RAINBOW CHORUS: O Come, All Ye Fabulous
And fabulous it was, despite some obvious technical problems and some members being laid low with a festive bug. It’s the commitment, love and camaraderie that mark this choir out as something very special and nothing ever stands in the way of them delivering an evening of pure joy.
When I mention technical issues I refer to a lack of lighting, a hitch we were told, but a common problem over the years where whoever is in charge prefers to light the altar of St George’s and the beautiful barrel vaulted ceiling, rather than the choir members. And who gave musical director, the bundle of energy that is Aneesa Chaudrhy a kazoo in place of a microphone? Hiccups maybe but some avoidable.
None of this however detracts from the fun in a serious way and it might only be a grumpy old curmudgeon like me who would even mention it.
The first half opened with Vivaldi’s Gloria In Excelsis Deo, and from the smiles on their faces you can see that they love to sing this. In fact everything that they sing with smiles on their faces stands out. Does being happy make you a better singer? Maybe it does.
Next Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now came packed with appropriate energy and a sign of what was to come. To follow a beautiful arrangement of a favourite of mine, Shenandoah. It always brings happy memories to me but in the latter part on this occasion there were a few unexpected meanders in the river.
To follow a bit of Billie Eilish equally well performed with huge smiles so maybe my theory plays out.
RC+ is an outbreak section of the chorus for people who may be less confident or unable to attend on a regular basis. It is a brilliant initiative and they sing with the same enthusiasm as the main choir but with fewer rehearsals. A piece of Bob Dylan had a poignant relevance to modern times despite being written in the 1960s, whatever has happened to the concept of a protest song? This was followed by Flashlight, an opportunity for the lighting loon to deliver some utterly artless beams onto the ceiling!
The chorus then delivered One Sweet Day before a small group, apparently meeting under their own initiative, gave us Keeping The Dream Alive, evidence that this is more than just a choir, this is a community.
To round off part one the full chorus went full out to perform Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe’s thunderous anthem Barcelona. Well what a way to round up part one, rousing stuff on every level.
After the break a small group delivered A Hazy Shade Of Winter, a Paul Simon song that sat well as an opener here before we were sent headlong into Christmas mode. It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas sees the choir at perhaps their harmonic best, a classic arrangement that highlights the different voices with such charm.
Then came, for me, a new highlight with a monster mash-up of festive carols overlaid by the theme from Mission Impossibe. Christmas Impossible is quite simply a crazy but delicious treat!
Riu Riu Chiu next, always a crowd pleaser and here sung so confidently by the full chorus before heading into the very exacting and entertaining arrangement by Bob Chilcot of The Twelve Days Of Christmas and features a solo from bass Paul Simpson. What a romp that is, and what fun seeing the signers trying to keep up.
Oh Holy Night always makes me cry, enough said, and wiping away a tear we are invited to join in singing Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, which clearly we were all having.
Fairytale Of New York is a modern phenomenon, a ribald relic of a time where we were perhaps less woke, and one that despite that is now seen as an appropriate Christmas Carol. Personally I am not in favour of the whitewashing of lyrics penned in a different era, but here, to appease those who might be offended we get the word haggard in a clumsy and less than satisfying rhyme. Ah well, once more that is just me, cancel me if you care to.
To finish the evening the delightful strains of Pachebel’s Canon are overlaid with perhaps the prettiest of traditional carols, The First Noel. I liked this, a gentle end to an evening of song rather than a big and camp queer anthem.
Rainbow Chorus stand for everything that is good about the city’s LGBTQI+ scene, community, love and resilience. A statement of what has been achieved but also of how much more is needed in this world which right now seems to have gone into reverse.
Andrew Kay
14 December
St George’s Kemp Town
Rating:
