Ah ah ah ah_____and do do do’s🎵🌲🌳

Gentlemen (and Isla 🐶) Despite the lurgy, which continues to beset a few of us, there was an excellent turnout last night. I counted 52 knees, 6 of which were naked (that’s Dave E’s pair and of course the lovely Isla 🐕 too!!! ). Following the warm up eee’s and ooooh’s and aaaah’s Jon launched us in to the Christmas 🎅🏽programme with Logs to Burn and an ultimately passable version of Shepherds Arise. Hard as that was it was merely a precursor to the challenge of April Morning and the vocal torture (and F#’s) of Trees 🌳🌲 where the tenors were forced to become reluctant sopranos for “Theres none for smell of broom and smoke” - thank the Lord for 2 pints 🍺 of post match Shuggy Boat Blond to sooth those burning 🔥 vocal chords. At one point I noticed Isla had her paws 🐾 covering her ears!!!! The singing followed a committee meeting - it was reported that all seemed well with finances, membership numbers, number of gigs, quality of the singing and the general morale of the choir. There was a consensus that a gig a month seems about the right number and that as well as solo gigs we also enjoyed singing/ sharing gigs with other choirs - the challenge of occasionally singing outside our comfort zone (eg Trees🌳🌲and Kielder Chorale!!) was to be welcomed. A question had been raised about the dress code for gigs. The feeling in the committee was that the black uniform (unkindly referred by some as the Italian 🇮🇹 waiter look😂) should be retained for “formal” gigs (but note, Jon preferred no red!!). For most other gigs it was thought that the black outfit was arguably outdated or not appropriate and that pastel shirts 👚👔with chinos in summer and black trousers in winter was more in keeping with the informal, modern and inclusive image we were trying to portray as an up to date singing group. No final decisions were made and each gig would be treated on a case by case basis - everyone’s views on this are welcomed - the important thing was to look a coherent and smart bunch. Please tell us what you think. Finally we had a chat about our handle - in the modern world does the word “Choir” have connotations of church, stuffiness etc. Should we be Voicemale choir, singers, folk, chorale, friends or any other description in our publicity. Some thought that Voicemale on its own said it all. Again members thoughts are welcomed. Phew 😰 - that was a lot to get through. If you’ve got the lurgy then get well soon and we hope to see you next week. If you’ve managed to avoid the lurgy then keep doing what ever it is you are doing!!!! Have a great weekend - be kind to each other!!! Onwards and upwards Voicemale (and Isla 🐶)🎵🐾🚀👍🏼🍺 - see you all next week!!! Chris