It's That Motown Groove

Sunday was choreography day and we spent the entire first half of the rehearsal shakin' our booties. Of course, this being the Pinkies, some of us shake much more vigorously than others, but I do think that after years of adding a little movement to our songs we are getting more experienced at it.

We've embellished our moves from a fortnight ago and I have to say that Forever Motown is looking a million times better, although I will also say that since this is our first time, I know that in future performances it will just get more elaborate as people relax into the song.

We're also jazzing things up for America and Son Of A Preacher Man. But you won't see any of these moves on the Pride stage because it's too small. So come to the concert and see us perform in our full glory why don't you?

'Tis The Season To Be Jolly

Well, if by 'jolly' you really mean 'gay'. No, it isn't Christmas, it is the height of summer and the time for all things Pride related. The real biggie of course is the London Pride march and rally this Saturday. As usual the Pink Singers wll be on stage and we are performing just after 3pm. It is interesting that we will be sharing the same stage as Boris - he who hath quoth negative things about our community in the past - but stranger things have happened, and perhaps a sudden realization, and political expediency, have caused this fundamental shift. Sufficeth to say that at least the leopard has changed his spots.

We're doing just two songs this Saturday - Son Of A Preacher Man and Forever Motown, a medley of Motown Classics. They are fun, and upbeat, and should go down well with the crowd. I am not overtly political, and am convinced that to a certain extent we have moved on from the gay dark ages just a decade ago, but part of me does wonder whether we could be doing something a little less frothy and a little more meaningful. Then again, I guess the crowds in Trafalgar Square are showing a sense of solidarity, something that is much needed in a time when parts of the Church of England are breaking away (in all but name) based on the "gay agenda". I mean really, if all the so-called gay agenda means is seeking equality then sign me up!

The other Pride event I'm taking part in is the London Pride Run which happens on Saturday the 16th of August. Since joining the Frontrunners about 6 months ago (see previous posts) I have actually felt the health benefits of going for my bi- or tri-weekly jogs. In fact, this is a good chance to combine my love of the Pink Singers with my love of the Frontrunner - I'm trying to get a team together for the run. Thankfully this is made slightly easier by the fact that this is not a sponsored run (no canvassing required) and all the monies raised goes to Stonewall. Wow, I'm feeling leaner and more virtuous already!

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.

I Can Dance By Myself!

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

Wed 16 July, 6pm (show starts 6.30pm sharp!)

A Gay Onion

This is just a quick post to direct you to the Onion, a great spoof news magazine website which I always find hilarious. What's even better is that in celebration of Gay Pride (not sure which city, but since the Onion is based out of New York, I'm presuming it is from there) the entire magazine has gone rainbow coloured.

Check out some of the headlines like:

Gay Couple Feels Pressured To Marry

Dance-Club Bathroom Left Out Of Gay Couple's Meeting Story

Gay Couple Has Banal Sex

Newly Out Gay Man Overdoing It

Why Do All These Homosexuals Keep Sucking My Cock?

Congratulations to George Takei And Brad Altman

You go George and Brad! When asked what he said when Brad asked 'Sulu' to marry him, George said, "Darn it, you beat me to it!" LOL, that's so sweet!

Heinz Deli Mayo Advert

I don't eat this kind of ultra processed food (I eat other kinds of ultra processed food instead!) but the advert is very clever, and very gay!

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

For me choreography is the biggest mountain to climb in the run up to the concert. Yes, it was shake-your-booty time yesterday, and the Pinkies explored the moves to Forever Motown. By now we have a particular way of doing things: as we sing the song we have ideas of what we'd like to do, and it really is the role of the choreographer to take it and expand it. Usually, this translates to something which we can never achieve (or at least the two left-footed Pink Insider can never achieve) and after a few revisions it gets dumbed down to something accessible to all.

We had a new choreographer this time round, and perhaps she was advised to keep things very simple because the moves were (to put it mildly) very rudimentary. Some of the moves were quite fun - like swapping between the sopranos and altos, and the tenors and basses - and I also generally liked snap-fingers-chassée bit at the start, but most of the sequences consisted of rocking back and forth. I never thought I'd ever say this, but as the choir has progressed over the years I think we are capable of more challenging choreography, and the current moves as they stand are a bit too basic. I'm sure that in future rehearsals we will Motown-ify and Pink-ify them!