The Thames River - Chills the Body, Not the Soul
October 17th marked our first ever busking expedition along the cold and windy Southbank of the Thames. The night before had been one of responsible merriment at our social, so needless to say the next morning brought with it much dread and regret.
Setting up camp on the Southbank that early you begin to notice two things:
You have a plethora of choices when it comes to finding a prime performance space, and that’s because:
Literally no one else is crazy enough to commit themselves to such tomfoolery!
But we were, and we had.
And so, with baited breath, we began to sing to our ‘audience’ which included sand-sculptors, seagulls, and grey buildings!
One hour in and we entered into a game of survival of the fittest. 3 or 4 passersby stopped briefly to listen but then hurried on, giving us a pitying glance as they sought out a cafe and/or restaurant.
Determined to not let our spirits dampen, we decided to sing one of our choral favourites, and as we reached the climax of the piece a security guard bounded along and forced us to stop. Mixed feelings were being voiced by the choir. While it was unfair to make us stop singing in a public space, (I read the law! I know my rights!!), his timing could not have been better! Thoughts of warm pie and tea flowed through the minds of all the choir members present. It was our chance to get warm before we were chilled to the bone...
But, as luck would have it (or let’s call it ‘irony’); the security guard had other ideas for us! Rather than escort us off the premises, the kind – or perhaps sadistic- security guard led us to a spot where it would be free to busk for as long as our bodies could hold out.
By this time, more people had started to filter onto the Southbank with their children; significant others and/or pets, and the responses we received were phenomenal! Hoards gathered round to marvel at our choir’s mellifluent sound. One passerby commented afterwards that “it almost seemed like you all moulded together and became one voice, my daughter absolutely loved hearing it!” – Hopefully we’ll see more people like him again!
All in all, though a cold autumn day, we learnt that no matter what the weather, singing with friends will always keep us warm! ☺
If you would like to hear Carpe Harmonia sing, why not check out our events page for more details about our Concert on the 13th of December and our busking on the 5th & 18th of December to raise money for St Mungo’s Charity.
