Pub Choir

 

Why the hell would you go to a choir if you can’t sing?

 

It feels a bit ridiculous. Prior to attending, the very idea certainly made me feel uncomfortable. One thing for certain is that you definitely feel like a fish out of water. But in the end, none of that matters.

 

The beauty of pub choir is that you’re in the company of friends. The most singing experience that half the audience has is singing in the car. For the other half, they haven’t sung in a choir since school (and judging by the crowd, that was probably last century).

 

As I said, there’s nothing to worry about. You’re in safe hands. Choirmaster Astrid Jorgensen is a force of nature. Part school teacher, part comedian, part musician and wholly unique. Her enthusiasm is infectious. She has a razor sharp brain that she uses to deadly effect. She gently, but firmly, keeps the audience on track. It’s a bit like a blue heeler corralling a mob of wild sheep and making them do what it wants. Ultimately her goal isn’t to make us better singers. Her philosophy is that we’re all average at best (the name of the tour) but collectively we can sing a song together. She’s confident she can do this and ultimately she’s right.  

 

Armed with little more than a PowerPoint slide show enhanced with memes and GIFs to let us know what she wants (and an accompanying guitarist) she takes us through her song choice (tonight it is Get What You Give by the New Radicals). She splits the crowd into three parts (low, middle and high) and runs each of the sections through their parts.

 

The high section is filled with the most energetic singers (these people were probably in a choir in school and can actually sing). This is both a positive and a negative. Sometimes their enthusiasm takes them to places Astrid didn’t think they should go and sing notes that don’t quite work. Her deadpan delivery and quick brain very gently, but firmly, puts them back in their place “that’s a lovely note, but it’s not exactly the note that is on the slide”. That might come across as a bit stern, but her delivery of this makes you feel more encouraged than deflated.

 

I think the surprise of the night was the low section. This section is filled mostly with men and, I suspect, these people are usually the ones that are dragged to the show by their partners and are more the reluctant singers. This is where I was standing. Not that I was dragged there, but I was certainly a reluctant singer. This group usually needs more encouragement than the high section. But on this night, Astrid was visibly impressed. I mean we weren’t good, but we were on the notes. I’d say we were bang on average! I consider this a big win.