Friday 24 February 2012

A weekend in the life of Down for the Count

The weekend of the 3rd -5th of February was a busy one for Down For The Count, and definitely had its fair share of challenges and surprises! With swing, soul and lots and LOTS of snow on the agenda, here's a little snippet of what went down...

The 3rd of February 2012 meant one thing and one thing only for the folks here at DFTC: the eagerly-awaited Down For TheCount LIVE at Crouch End Music Palace, London!

The first of many public concerts in this stylish yet homely venue, the band swung the hall to the rafters with two sets of our finest, premium-quality jazz and soul. Set-up was a breeze, with everyone chipping in and knuckling down, and soon soundcheck was under way. This time we were polishing up our new addition of backing vocals by the very lovely Kate, Claire and Steve, and as a rare treat we had the stonkin' duo of BOTH of our premier singers, Katie and Nicky, who delivered a cracking duet of 'Me And My Shadow'!


Once we were finished, the venue looked a treat:


And the rest, as they say, is history - if you don't believe us, read a rave review from Hire-a-Band's Martin Kyprianides! A fantastic gig, and a tradition in the making: head on to our next performance here on the 4th of May, when we will be opening the very first Crouch End Festival.


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But the fun didn't stop there, oh dear me, no. After a well-earned rest at DFTC Towers (aka Mike and Amelia's flat), Rich and Simon nipped off to Budgens for what can only be described a a brunch fit for a Count (sigh), perfectly cooked by Claire:


After that it was straight off in the car, on our way to Eynsham Hall, West Oxfordshire - Simon was in the middle. Cue obligatory panoramic car photo:


As we approached Oxfordshire however, the snow began to fall… so much of it! So that by the time we arrived the beautiful venue looked like this:


A fantastic wedding was to follow, and such a success it was that the venue has asked us back for a charity ball in aid of Ovacome! Energetic as ever, we were still full of beans enough to have a little play in the snow afterwards:


Fortunately, high spirits were exactly what we needed next - as a long, LONG journey back along the M40, and a skillful but hazardous drive by Mike back to the unit, saw us arriving home at 5.30am (an average journey speed of 16 miles an hour) - but not a minute of it wasn't good, bandterous fun.  We even had our text message read out by Richard Allinson on early-morning BBC Radio 2!  Down For The Count's epic weekend in the snow was certainly one to remember.


1 comment:

  1. Dear Mike and the Band,

    Sorry it's taken us so long to write this, but we just wanted to say how grateful we are that we chose Down For The Count for our wedding -- you were perfect! The music was amazing, and the band were so professional. We're just sorry it took you so long to get home again in the snow afterwards!

    Thank You!

    Jenny & Dan

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