You win some, you lose some – not every experience can be enjoyable and we witnessed the extremes of performing in central London this week.
Through a friend, Rob and I were invited to play for a charity event in St Bride’s church on Fleet Street – which sounded as though it would be very nice, especially given the reputation of the acoustics in that particular church. We had been asked to play as people assembled for a celebration. We enjoyed getting together early in the evening to tune up and rehearse a little – the acoustics were indeed very nice. However, the overall plan was both ill conceived and ill executed in the event. We like to be listened to when we play and, by definition, that wasn’t going to happen. Worse still, old friends greeting each other loudly prevented anyone that did want to listen, actually being able to hear us. Yet worse still, positioned as we were between the two choir stalls, noisy friends greetings were carried out in the very area we were playing in. It was clear that we were in the wrong place for us when we had to ask the vicar and his mate if they would kindly move somewhere else instead of (rudely) blocking us from seeing our ‘audience’ and our audience seeing us.
‘Splat the rat’ school fetes and ‘Hello Henry’ posh London events are definitely not us and are off the menu for good for us. You live and learn. The fact that the organisers of the event did not give any public thanks or recognition for the fact that we had given up our own time to support their evening, just put the cap on it!
Thankfully, we had the very opposite experience on the 4th July playing for the second time at the Annual memorial for the British Volunteers to the International Brigade, who fought in the Spanish Civil War. The organisers had been kind enough to invite us back and to play some of our Spanish oriented material and lead the communal singing in Jubilee Gardens, near the London Eye. The memorial was very moving and stimulating, as it had been the year before. Sadly, this year, we were missing the great Jack Jones, Trades Unionist and International Brigader. With a crowd of around 150 people, we were able to dodge the raindrops and repay the trust put in us, by palying pretty well. Again, our tribute to Brigader George Wheeler – The Bite – was very well received and a number of people asked about where they could get hold of a copy of it. The answer currently, is on You Tube - but we hope to remedy that soon. More news later.
After playing at Jubilee Gardens, we were asked to accompany everyone down to Whitechapel Gallery, near Aldgate East tube station, where the Gochka Macuga installation of the tapestry representation of Picasso’s Guernica is currently being shown. There, following a round table discussion of experiences of the Battle of Cable Street and some truly horrific tales and memories of what actually transpired in the towns and villages of civil war Spain, we were given the huge honour of playing Anada Pa Julia and Only for Three Months. In the excellent acoustics of the gallery, the sound was very lovely and those present felt moved by the song, and were keen to tell us so afterwards. What a contrast to a few days earlier! Here was an audience keen to hear our music and appreciate its content. Indeed, there is now the invitation to play at a memorial event for Jack Jones, in the Royal Festival Hall, in October.
When we arrived back in St Albans, we were on a high. After picking up a hearty pack of beer, we went straightaway to a friend’s party where, along with a local St Albans jazz combo, we then took ‘the stage’ (or the decking at least) to do 25 minutes of fast and furious music. There must be some good neighbours in that end of St Albans, as the live music played late into the night!
