Saturday, May 07, 2005

Performance Two

Today started cautiously. While I didn’t have the resounding hangover I was expecting (and probably deserved) after last night, I was quite delicate in the stomach and not inclined to be very active. Brett, who seemed none the worse for wear, took on the role of coaxing me towards humanity, ready for an open air performance at 1:30pm.

I couldn’t face any of the usual options for breakfast and instead made do with honeyed bread soaked in milk, but even that was touch-and-go.

We set off mid-morning to the bandstand where we would be performing, to hear some of the choirs that were up ahead of us. By the time we got there, I was hungry for real (although still couldn’t face patisserie.) I managed to find myself an open air market which had a rotisserie, so I breakfasted again on roast chicken and potatoes which were remarkably good and improved my spirits no end.

We went on stage before an enthusiastic audience, which included a number of the Pink Singers – who had been performing at the same time as us in the other theatre last night, so hadn’t been able to see our show. We also have one common member who had sung with them last night but was singing with us today.

Despite intermittent rain showers the performance went well, although the stronger voice required in an un-amplified, open air setting, left my delicate head pounding. Our Parisian cheerleader, Thierry, introduced us and led the applause afterwards. He seems to be quite the LGMC groupie!

We stayed and watched the Melomen perform when we were done and then went to find some lunch. A nearby bar/brasserie provided the goods with some very tasty homemade hamburgers and chocolate cake.

With our batteries recharged we made a run for the Various Voices admin centre to pick up tickets for the farewell party tonight, running into Charlie, our Musical Director, on the way. Brett and he discussed various Vice-Chairman issues before Charlie headed off to meet someone and we continued on. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the centre, it had closed so we didn’t end up with any tickets, although the word on the street was that they probably wouldn’t be required anyway, so we turned around and headed back to the Parc du Temple to hear the Pink Singers do their slot at 4:30pm.

They turned out to have a very good set. The last time I heard them, I was rather lukewarm about the experience, but this time they impressed me. They opened with a lively Beach Boys medley, followed up with the Dies Irae and Lachrymosa from Mozart’s Requiem and later ended with an Abba medley which had the audience singing along. Most enjoyable.

After that though, we were worn out and headed back to the hotel for a nap before the party. About three hours later, I still had a headache and didn’t fancy the trek all the way out to the Charles De Gaulle Etoile just to drink water and fruit juice in a nightclub, so Brett went on his own while I stayed home and blogged a bit before going to bed.

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