Monday 26 January 2015

Countermeasure & TLQ at The Arc

Two a cappella concerts for you (if you are prepared to come to the very south of London!)...
...at The Arc in Caterham in its Skinny Bananas piano bar... come & see:

The wonderful Canadian group Countermeasure, who we met last year... are on Friday 30th January...
...and we follow on Friday 13th February...
Don't miss The Arc's mini a cappella festival!



PS: You can also catch Countermeasure at Oxford (29th) and the London a cappella Festival (31st) - which of course has other joys!!

Saturday 24 January 2015

2015 - a fresh start!

Well if you have to start somewhere with The London Quartet, there might as well be a
two-Michelin-star chef there to cook!
Marvellous meal was had by all at BMW Weld in Munich, where we entertained a select crowd in the Rolls Royce lounge.

First in a list of ways in which Sarah-Ann is just the same as Richard who she replaced....
* a penchant for chocolate mousse!
...(this of course takes 'singing beautifully' as read...)

The audience seemed unaware of the new ground being broken as they listened to Cantabile  ̶  The London Quartet... with a woman on the topline...
...and very good it was too!
Sarah-Ann's natural aplomb helped her take it all (including the last minute excitements which so often happen at corporate events) in her capable stride.

We were introduced by the delightful Antonia Niederländer, who has two passengers onboard (she is expecting twins)... and were made to feel very welcome by her, as well as Martine Rapp & Danielle Buse... Thank you to Herr Schmidt & everyone at BMW.
...& thank you to the gentleman from McDonalds (management, natch) who serenaded us with Joe Cocker songs (RIP) ...

BMW Weld had a British feel about it with the Mini on display as well as the Rolls...


We took the opportunity of seeing our old friend Rainer Wallraf; apart form being a radio presenter, show writer, translator and narrator, he has supplied many of our most splendid funny songs in German... and he lives in Munich... here he is communing with Mike, in his excellent apartment...


...and we met a new friend at the airport, on the way home, whilst we waited for the inbound (late) plane the next AM...


Someday, I'll fly away...



Monday 5 January 2015

Happy New Year (with sad bit too!)

Happy New Year indeed...
...have a wonderful 2015!


Just in time for New Year, we had snowy scenes in Switzerland at the delightful Kloster Fischingen... once again a lovely evening: our 4th visit, and a splendid setting for a New Year's Eve concert....
Thank you to Silvan, Andrea and Michel for looking after us so well!
Fireworks at midnight were spectacular (and entirely from members of the public!)

Then we drove down to Luxembourg (the snow had stopped falling luckily) & arrived in time to celebrate a Best-of-British New Year... (altho' we did a wee bit of Strauss, natch!)
Once again we marvel at the happiness people have to wave Union flags and sing Land of Hope and Glory (albeit with Maggie & Julian Forsyth's comic additions)...
Thank you to Charles and everybody at Esch... a fantastic theatre!

This was, of course, Richard Bryan's last performance with us.... a very sad moment.  As we have said before, his influence on the group will never cease...even when he is physically gone...
It didn't affect the gig itself, but I am sure we all were feeling the weight of it as we sang.



Good luck, Richard with all that you do in the future...

...and so to steal a phrase, "The King is dead, long live the Queen".... er...
Sarah-Ann comes into the fray... onwards we go...
...do come and see us when you can!