Buses, Glitter and Angel Wings
July 2017 saw the very first (of hopefully many!) tours for Real Voices! With at least one performance every weekend it was a fairly busy month for our Vauxhall and Brixton choirs!
We kicked things off as every tour should: singing on a bus in Stockwell! We were privileged to start the entertainment on the Stage Bus at the Stockwell Festival.
We then got on an actual bus to pop up to the Southbank centre for the fabulous Chorus Festival. Organised by Voicelab, this takes place every year and brings many different choirs together for a celebrating singing. We performed a half hour set on the Clore Ballroom Stage to a fantastic audience. This was the first time both choirs had performed properly together and what a sound we made :)
The following weekend took Real Voices north of the river for the first time ever! Now, we’d only take our choirs out of South London for something as special as the Voices Now festival at the Roundhouse! As part of a weekend full of fantastic workshops and choral performances, the festival also offers choirs the chance to perform on the open stages. One performance at the Roundhouse and another down the road at Camden Market. An absolutely glorious day of singing in the sunshine, dressed to celebrate London Pride!
The Vauxhall choir then descended on the Wheatsheaf Hall the following day for their end of year gig. Joined by the Milton String Quartet and of course our fantastic regular band, it was a really fitting celebration of the first year of Real Voices. It was a fantastic evening all round - the perfect atmospheric setting, great music and a fantastic audience. More photos to come..
The following weekend we stayed close to home with a performance at the Lambeth Country Show! We were on the Oxjam Clapham stage, and despite the rain, had an absolutely fantastic time performing to a great audience. We don't have many photos but there are some amazing ones here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/…
To round off a great month, the Brixton choir had their debut performance as a collective at the Hootananny Brixton. We just about managed to squeeze on the stage, with the bases on a box at the front (as you do!) Having only formed in February this year, it was wonderful to celebrate the achievements and progress they’ve made so far.
So, a fairly packed July! We are now resting up before we get singing again in September. If you’d like to get involved, we’re actually full in Vauxhall and currently only have space for men in Brixton. However, we are launching a new Clapham Junction group on Tuesday evenings in September! Get in touch if you’d like to come along to see if you like it!
