Tour diary: Songs from the Golden Age of Swing
April 2024 marked the return of our 30-piece Orchestra to the concert hall stage, with a 6-date tour of venues across England. Just a few months on from our successful 2023 Christmas tour, it was a huge pleasure to return to some beautiful venues to perform our non-festive set.
The tour started off in Cambridge at West Road Concert Hall. This tour featured lots of brand-new arrangements - two by Simon Joyner, one by Marvin Muoneké, and many others by conductor Mike Paul-Smith - so we spent the afternoon rehearsing them before their world premieres in front of an audience just a few hours later.
Whilst the rehearsal was underway, our backstage and front-of-house teams busied themselves with piles (or rather, boxes) of admin - we had over 10,000 Swing Into Christmas flyers to ship around the country and were anxious to get it done quickly so we didn't have to keep carrying them around with us!
Admin times at the reception desk at West Road Concert Hall. Note the unpacked suitcase and boxes and boxes (and boxes) of flyers...
The next morning started with the inevitable Travelodge breakfast, and it was then on to Southampton's Turner Sims, which was once again sold out - we’re already excited about our two shows there on Sun 22 Dec.
A Travelodge breakfast - other hotels are, apparently, available... although no-one seems to have told Mike
Next it was on to Cadogan Hall in London - a prestigious concert hall which is rapidly becoming the Orchestra’s London home. In fact, our show in April marked the first of the four shows we are performing at Cadogan Hall in 2024 - we will be returning on Sat 12 Oct for a one-off show with the Down for the Count Swing Orchestra, and then for two shows on Sat 28 Dec as the finale of our Swing Into Christmas tour.
Conductor Mike Paul-Smith in front of our poster outside Cadogan Hall, London
After our show at Cadogan Hall, our heroic crew loaded up the two vans and headed up the M40 where we stayed overnight in Leamington Spa, ready for the early start to Manchester the next morning.
A quick recharge of the batteries is sometimes necessary on tour...
It was fantastic to be back in Manchester at The Stoller Hall, another firm favourite of the Down for the Count touring schedule - just as it was great to be at the beautiful St. George’s Hall in Liverpool the day after. (A venue that is a particular favourite of our front-of-house manager Ali Brown, as he gets access to the house PA system for the pre-show announcements…)
Down for the Count's front-of-house manager Ali Brown - he has a microphone, and he's not afraid to use it
The Liverpool show also saw the return of some familiar Down for the Count rituals - such as a trip to the legendary Teddy’s bar for the post-show celebrations. We love performing together on-stage, but we also love getting the chance to spend time together off-stage - and as the Orchestra only gathers together in its full capacity two to three times a year, we love to make the most of any time we have together!
The Down for the Count Orchestra in Teddy's
Finally, it was time for a long drive down from Liverpool to Bristol to finish out a fantastic tour. We were incredibly excited to return to St. George’s Bristol, as it was just our second performance with our Orchestra in the city. We virtually sold out the auditorium, and it was a huge pleasure to perform the show in front of an audience for one last time before the summer break.
After that, it was time for the crew to load the vans once more, return their radios to the case, and pose for a celebratory picture…
Our crew: (from L-R) Max Fagandini, Alex Western-King, Tim Rabbitt, Ruby Willis, James Smith, Ben Burton, Jack Childs, Alex Howgego, Mike Paul-Smith, Hannah Clift, Ali Brown, Simon Joyner (not pictured: Simon Chorley)
… before some people headed home, and a few others celebrated the tour with cocktails at a nearby bar. Here’s the survivor’s photo, taken at a respectable (for us!) 2.20am.
The official Tour Survivor's Photo: (from L-R) Ali Brown, Sophie Gledhill, Tom Fleming, Mike Paul-Smith
This tour may be over, but we have two more Songs from the Golden Age of Swing shows this year (in Nottingham and Oxford this October), and then in November and December we will be embarking on our largest-ever Christmas tour - heading to more cities and venues than ever before. Sales are already off to a strong start - with some venues over 50% sold already - and we can’t wait to share our passion for live music with audiences far and wide again.
Thanks so much to the audiences who headed out to see the Orchestra this April - we loved performing for you and can’t wait to return to the stage to create more magical moments in the near future!
Our visitor's book entry at St. George's Bristol
About the author
Ruby Willis is Down for the Count's marketing and communications officer. When she is not writing Facebook posts and making Instagram reels, she is often performing in short films or physical theatre shows.
