Tour diary: wrapping up a busy October
As we prepare to kick off our Swing Into Christmas tour, we wanted to look back at another month of great gigs and lovely audiences. Here’s a toast to the lovely October we had with our new marketing and communications officer, Polis Loizou-Denyer.
Following our sellout debut appearance last Christmas, we returned to the vibrant city of Nottingham with our Songs from the Golden Age of Swing show. Though our audience was a little smaller this time, they filled the lovely Albert Hall with their enthusiasm. We can’t wait to be back in December - that show is selling incredibly fast so get your tickets before they have gone!
Post-show celebrations took place across some of Nottingham’s livelier establishments. One involved table-dancing – not by us, thankfully – although a member of the band (who shall remain nameless) was refused entry on account of wearing tracksuit bottoms. The price you pay for comfort!
The next morning, we hit the road again, with a new member in tow: me. From Nottingham, where I live, I made my way to London with Alex Howgego (pianist) and Simon Joyner (trumpeter and arranger) in Ludwig, the comfy smaller van of the two that serve the band.
At the fabulous Cadogan Hall, we had a belter of a show. Callum Gillies lent his smooth vocals for one more time before a brief hiatus, during which he’ll become a father! We’re really looking forward to the arrival of a new Down for the Count fan. We hope that baby’s into swing.
Rehearsals at Cadogan Hall, with Callum Gillies on the mic and Mike Paul-Smith conducting
Callum’s T-shirt: “Stay Dad” or “Stay rad”? You decide!
Apart from being a soon-to-be first-time dad, Callum also got to try scat-singing, in an impromptu scat-off with Marvin Muoneké during the rousing Little Liza Jane.
Marvin not only dazzled the room with his powerhouse vocals, but he also hooked the audience into a little “call and response”. It’s safe to say a good time was had by all.
After the show, some of us headed for post-show drinks...
... and the next day, Mike and Chris managed to squeeze in a private performance at London's super glamorous Savoy Hotel.
After a few days' rest, we were off on the road again with our 10-piece All-Stars band, for the final leg of our A Century of Swing tour. This tour has been going since early 2023 and we'll be sad to say goodbye to it!
We started in Huddersfield, at the lovely Lawrence Batley theatre, a place that will always have fond memories for us as it was one of the very first theatres we performed at after the COVID lockdowns.
Then it was back to one of our absolute favourite venues: the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where a few of our band members studied to become the fine bassists, saxophonists and trumpet-players they are today. One of those musicians is Tim Rabbitt, who enjoyed reminiscing about his student days at a romantic pre-show takeaway Pho dinner with Mike in his dressing room.
The venue’s great acoustics sure helped us soak up the warm response from our audience! A lot of them joked that they’d better take a flyer for the Christmas show from me, so that I wouldn’t be fired. I can only assume Mike had made threats along those lines, but I’m OK with any tactic that garners sympathy for me.
On this leg of the tour, we got to perform with the wonderful Sam Furlonger, whose vocals certainly flew audiences to the moon. He was joined by our much-loved regular, Lydia Bell, “the best female singer currently working the jazz, pop and cabaret circuit” if the lovely Jazz Journal review of our Cadogan Hall show is anything to go by.
Liverpool’s Tung Auditorium (in the impressive Yoko Ono Lennon Centre) also brought us great acoustics and a warm crowd. Best of all, it also gave us a romantically-lit green room in which to scoff our Deliveroo pizzas, along with extra sandwiches that the cafe had to throw out.
If that wasn’t rock-and-roll enough, we spent the night at a Travelodge on the Mersey, which had a very “edge of the world” vibe. And if there’s one thing we’re sure of, it’s that even at the edge of the world, there will be a pub open after midnight.
In store for me was a very spiritually fulfilling way to round off a visit to one of my favourite cities: I bought a chocolate bar from the vending machine but it got stuck, so a strong lady came to shake the machine till it gave up my snack in fear. 10/10 stay, no notes.
Travelodge at the end of the world
Then it was on to Worcester and the intimate converted chapel Huntingdon Hall for the final stop on this leg, after which we all headed back home for a rest - but only for a few days, as we headed down to London for a Motown show at Pizza Express on the 23rd, and a fabulous vocal harmony rehearsal for the Swing Into Christmas tour with our amazing singers on the 24th.
Bristol’s Little Theatre was next. Some of our team are locals to the area – in fact, Hannah (who is our stage manager for the swing orchestra tours) popped along just to hang out with the band, and even handed out flyers for the Christmas show at the end. The dedication is unwavering. (We’re not a cult, we swear.) As always, Bristol was a joy and we are hoping to share some excited Bristol-related news with you in the not too distant future!
Finally, we made it to Leicester for our first ever gig in the city. And honestly, what a way to wrap up this tour – one of our best shows yet! Ineza Kerschkamp and Marvin Muoneké delivered their reliably sizzling vocals, and were matched by a bevy of solos from our musicians. My favourite were the sax ones, because who doesn’t look cool playing the saxophone?
A (friendly) tenor sax duel between Alex Clarke and Jack Perry-Cockings
Our first-time Leicester audience were so enthusiastic that the “call and response” segment of Little Liza Jane could’ve gone on for another hour. Don’t worry, we wouldn’t do that to you. But we’ll gladly take the rapturous applause again. It certainly set the bar high for when we return to Leicester, for Swing Into Christmas at the end of the month at Empire Hall.
That brings us to the end of our October Overview. Personally, I had a blast. If I’d ever wondered whether getting a job with a fun bunch of talented swing musicians was a good idea, I think it’s safe to say I’m glad to be part of this.
About the author
Polis Loizou-Denyer is Down for the Count's marketing and communications officer. Though it's a long time since he played an instrument himself, he likes to keep creative with his own writing, performing, theatre making, filmmaking and oral storytelling.
