26 January 2023

And a Dum Dum diddle we will go … Eeeeeh Aaaah. 

Then we tried to be as loud as we could, and made Ed’s smart watch very worried about the decibels. Go us! We are strong and mighty. And sometimes in tune. 

For song I love, and dived right in. I sang it in a solo moment in our Christmas concert some years ago, ah Those Were Them Days my friends! We did so well we considered the harmony. The huge question remains, La or Da? And does it matter? 

We are not going to worry about the double negatives in Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad but we we going to pay very close attention to pauses, timings and meaning gaps. Ed used a recording of MEAT on his iPad and paused to give us hot tips and corrections. This made the very long song last a little bit longer. There were some really tricky parts. 

I love to sing Uptown Girl it’s great fun and we get to sing in American which we were quite good at. Until we sang KNOWS but all I heard was Ed going on about a very British NOSE. Such fun. 

A repeat is deleted from Both Sides Now. Despite being reinstated last week. Oh well. A reminder to use pencils ✏️ when making choir notes on our words. 

Then it was time to make rain. and thunder for Africa. 

Wonderful sounds. Fading for the drums. Well that bit’s concert ready. It’s super effective when no one speaks. 

We stood to perform I Who Have Nothing to give it our all. Ed coaching from the keyboard. 

Yay well done DFS. I don’t know about you, but this one’s for Ronnie. I love you guys too xxx

12 January 2023

The blog has been blogged for 14 years! Ed said Happy New Year. An Easter concert is already booked DFS, on 29 and 30 March for both choirs. 

September brings songs we rarely get to perform, so as well as fresh new song sheets to collect we will look at some of those again. Ed talked us through this terms fresh offerings. 

And so we warmed up … 

And kicked off with Uptown Girl which was great fun. After a run through we were introduced to some backing and harmonies. 

Inspired by a live performance of From Both Sides Now Ed decided to let us have at it. And so we did. But I didn’t because I’m far to young to know it. Ed played the piano and guided us to tighten up, and be mindful of any pauses. Slipping into the odd harmony when he felt the urge … 

Now Africa has actions … we create the sound of rain. We did this some time ago but I don’t think we took our rain to a concert. We sang along to the backing track. Such fun. The longest HAD we’ve ever had. We practiced making rain and thunder. It blended beautifully into the intro. 

Have at the hand actions if you wish, for I Who Have Nothing completely optional as are pulling dramatic faces. Ed say at the piano, and told us how much he loved us. Likewise. Drama is good today. Just this once. 

Meatloaf next because Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad. Most people know this even if they think they don’t. We just had a little taster because it is a rather long song and we wanted to fit in 9 to 5. A bit of dolly so send us out into the night, singing all the way home. Please bring your southern drawl. 

Wow. What a great lovely start to another year of DFS. Well done, that’s not why I love you xxx