The clocks had changed so we actually arrived in daylight – Jim went early to get the PA set up and I walked round with the dog. We don’t usually take her so this was an experiment to see how she’d behave. We knew it was going to be a quiet night as, unbeknown to us when we did the bookings, it was Easter Sunday. Philippa had been up for cooking us usual but sadly had been unwell in the week and, on the day, so was Michael so we had neither of them there and no delicious meal! But we had got the message out to everyone to bring their own food which I think everyone got. Numbers would have been a bit better but we had a few cancellations on the day due to illness and one due to a bereavement, which was very sad. But the show went on and as it turned out, the Tipler family turned up in force. Jim’s sister’s were over from France and the USA for a visit due to several family birthdays and they all, parents and siblings, came along – 7 of them, add us 2 and you’ve got 9. And you know about it when you have 9 Tiplers in the house. Especially when they start singing Happy Birthday.
The floor spots were all great – one had cancelled and one didn’t turn up so everyone got a longer slot so it was all lovely and relaxed. We did extra numbers and Jim’s brother got up to sing acapella 2 of the songs he’s written for a new musical he’s writing with a friend called The America Ground. A friend we haven’t seen for a few years, the wonderful Anita Jardine, came along – she’s back in Hastings now having been living in Italy since just before lockdown. Neil held the evening together with observations and intros between acts.
We livestreamed the whole event for those that were ill or couldn’t make it and I later edited it into 2 videos for YouTube – the floor spots and MG Boulter’s set. He was brilliant and the audience loved him, ably accompanied by Paul on bass. He sang of Cliftown in Southend On Sea – one of our ex neighbours came from there and they had come back especially to hear him plus Jim’s Dad had his one and only family holiday with his parents there so he was delighted to chat to Matt.
We performed well and really enjoyed the whole evening, especially with the family encouraging everyone to sing along. A cracking night despite low numbers and the collection in the saucepan was as good as it usually is which meant Matt and Paul had decent amount. The dog was great – only barked at clapping a couple of times and did go beserk when she saw a cat out of the window, but generally she mooched about trying to get into the performance area. I did have to take her out when Anita was singing the Cat song as everyone was joining in with ‘meows’!
Watch MG Boulter’s set here