Natasha Marsh & Amore @ Audley End - 5 August 2012
Aug 6, 2012 23:03:16 GMT
Post by John on Aug 6, 2012 23:03:16 GMT
Am I mad? Sometimes I wonder; other times I am sure .
This was the weather forecast for Sunday
Now, who in their right mind would set off to drive two hours to an open-air concert in an unknown place in that sort of weather, especially when they hadn’t even booked a ticket in advance?
It had been raining most of the morning at home too, but the draw of Natasha Marsh and Amore was just too great for me to resist . So casting caution aside (well, not totally, as I had packed waterproofs and an umbrella) I set off on my journey into the unknown wilds of Essex . Google had told me that the quickest route would take me 1 hour and 42 minutes. Google never gets journey times right . Things were going fine until I reached the massive queue for the Dartford tunnel (for anyone reading abroad, this is a toll road crossing the River Thames on London’s orbital motorway). Just as well I had left plenty of time. Eventually I got through and headed North through the spray. The rain had eased off by the time I started to encounter signs for Audley End. As I turned in through the gates, I glanced at the clock and noticed that it was just 1 hour and 42 minutes after I had left home .
Trudging through the muddy car park field towards the concert venue, I heard the sound of what I assumed was canned music. However, when I came within sight of the stage, I saw that there were some musicians actually playing, albeit dressed rather scruffily. The sound I had been hearing was the orchestra practicing. It was by now several hours after the gates had opened but there was still space right at the front for me to set up my folding chair. No sooner had I sat down than Natasha Marsh came onto the stage for her sound check.
I knew that my journey had been worth the effort.
After Natasha had finished, Peter, David, Victoria and Monica (the quartet ‘Amore’) came on for their sound check.
Finding that it didn’t quite work with them all spread in a line across the front of the stage, they eventually settled on a grouping to one side of the conductor.
In truth, it wasn’t so much a sound check as their practice with the orchestra, mainly so that the musicians and conductor would know what changes they would have to make to the familiar pieces which make up much of Amore’s repertoire.
After the musicians had left the stage, there was still a couple of hours to explore the grounds before the concert was due to start.
This was the weather forecast for Sunday
East of England
Forecast Summary
Sunday
Sunny intervals, but showers will develop quite widely, often heavy with a chance of hail and thunder. Some torrential downpours are possible.
Forecast Summary
Sunday
Sunny intervals, but showers will develop quite widely, often heavy with a chance of hail and thunder. Some torrential downpours are possible.
Now, who in their right mind would set off to drive two hours to an open-air concert in an unknown place in that sort of weather, especially when they hadn’t even booked a ticket in advance?
It had been raining most of the morning at home too, but the draw of Natasha Marsh and Amore was just too great for me to resist . So casting caution aside (well, not totally, as I had packed waterproofs and an umbrella) I set off on my journey into the unknown wilds of Essex . Google had told me that the quickest route would take me 1 hour and 42 minutes. Google never gets journey times right . Things were going fine until I reached the massive queue for the Dartford tunnel (for anyone reading abroad, this is a toll road crossing the River Thames on London’s orbital motorway). Just as well I had left plenty of time. Eventually I got through and headed North through the spray. The rain had eased off by the time I started to encounter signs for Audley End. As I turned in through the gates, I glanced at the clock and noticed that it was just 1 hour and 42 minutes after I had left home .
Trudging through the muddy car park field towards the concert venue, I heard the sound of what I assumed was canned music. However, when I came within sight of the stage, I saw that there were some musicians actually playing, albeit dressed rather scruffily. The sound I had been hearing was the orchestra practicing. It was by now several hours after the gates had opened but there was still space right at the front for me to set up my folding chair. No sooner had I sat down than Natasha Marsh came onto the stage for her sound check.
I knew that my journey had been worth the effort.
After Natasha had finished, Peter, David, Victoria and Monica (the quartet ‘Amore’) came on for their sound check.
Finding that it didn’t quite work with them all spread in a line across the front of the stage, they eventually settled on a grouping to one side of the conductor.
In truth, it wasn’t so much a sound check as their practice with the orchestra, mainly so that the musicians and conductor would know what changes they would have to make to the familiar pieces which make up much of Amore’s repertoire.
After the musicians had left the stage, there was still a couple of hours to explore the grounds before the concert was due to start.