Last night, I was very fortunate (along with a number of other “Flashers” – thats what we seem to be calling ourselves at the moment) to attend our very first Pub Choir Experience at the Fortitude Valley Music Hall in Brisbane, to Learn, Sing and Perform, Sophie Ellis-Bextors – “Murder on the Dance Floor”.
To the unitiated, Pub Choir is a communal singing “experience” (started by Astrid Jorgensen in Brisbane in 2017) that is held in a relaxed, social setting (like a pub). Participants, regardless of their musical background, come together to learn and perform a song. Jorgensen, as the conductor, guides the crowd through harmonies and lyrics, culminating in a performance that is usually recorded and shared online. The choice of songs varies, ranging from classic hits to contemporary chart-toppers, ensuring a wide appeal.
Pub Choir is not just an opportunity to learn and perform a song with a bunch of strangers, it is a full blown experience, focused around the remarkable wit and energy of Astrid Jorgensen. Under the guise of teaching us how to sing “Murder on the Dance Floor” in 3 part harmony, Astrid launched into a largely unscripted and often hlilarious “perfomance” whilst teaching, cajoling,encouraging and badgering the crowd to learn their parts.
It is not an experience for the faint hearted… Participation doesn’t require any particular singing experiencre or skills (althiugh they may help), but it does require some stamina and concentration (and packet of throat lozenges may also come in handy)… Astrid guides the crowd through the three part harmony (High, Medium and Low) using a series of “slides” incorporating arrows, symbols and (often hilarious) video clips to teach them the various parts, and despite feeling a little overwhelmed after the first pass, it remarkably came tobgether (along with a string quartet) for the final perfomance.
Throughout the event a trio of photographers/videographers traverse the stage and crowd, capturing golden moments (participants are encouraged to enjoy the experience rather that film it for themselves) – and produce (typically after a few days) a fantastic memoir of the performance which is released on social media. These videos (which, with the wonders of cutting/splicing and multiple takes) seem a lot more polished than the actual performance, provide a fantastic tool to showcase the experince and encoyrage the next batch of participants to attend.
Brisbane (being Astrids home base and the “birthplace” of Pub Choir) typically sells out within minutes of tickets going on sale – although there are often resale opportunites if you miss out in the first round. Pub Choir events are now being help intyernationally – across in NZ anda series of (mostly sold out already) performances in the United States in March , and I am sure Astrid has her target set on other markets as well.
Pub Choir is a must do experience (whether you are into singing or not)… you can find out more about it on the Pub Choir Website, and see (and book) upcoming events.
