Alan's Ramblings - Ruidogrande category

Tsunami gig #2

Sat, 05 Feb 2005 06:29:51 GMT

I'm kinda behind on my blogging, so I better play catchup! Last Sunday we played at our second Tsumami benefit gig at The Globe, a pub in Glossop that specialises in real ale, vegan food and live music. We normally go there after Wednesday practice sessions to try (usually in vain) to win the pub quiz. There were 35 other acts playing, acoustic sets downstairs and bands upstairs. The place was heaving - it took us a quarter of an hour just to get our kit up to the stage! The venue upstairs is pretty small - intimate I think is the correct term. There were about 15 of us playing, so the Surdo section managed to fit on the stage but the rest had to stand in front on the dance floor. We kicked off, and as sometimes happens we all just gelled and we played a really solid set. As we were making our way off people were grabbing my hand and pummelling it up and down, saying how great we sounded. I had to dash after the gig, but Laszlo stayed behind and people kept coming up to him and saying that we were the best band there. One guy came up to Laszlo and asked if we'd like to play some other gigs. Laszlo asked him where he was thinking of and the answer was 'All over the place' - turns out the guy is a promoter. He said that he obviously listens to a lot of bands, but every now and then he comes across a band that sounds really good - and we were just such a band. Then Laszlo notices his hearing aid ... just joking ;-) Laszlo also said a guy who is part of a brass section wanted to bring along his mates to play with us, something Laslo has wanted to do for some time.

Perhaps it's time to pack up the day job and hit the road, I've always fancied having a go at some rock excess - groupies and smashing up hotel rooms sounds like it might be quite fun - mid-life crisis here I come ;-)

Busking for tsunami relief

Sun, 09 Jan 2005 09:44:31 GMT

Yesterday the Samba band I'm in took part in a big bash in Manchester to raise funds for tsunami relief. There were about six bands there in total, well over 100 people. We met up in the Royal Exchange Theatre building. I'd never been in there before, and it is a most impressive building. It was the Victorian Manchester cotton exchange, and as Manchester was once the cotton capital of the world, the building was built accordingly. The building was very badly damaged by the 1996 IRA bomb, but it's been sensitively restored, and the theatre has been integrated into the original fabric in a very innovative way.

As well as us there were other far more well-known names from the northwest Samba scene, including The Manchester School of Samba and Sambangra, so it interesting for us hicks from the sticks to see how we stood up against the other more well-known bands. We all moved to the corner of Marks and Spencers, but as there were a group of PLO protesters there we had to move to the end of the building, after negotiating with the very friendly policemen and policewomen who were keeping an eye on things. We had joined forces with Laszlo's (our musical director) other group, Zambura from Bury, and as a result we were the biggest group, so we got to play first. Pretty soon we'd drawn a sizeable crowd, and the security chief from Marks and Spencer's came scurrying out to see what was going on. We had a license from the city council, so apart from scowling at us there wasn't much he could do. The folks from Oxfam got busy with their collecting buckets as we were playing, and after a couple of numbers we moved back to the corner of M&S that the PLO folks had finished with and kicked off again. After our Timbalada, Tony from MSS came up to Laszlo and complemented us on our playing, which really chuffed us no end.

MSS took over from us next, so we moved our kit round the corner before taking a break for lunch, which unfortunately involved a rapid visit to Macdonalds - so we really were suffering for out art ;-) After lunch and a handful of antacids we wandered back over to where everyone else was and joined the massed bands for a huge 50+ player jam session. The directors of each band took it in turns to lead a piece, with those who knew the piece playing it and the rest of us winging it and joining in as best we could - great fun. Once again we drew quite a crowd, and as we got a round of applause and cheers at the end of each number, I guess we sounded OK! We only had a license to play for two hours (we stretched it a bit!) so by about 3:30 we had to pack up. My 11-year old son James was the youngest player there, and he had a blast - he was on an absolute high when we finished. From looking at the sea of grinning faces of all ages, it was clear he wasn't the only one who had enjoyed it, it was a truly memorable experience.

Five minutes after we finished the heavens opened on us. Bearing in mind the terrible weather we have been having over the last few days, we were extremely lucky. We decamped to the cafe in the basement of the Manchester Cathedral Visitor's centre to count the dosh. I'd never been in there before, and one side of the cafe was made up of the medieval hanging bridge (no, nothing to do with executions!) which had been buried and lost as the city grew around and eventually over it. After discarding the pre-decimal currency and used watch batteries that someone had kindly donated, we raised the magnificent sum of £750, not bad for a couple of hours of work!

We finished off the day with a few drinks in a convenient pub, followed by a (as usual) superb meal in the Yang Sing before catching the train back home - all in all a top day.

Rio meets the Highlands

Sun, 11 Jul 2004 09:29:56 GMT

I'm part of a local Samba band, and now summer is here (hah!) we are in the thick of our gig season. We rely on performance fees collected over the summer to keep us going over the winter months. Yesterday we played at St Swithun's Community Centre in Wakefield. The weather was pretty poor, but at one point we had a group of 8-10 year old majorettes dancing round and round us as we played, which was kinda nice.

Today we played at Tameside Canal Festival at Portland Basin in Ashton. This event happens each year and is in aid of Willow Wood Hospice which cares for terminally ill people in the area. Just as we ended our first set it started to rain, so we played the second set inside the marquee. Danny who dances with us on occasion was there, and he got all the kids (and a few adults!) up and dancing round the marquee in a huge conga. To top it off, a bagpiper in full highland regalia who was also playing at the festival came in and started jamming with us on our last number. Mixing Samba and bagpipes is not entirely unknown - there is a band called MacUmba who specialise in Brazilian/Scottish fusion. I thought we played pretty damn well, and when we finished to cheers of 'More! More! Encore!" it topped off what was a really enjoyable gig. As soon as we finished James and I had to dash off to get him to his swimming test, so I'll find out if we managed to attract any new members at the next practice on Tuesday.

A birthday bash

Tue, 15 Jun 2004 00:24:08 GMT

Yesterday it was my friend Sylvia's 60th birthday, so a number of us from the two Samba bands that Sylvia plays in (Ruidogrande and Zambura), met round at a friends house for a surprise birthday party. The cover story was that Sylvia was being taken out by her daughters for a meal, and they were popping in to say hello to an old family friend on the way. We all hid in the garden round the back of the house and as she came through the gate kicked off with a Samba Reggae. Sylvia's a pretty composed lady, and the look of utter surprise on her face was priceless. We ate, drank and jammed until eventually one of the neighbours asked us to shut up. A great evening and one I'll remember for a long time, many thanks to Rosemary for allowing us to use her house and annoy her neighbours :-)

Also on the Samba front, I went with Laszlo to see Esquilo Atomico play on Sunday evening in Manchester. The band is made up of people who have just completed Dudu Tucci's Roots of Brazil course. They were extremely good. Laszlo (who teaches us) is on the course at the moment. I recognised some of the stuff we've been learning recently, although I think it will take us some time to reach the same standard!

First gig of the season

Wed, 05 May 2004 10:35:31 GMT

On Monday we played our first gig of the season, at a May-day festival in Belper. The weather gods were kind, and we had a good audience - the street was narrow so they couldn't get away :-) The fee was also a welcome addition to our coffers. I'm not actually in the picture - the big drum and the blue beater on the far left are mine :-)