A very Christmas-filled a cappella evening in the church at Erpe-Mere [quite near Brussels]... lots of festiveness, some serious, some lighter, and a packed church of happy faces.
Glorious - and a great deal of action at the CD table afterwards - we are lucky that people have been so lax buying presents, and need to rush to us!
As ever, in Belgium, glorious food abounded - my big brochette especially fine...
Presently at Sheraton at Brussels Airport, we fly to Switzerland pretty early tomorrow for the last four gigs before Christmas break.
Saturday, 17 December 2011
Antwerp with Kiki
Blog 100 of the year...
We shared a bill last night in a dock hangar in the port of Antwerp with Kiki Dee & her guitarist, Carmelo Luggeri; and we sang a couple of songs with them too...
The hangar is transformed every 4 or 5 years for a massive celebration of the company Mourik - when we arrived it was still quite hangar-like, but it was, by the evening, full of chefs and excellent food, and a fully-rigged stage.
After our set, wonderfully accompanied by Chris Hatt as ever, Kiki Dee did her stuff...
As an encore, we felt we had blundered into a light ent TV show from years ago, as we backed Kiki in the Bee Gees song How Do You Mend a Broken Heart? and then White Christmas. Wonderful to work with Kiki and Carmelo - both fantastic, and also to share in Mourik's festivities.
On to Erpe-Mere tonight...
We shared a bill last night in a dock hangar in the port of Antwerp with Kiki Dee & her guitarist, Carmelo Luggeri; and we sang a couple of songs with them too...
The hangar is transformed every 4 or 5 years for a massive celebration of the company Mourik - when we arrived it was still quite hangar-like, but it was, by the evening, full of chefs and excellent food, and a fully-rigged stage.
After our set, wonderfully accompanied by Chris Hatt as ever, Kiki Dee did her stuff...
As an encore, we felt we had blundered into a light ent TV show from years ago, as we backed Kiki in the Bee Gees song How Do You Mend a Broken Heart? and then White Christmas. Wonderful to work with Kiki and Carmelo - both fantastic, and also to share in Mourik's festivities.
On to Erpe-Mere tonight...
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Bridewell Hall #2
Another lovely night in the City of London... a packed Bridewell Hall had as good acoustic as ever, and a wonderful atmosphere of revellers!
We reprised Wendell the Worm as from our Captain Beaky efforts last week at the RAH... and everyone laughed lots. Was it our dancing?
Lots of Christmas fun for one and all - including Steve dressed up as Elvis (although as a friend pointed out, an Elvis who has been on a serious diet!)...
Christmas and Cricket CDs were popular - how alliterative people's tastes are...
Now just a jaunt to the European mainland before Christmas - Belgium and then Switzerland; before Germany, Estonia, Russia and Belgium again in late December / January - what fun!
We reprised Wendell the Worm as from our Captain Beaky efforts last week at the RAH... and everyone laughed lots. Was it our dancing?
Lots of Christmas fun for one and all - including Steve dressed up as Elvis (although as a friend pointed out, an Elvis who has been on a serious diet!)...
Christmas and Cricket CDs were popular - how alliterative people's tastes are...
Now just a jaunt to the European mainland before Christmas - Belgium and then Switzerland; before Germany, Estonia, Russia and Belgium again in late December / January - what fun!
Monday, 12 December 2011
Wonderful Captain Beaky for UNICEF
Fantastic evening at the RAH... Captain Beaky and his wonderful band were all there... Lots of dancers from National Youth Ballet (playing a large array of animals - not a dry eye at times), and a Kirov & ENB master, Dmitri Gruzdyev, as well as Jeremy Lloyd & Jim Parker (writer and composer), Joanna Lumley, Roger Moore & Deborah Moore, Alan Titchmarsh, Hugh Bonneville, Rosie Ashe & the original Captain Beaky himself, Keith Michell, appearing both on large screen and in a box in the audience to rapturous applause. Also old friends from Chess in Concert, Tabitha Webb, Tiffany Graves, Caroline Sheen, & Jon Robyns - who used his Avenue Q experience to bring Hissing Sid to life!
Our contributions were accompanying Rosie in Desmond the Duck, being accompanied by David Firman & the excellent band in Doreen the Duckling, and getting away from ducks, we sang an a cappella Wendell the Worm. We provided comments from 'offstage' in a poem read by Joanna Lumley - back to the Ds... Dilys the Dachshund, and we all sang together in There's a Light...
Splendid to see the octogenarians strut their stuff, Roger Moore in his DJ (only with green tights on his legs - he told us it was all the rage); and Jeremy Lloyd clearly moved and loving his words being displayed again to a packed house.
Mike gave Alan T. a DVD copy of Christmas Pebble Mill show that had involved both AT and Cantabile in the 1980s... the green-fingered one was delighted and said he had nothing from that time he could watch!
A glorious evening - all in aid of UNICEF... & put together by Director, Hugh Wooldridge with his usual aplomb - let's hope it can happen again sometime...
I'll ask Joanna the next time I see her at my local bus station (I've seen her before!)
Our contributions were accompanying Rosie in Desmond the Duck, being accompanied by David Firman & the excellent band in Doreen the Duckling, and getting away from ducks, we sang an a cappella Wendell the Worm. We provided comments from 'offstage' in a poem read by Joanna Lumley - back to the Ds... Dilys the Dachshund, and we all sang together in There's a Light...
Splendid to see the octogenarians strut their stuff, Roger Moore in his DJ (only with green tights on his legs - he told us it was all the rage); and Jeremy Lloyd clearly moved and loving his words being displayed again to a packed house.
Mike gave Alan T. a DVD copy of Christmas Pebble Mill show that had involved both AT and Cantabile in the 1980s... the green-fingered one was delighted and said he had nothing from that time he could watch!
A glorious evening - all in aid of UNICEF... & put together by Director, Hugh Wooldridge with his usual aplomb - let's hope it can happen again sometime...
I'll ask Joanna the next time I see her at my local bus station (I've seen her before!)
Saturday, 10 December 2011
sing-along-a Roger Moore
For Captain Beaky: just rehearsing in a dressing room at English National Ballet [just around the corner from RAH], a song with some echoes from the chorus...
We sang away, and then heard the dulcet tones of Roger Moore pitching in with the echoes from the attached Men's room... what an honour to form a quintet with a former Bond (even if he was in a separate room)!
Great rehearsals all morning... all looking and sounding good.
Excellent to meet the writers too - Jeremy Lloyd and Jim Parker - fantastic...
We sang away, and then heard the dulcet tones of Roger Moore pitching in with the echoes from the attached Men's room... what an honour to form a quintet with a former Bond (even if he was in a separate room)!
Great rehearsals all morning... all looking and sounding good.
Excellent to meet the writers too - Jeremy Lloyd and Jim Parker - fantastic...
Friday, 9 December 2011
Opwijk, BE
Despite my having forgotten my computer's power cable *, a fine two-day sojourn in Belgium was enjoyed by all...
Opwijk was a splendid Christmas evening, and we were treated excellently... Could this be because it is the home town of our Belgian agent, Thomas? Who knows...
... we did Sleigh Ride, asking the audience to provide the bells with either coins or their keys... one guy asked to borrow Richard's! Richard said it was the first time he had indeed handed over his keys to a gentleman! Oddly enough when he asked for them back, the man's wife had them.
Funny Old World.
Gertie was there once more (and heard some different songs from yesterday, thank goodness) - and we put the world to rights in the bar afterwards...
Captain Beaky weekend awaits...
* Although this is of no interest at all, let me tell you that I was able to borrow Richard's power cable when he was not using it.
Opwijk was a splendid Christmas evening, and we were treated excellently... Could this be because it is the home town of our Belgian agent, Thomas? Who knows...
... we did Sleigh Ride, asking the audience to provide the bells with either coins or their keys... one guy asked to borrow Richard's! Richard said it was the first time he had indeed handed over his keys to a gentleman! Oddly enough when he asked for them back, the man's wife had them.
Funny Old World.
Gertie was there once more (and heard some different songs from yesterday, thank goodness) - and we put the world to rights in the bar afterwards...
Captain Beaky weekend awaits...
* Although this is of no interest at all, let me tell you that I was able to borrow Richard's power cable when he was not using it.
Thursday, 8 December 2011
Herk-de-Stad, BE
Two Belgian dates before our Beaky weekend...
Just a slightly Christmas concert to start in Herk-de-Stad - near enough to Holland for our dear friend Gertie to visit - how splendid!
Once again, our new CD, Songs of Cricket outsold the others - it's a miracle; we are spreading the cricket word abroad!
As is so often the case in Belgium, the theatre here had an excellent restaurant attached - all good!
The people at the Theatre saw us at Lemmens, and convinced everybody else that we should come to Herk - these are great people! - fantastic that they did... we had a splendid time...
...on to Opwijk today...
Just a slightly Christmas concert to start in Herk-de-Stad - near enough to Holland for our dear friend Gertie to visit - how splendid!
Once again, our new CD, Songs of Cricket outsold the others - it's a miracle; we are spreading the cricket word abroad!
As is so often the case in Belgium, the theatre here had an excellent restaurant attached - all good!
The people at the Theatre saw us at Lemmens, and convinced everybody else that we should come to Herk - these are great people! - fantastic that they did... we had a splendid time...
...on to Opwijk today...
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