Blog: Totally Acoustic

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I had a bit of good news on Thursday afternoon - I'd got an INTERVIEW for one of the MA Courses I've been applying for! This was all VERY exciting, tho it did remind me that if i DO end up doing an MA there'll need to be some CHANGES, as I'm not going to have TIME to do all the things I do at the moment. One of the things I think WILL change is the frequency of Totally Acoustic - we're booked up to JUNE now and I think after that I might REST it for a while, maybe switching to the occasional all-dayer or something instead. WE SHALL SEE.

I was thinking these kind of THORTS because last night was the aforesaid Totally Acoustic at The King & Queen, and as I went upstairs to start putting out the chairs I began my usual routine of WORRY. Would anyone come? Would it work out all right? Would people be HAPPY?

FEAR continued as time passed not just because there weren't many people there (tho as ever the ones who WERE were a DELIGHT) but none of the ACTS were either! By half past seven I was thinking "Is this going to be the first time NOBODY turns up? Is the world ready for three sets of ME?!?" Luckily the Universe was SPARED as Ms Rebekah Delgado arrived at just this point, and Mr Peter Buckley Hill would follow soon after. ALSO a good portion of PEOPLE were rolling in, so the room was nicely PLUMP with audience by the time I went on and did THIS:

Totally Acoustic

All My Loving

The Battle Of Peterborough

A Little Bit

Chips And Cheese, Pint Of Wine

We Did It Anyway

I'd forgotten to bring the words for the theme tune so ended up having to do EXTRA COACHING to get everyone to sing it, but I think it worked out OK, and then i LAUNCHED into my version of "All My Loving" with perhaps more VIM than TUNE. Still, it seemed to go OK and I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the set, especially digging Chips And Cheese, Pint Of Wine out of the ARCHIVES. I've had a GRATE time practicing for this gig as I've rediscovered a LOAD of my old songs that, actually, are Quite Good! Being FREE from a SHOW has been lovely, if a little weird - I keep thinking "But... this song has no relation at all to the ongoing NARRATIVE"!

After a break it was Rebekah, who was EXCELLENT - she'd asked me not to tape it, which was a real shame as it sounded GORGEOUS, with added VIOLIN and SQUEEZEBOX and BACKING SINGERS. I've seen her be really good loads of times but I think this was my favourite gig of hers I'd seen - as ever with doing things Totally Acoustically it all felt more PERSONAL and you could HEAR everything perfectly. Also there was SHOWMANSHIP: costumes! SUBTITLES! It was magic, and I've STILL got "We All Break Sometimes" ZINGING through my head.

And then it was time for the man, the LEGEND, Mr Peter Buckley Hill. I'd wondered how he and Rebekah would GO together on a BILL, and how they went was GRATE - I think most people had come to see her, but PBH won the entire room round within MINUTES and then launched into an HOUR - an HOUR! - of hilarity. There was literally NO stopping him, with GAGS and SONGS and all round BRILLIANCE, ending triumphantly with "He's Dead, I'm Not". In a funny sort of way it's almost a shame that he's so well known as PBH Of The Free Fringe as that tends to overshadow the fact that he's a MIGHTY performer. Charming, fun, and VERY funny - i do think everybody who HE'S given gigs to over the years should think about booking HIM, he is GRATE!

So in the end it all worked out rather well, and I realised how much I'd miss it if i just STOPPED doing these shows. They might not be happening as often in the future, but it's SUCH a lovely idea I don't think they'll ever disappear completely!

posted 9/3/2012 by MJ Hibbett

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