Christmas Carols? Until Monday evening, I thought this was a physical impossibility. This was, of course, before I had sung all six verses of The Holly And The Ivy six or seven times in one night, as part of the Pinkies small group. As part of our annual tradition, a bunch of us from the choir volunteers their time to carol for good causes, and Monday night's event was in aid of Crusaid for World AIDS Day.

It was a freezing night, and an intrepid bunch of Pink Singers gathered on the corner of Berwick and Broadwick Street to sing a few songs. We were joined by bucket carrying fund-raisers from Crusaid and a trio of drag queens who looked fabulous darling! It was a rather incongruous bunch, but made rather Christmassy by Michael De's conical hat (concealing a fleece beanie underneath), his sleigh bells, and a tiny Christmas tree. Hey, at least we could rock around it!

It turned out that our start location had perhaps less footfall than anticipated, and so we migrated over to Old Compton Street where there was marginally more traffic. I can't actually remember having been in Soho on a Monday night before, so didn't really know who or what to expect on the street. As it turned out there were commuters rushing home, a few drunken women staggering home from an office party, some tourists, an Italian waiter in his Fonz black leather jacket, quite a few cute gay men and the resident homeless man.

Most of them looked on with incredulity as we stood in the freezing cold, but the majority were quite supportive and stopped for a while to watch us perform before making a donation. The homeless gentleman even came up to us clutching a chopstick and led us with a bit of impromptou conducting. He got a bit too near to Cilla's guitar for comfort but stepped back when she said a stern 'no' to him and shook her head disapprovingly.

We had a short 15 minute break before regrouping for the final half hour at about 9pm. By then the slight drizzle was turning into quite significant rainfall, and the streets were clearing. Michael gave us the chance to call it quits, but as Janet said, only the Pink Singers are crazy enough to say, oh let's just sing a couple of songs and see whether the rain will stop. After a burst of Hark the Herald Angels Sing it actually did, and we closed the evening with our first public performance of Rockin' 'round the Christmas Tree. Thank goodness for Michael's little prop!

Catch-22, Sandra And The Pinkies

Every year, for the last four years, the Pink Singers have been performing a gig in aid of Positive Rainbow, a local charity which provides support for people with AIDS in Haringey and beyond. Every year, the experience is slightly different. A couple of years ago we were in the public library, last year it was in a pub in Tottenham Hale which I hear is now closed down, and this time it was at Catch-22 at Turnpike Lane. Most AIDS charities are having problems with funding, and Positive Rainbow is no exception, so the fact that they are still in existence is a real testament to the people who work in it, providing outreach services and social events to the community.

This gig, which was arranged in conjunction with the upcoming World AIDS Day, was a chance for us to lend our support. Sure, it isn’t the most well organized, the show ran late by about an hour, and at one point last night we were standing in a cold corridor for about half of that, but that really wasn’t the point. We had a really good mix of mostly old Pinkies, together with a very enthusiastic newbie, Chris, who had learned all the words and music to the songs, and several newbies like Gareth and Naomi who came along for the support. In fact, the choir formed at least half the audience in the pub.

After the obligatory one minute’s silence, Sandra, the drag queen and hostess extraordinaire, opened the show with her usual banter, and a wonderful version of I Will Survive. Then it was our turn to go on. Performing in pubs is quite different from performing in, say, a hall or function room. Because of the more informal setup people are under no obligation to pay attention, and there is usually chatter going on in the background. This was certainly the case at last years’ gig. This time round, however, I was really pleased to notice that when we started singing the audience really shut up, and people even stopped ordering drinks at the bar so the bar staff could watch us in action.

We sang well, if a bit too loudly and uncontrolled for my taste, but what impressed me the most was when the music stopped suddenly in the middle of Forever Motown. For a moment there was slight panic, but then Sally Ann kept on clapping the rhythm, and the Pinkies, much to my amazement picked up the song a capella. Eventually the synthesizer was fixed and Michael came back in, but I was so proud of what consummate professionals we are.

Having The Time Of Your Life

Getting up at 6.30am for a 7.30am meeting at Victoria Station is not my idea of a good time. Add to that the fact that it was an absolutely freezing morning, and we were going to be singing songs from the Mamma Mia soundtrack to grumpy morning commuters, and I had very good reasons for not wanting to get up at all. But drag myself out of bed I did, and thank goodness I did, because it was really, really fun!

The setup was really simple. Six of the Pink Singers, Tanya, Nathalina, Susan, Johnathon, Liang and I, with Mark and Warren in supportive attendance, would stand on the station concourse, serenading passengers with ABBA songs to a CD backing track coming out of one of those mini-component systems. We were all wearing specially designed Mama Mia T-shirts in navy with silver glittery lettering. In fact, for once we were given options as to the size of the T-shirts – I’m used to wearing T-shirts at least 2 sizes too big – but this was negated by the fact that the sizing, especially for the women was (for once!) too small. Seeing Susan squeeze into the medium T-shirt made me cringe in sympathy. The girls from the publicity company who were handing out the flyers obviously had the right idea. They all ordered male XXL shirts and wore two fleeces under them. They did look a lot like Michelin men, but at least they were warm! With our snug but chic T-shirts there wasn’t really much room for much else, and pretty soon the blood supply my extremities started shutting down.

So what else was there to do but dance to keep warm? I must say that I am one of the more reserved of the Pink Singers, but restraint is impossible in the company of people like Liang, Johnathon and Nathalina, all of whom seemed not only to know ABBA’s music off by heart, they also knew the slight variations to the music as found on the film soundtrack, could sing counter melodies and, get this, had a few dance moves to go along with it as well! The mood really was infectious, and pretty soon not only was I singing and dancing along with gusto, so too were several commuters. We had several people come up to us and take pictures with their cameras, including a woman who seemed to think we were so good she had to video us with her phone for a good three or four songs.

In the end it was a very entertaining couple of hours, we had a good time, and also helped to raise funds for the choir. Hooray!

A Busy Weekend - Saturday

Damn! I just typed out a whole blog post using this new Live Writer tool from Microsoft, and just as I was about to upload it, the whole thing got deleted! What follows is my frustrated abbreviated version, and please don't say that this should happen more often!

This weekend was the start of a lot of things, and I am now more tired coming out this end than I was going in. Saturday morning saw the Various Voices volunteer rally, basically a way for members of the choirs to get involved. I was doing a promotional spiel for the Frontrunners, so had to go there at 10am, give my talk, then rush back for the actual presentation at the Southbank Centre at 11am.

As I was a floater (a.k.a. odd job labourer) I started out with Roger (from Diversity) and Regis (from LGMC) at the welcome desk, before taking on my now-traditional role as photographer. I'll leave the actual description of the event to Hsien (what a great writer!) on the Team London blog, but will add that we had about 40 members show up, pretty good for a Saturday morning, and a good start.

There was hardly any time to breathe after that as the next event was at the Royal Albert Hall. Under the auspices of Sing London and with a chance to promote Various Voices we were going due to be part of a flash mob. Yes, I was thinking the same thing, what? The idea was that we were to infiltrate the queues at the last night of the Proms, start singing spontaneously, and get people to sing along as well.  As it turns out, the Union Jack clad members of the public were highly territorial and we decided it best not to risk assault by jumping the queue, even in pretence, and got together by the statue on the south side of the Hall.

The rehearsal prior to this was held at the Royal College of Music and led by the MDs of Diversity (singing) and LGMC (on the piano), and when we finally emerged into the sunlight we were raring to go. I've never seen so many weirdos (in the kindest possible sense) and I think they probably thought the same of us when we started with Take A Chance On Me. But the people around us gamely joined in, and by the time we got to Jerusalem the crowd was singing along with gusto, tongue firmly planted in cheek or not.

All too soon it was over. The audience wanted more, and we certainly could have sung a few more songs, but the time we were allocated was limited. There was, however, ample opportunity for the Pink Singers to be interviewed on camera by a member of Sing London, so keep an eye out for it on their website. Hooray for our fifteen seconds of internet fame.

After that it was off to the Poland club where Diversity bought us all a round of drinks. Thanks a bunch guys and gals! people often make out that there is competition between our three choirs, but the reality is that we all get along very well, and have such different niches that we really don't overlap much at all. It takes events like this to foster a closer relationship between us though, and I'm glad we were part of it.

Football And The Pink Singers

At first glance, it really doesn't seem all that likely that a sport like football has anything to do with the Pinkies. I mean, sport, what is that? Indeed, as part of the build up to Various Voices 2009, the original plan was for all three main LGBT choirs in London to put together a joint team to actually compete in the International Gay and Lesbian Football Association World Championship 2008, held here in London this last week. To be honest, even with a combined total of nearly 300 members we couldn't find a group of ten willing to kick a ball around the pitch. That said, even if we didn't compete, we were invited to perform for their closing ceremony on Saturday, and took it as a great opportunity to promote both the Pink Singers and Various Voices at the same time.

I realise that in the last five years or so, the area under the arches the rail bridge at Vauxhall has become quite the gay mecca of south London, but this was my first actual excursion there, and I was really amazed at how much the area has developed. We were performing at a club called Area which at first glance looked quite small, but held two or three cavernous extensions, including several bar areas and a large dance floor. We were all especially impressed with the disco lighting system on the ceiling - a series of bright LEDs arranged in a grid which could produce more hallucinogenic patterns than a Pokémon cartoon. I want one for my living room!

Sadly, the room in which we were supposed to warm up was not quite so brightly lit. In fact, there was hardly any lighting at all apart from a few tiny red and blue bulbs dotted in the corners. Thankfully David retrieved a torch from his car which allowed Michael De to see the sheet music. The real worry was that there was no general lighting to speak of in that area, which makes you wonder what exactly they use that room for normally, and for hygeine freaks like me, how often they clean and/or inspect the surfaces...

Saturday was one of those really hot days (possibly the last of the summer) which meant it was perfect for a party. The football teams were clearly in a good mood, and I have to say that there were more than a few good looking guys there. The ladies had a somewhat more limited selection, but the winning girls team was there in force. Everyone congregated outside in a marquee on the pavement to enjoy the evening breeze and hear both cheesy 80s pop and the trains rumbling by.

The Pinkies were called in just before eight to get ready, which meant that for a surreal five minutes we had the dance floor to ourselves. The music was blasting a very dance-worthy Boogie Wonderland and we all took the opportunity to shake our stuff. It was all very strange, and the few onlookers must have thought we were mad, but it was all great fun, and just goes to show that we don't really even need an audience to have a great time!

As for the gig itself, we were buoyed by the incredible support of the crowd. Sure, there were loads of people chattering away, but by and large they did listen to us. We had to sing at a volume somewhat louder than normal, but subtely would have been lost in the venue, and appropriately all our pieces ended up sounding just a little like football songs anyway! We performed just over 20 minutes, kicking off with Your Song, following with Love Song For A Vampire and Forever Motown before ending with Come What May. By the end we had the audience singing along with us!

The whole choir was really relaxed in the performance, in the main I think because we have, by now, performed the set so many times before. We also fed off the great vibe from the audience, and the Pinkies who were there that evening are also perhaps the ones who are most disinhibited in the whole choir. They are therefore also the ones who respond the most exuberently to each other and the crowd. It also helped that we had some of the best voices from each section there, and with just fifteen of us on stage the sections could actually tune to each other, so musically it just sounded really tight. I often view these small group gigs with some trepidation, with some justificaiton as past experience shows, but this was a particularly good one. We had a good time, and I am sure the audience did too!

Islington LGBT History Month 2008

Another year, another LGBT History Month. The Pink Singers small group has semi-religiously been a supporter of the celebrations, and this year Charlie has booked us into the commemorative events over in Islington Council. This year's theme is 'Claiming our Past, Celebrating our Present and Creating our Future', and the council's laudable aims are to create an environment where 'LGBT people are seen as positive role models for young people and can live free from hostility and prejudice'. This is broadly in line with the aims of the Pink Singers, even if we haven't really asked to be role models and our celebrating all things LGBT is a somewhat inadvertant side effect of our singing.

Anyway, we'll be performing a few songs from our winter concert including Come What May, Hymne A L'Amour and Abba Pink. So come on down and see us strut our stuff this Friday night at Islington Town Hall. Details are over on the Pink Singers website.

Ring Out The Old, Ring In The New

The end of the year is such a busy season, with the celebrations of Christmas and New Year tripping over each other. Traditionally for me, Christmas was about family and New Year's was about friends, but since my exile both occasions are a great excuse to get together with mates for feasting and general merry-making. Family is so very far away, but the magic of broadband and internet phone calls means I can still listen to my parents rant on for hours on end, but with the advantage of being dressed in my pyjamas while folding and putting away the laundry. Multitasking for you!

My other extended family is, of course, the Pink Singers and although we have officially 'broken up' for the holidays, I have continued to see the likes of Mladen, Paul, Michael and Liang for a variety of different reasons. We even had a small group performance on the 28th at the commitment ceremony of Rebecca and Fiona, two former members of the Pinkies. Mutual recognition only occurred between the couple and Philip R and Michael, both of whom have been in the choir longer than anyone else, but there was warmth and affection for all from the shared experience of being in the Pink Singers. "Edifying" is perhaps overstating the relationship between old and current Pinkies a little, but singing Happy Together and Hand In Hand with Fiona and Rebecca joining in certainly gave me a fuzzy feeling inside!

Looking back on the 2007 we've had our usual run of concerts, U.K. and international performances, Prides and small group gigs. Every year is different though, and this year my highlights have included events outside our official calendar like Lynne and Annie's and Nathalina and Jackie's weddings, watching Something Fishy's debut at Bar Wotever and their runaway success at our summer concert, and boogie-ing down at the Soho Revue bar and Dingwalls with "I can't dance by myself!" Paleday.

Best of all is the old friendships which have been strengthened, the faded friendships with returning Pinkies which have been renewed, and the new friendships with the newbies which have been formed. Life is a tangled skein, and the Pinkies are a microcosm of that. 2008 brings the 25th birthday of the Pink Singers, and the first birthday of In The Pink(ies). Here's looking forward to even more memories!

P.S. It is New Year's Day! I am allowed a little soppiness!

Of Rowdiness And Reflection

I really enjoy singing with the Pinkies, and performing gives me a buzz I get excited about. But last night's gig with the small group was tempered by the knowledge that it was for World AIDS day. As has become near traditional now, we were supporting Positive Rainbow, a wonderful group providing assistance for people with AIDS in north London. Every year the story is the same though: government funding is steadily being cut for organizations just like this.

On the one hand, the battle against AIDS appears to be turning the tide. Sitting on the Victoria line on the way up to the White Hart pub where we performed, I read an article on the epidemic in the Economist which argues that since people are living longer with AIDS, and the overall number of people with AIDS has actually decreased, the epidemic has peaked. I am hoping against hope that this is the case, and I can see why the government has made AIDS less of a priority as a result, but the numbers mean nothing to an individual with the disease, or groups like Positive Rainbow on the front line.

That said, spirits were high last night, and I arrived at the pub to find some Pink Singers already helping themselves to the odd pint, while others were busy changing into the informal concert gear in the pub's kitchen. I've done a number of gigs with the small group before, but even so, swapping shirts next to the pickled onions was a new experience. The other novelty was actually seeing how big the small group was. Past gigs have had in the region of eight to twelve members, so it was a bit of a surprise to see so many.

The swollen numbers were due in no small part to the newbies, especially Charlotte, Amy, Kate, Gill P, Celso, Charles, Colm, Joey and Ben (I hope I've not forgotten anyone). They very gamely decided to come along and perform for the first time with the oldies, and were much appreciated. It certainly can't have been easy since they had to cope with the lyrics and music, and performing. I guess a bit of practice before Paris is always handy!

We belted all three songs as planned: You'll Never Walk Alone, Come What May and Abba Pink. Of the three I thought that Abba went down the best, although it was hard to tell from the relatively stoic faces of the audience. Performance-wise I thought Come What May was the best, the other two having a couple of missed entries, noticeable, hopefully, only to members of the choir.

Thankfully, we weren't the only performers that evening. There were a couple of drag acts as well which we got to see after our stint. The first artiste was incredibly funny, but really pushed very close to the line and occasionally crossed over into the non-PC territory. Even I wasn't spared her sharp wit, but I did enjoy her act very much.

Having some time to grab a drink and munch on party snacks also gave me a chance to chat with James M. He was telling me that despite having a really tough day, he was looking forward to this evening, just as a chance to unwind and sing a couple of songs. I couldn't agree more - there is nothing like getting together with friends, and the Pink Singers, because of our numbers, tend to bring our own party along with us. Love it!

World AIDS Day

As you are no doubt aware, World AIDS Day this year is on the 1st of December. As is now traditional for us, we will be helping to support Positive Rainbow and the good work they do in North London by giving a little performance at their annual party tomorrow. If you are interested in coming along, the good news is that it is free, and we will be singing two or three numbers from this season's repertoire, at the moment they are ABBA Pink and You'll Never Walk Alone, although if pressed we can pull Come What May out of the bag. The even better news is that the "small" group is much larger than in previous years, and we actually have basses this time, so Johnathon won't have to do double duty. Anyway, here are the details:

7.30 pm
28 November 2007
Positive Rainbow
White Hart pub
51 The Hale
Tottenham Hale
London, N17 9JZ

See you there!

Wedding Bell Goes Ding! Ding! Ding!

What an absolutely fantastic evening I had last night. It was Annie and Lynne's civil partnership, and for me at least, the highlight of this season. It is a major logistical issue to plan an organize a wedding, let alone invite along virtually the entire current choir, plus a number of dormant Pinkies, but they both pulled it off with panache.

We obviously couldn't show up without belting out a couple - and the small group put together a stage performance of Fields Of Gold, When You Tell Me That You Love Me and When I Fall In Love. The last was to be a surprise for Lynne and Annie, and Michael had worked hard to make the rehearsal tracks available beforehand. Tanya even sorted out an extra rehearsal. But even in warm-up in the mezzanine room, there was something decidedly ropey about it. Of course, being the Pinkies, the actual performance came together beautifully. I felt a pricking behind my eyes, and it moved a number of people in the audience to tears.

Then there was all the spontaneous singing on the dance floor. It reminded me of our trip to Copenhagen - if only they could have slipped Tragedy in there (even if it is a little inappropriate) it would have been identical. We rounded off the evening with a four-part harmony rendition of Angels, and I even got to dance a cheeky waltz with one of the caterers!

Thanks Annie and Lynne for letting us be a part of your wonderful day - I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and I am sure that all the Pinkies did too. I really love that we could share in your happiness, and have a whale of a time!

Out In Hornsey Vale

A particularly keen group of Pinkies are rehearsing like mad for Annie and Lynne's civil partnership this Friday. Tanya, thankfully, organized a venue for us to rehearse - at the Hornsey Vale Community Center. So last night after work a bunch of us gathered to run through the music.

It was an intimate venue, and Michael set himself up at one end of the room with his Yamaha. There were a few too many sensitive buttons because every now and then the keyboard would switch from piano to violin, or play a quick rhumba. Perhaps it knew something we didn't?