One night in Manchester
Andy & Katy here!
We don't do that many 'function' gigs these days; travelling around the country visiting every theatre known to exist generally keeps us pretty busy. Sometimes it's just nice to do something different. So playing at the famous 'Midland Hotel', Manchester on the 10th of Feb promised to be a pleasant change.
The crew started getting the equipment in from midday, so the snow-lined journey from Frome made for a short sleep. How they keep going is beyond us. We turned up with Mark at about 5.00pm. Soundcheck at 6.00 was followed by the saltiest lasagne in history and a veggie alternative so late all the non-meat-eaters had vanished to the pub! Now the real work begins.
Private gigs like this involve a lot of sitting around waiting to start, and this was certainly no exception. We were to do an hour of the show as a cabaret at about 9.30; then finish the night with up to an hour of dance music ending at 1.00am.
That was the plan. In the end we only started the dance section after 12.30!
What kept us hanging around for so long? A very good cause indeed.
The evening was organised by Mike Hymanson as a fund raising event for Children's Aid, in particular the Young Oncology Unit at Christie Hospital.
The unit had been the final home for a 19 year-old, Robert Broude, who took it upon himself to tell the authorities exactly where they were failing the young patients and how to make their time in this environment infinitely more bearable.
His legacy has been carried on by his family and this evening was the end of 18 months fundraising for better amenities, equipment, leisure facilities and more.
This evening was about reaching a large total. With the aid of some celebrity singers - Chris Fountain from Hollyoaks, Andy Whymant (Kirk) from Corrie, and Jane McDonald (one time arch enemy of Katy, but actually a really nice lady!) from Loose Women - and an auction of many sporting and entertainment rarities that total was easily reached.
More than £50,000 on the night bringing the grand total to over £250,000!
Okay, it was a very late night by the time we reached Peterborough, but it felt good to be a small part of something so worth while.
We don't do that many 'function' gigs these days; travelling around the country visiting every theatre known to exist generally keeps us pretty busy. Sometimes it's just nice to do something different. So playing at the famous 'Midland Hotel', Manchester on the 10th of Feb promised to be a pleasant change.
The crew started getting the equipment in from midday, so the snow-lined journey from Frome made for a short sleep. How they keep going is beyond us. We turned up with Mark at about 5.00pm. Soundcheck at 6.00 was followed by the saltiest lasagne in history and a veggie alternative so late all the non-meat-eaters had vanished to the pub! Now the real work begins.
Private gigs like this involve a lot of sitting around waiting to start, and this was certainly no exception. We were to do an hour of the show as a cabaret at about 9.30; then finish the night with up to an hour of dance music ending at 1.00am.
That was the plan. In the end we only started the dance section after 12.30!
What kept us hanging around for so long? A very good cause indeed.
The evening was organised by Mike Hymanson as a fund raising event for Children's Aid, in particular the Young Oncology Unit at Christie Hospital.
The unit had been the final home for a 19 year-old, Robert Broude, who took it upon himself to tell the authorities exactly where they were failing the young patients and how to make their time in this environment infinitely more bearable.
His legacy has been carried on by his family and this evening was the end of 18 months fundraising for better amenities, equipment, leisure facilities and more.
This evening was about reaching a large total. With the aid of some celebrity singers - Chris Fountain from Hollyoaks, Andy Whymant (Kirk) from Corrie, and Jane McDonald (one time arch enemy of Katy, but actually a really nice lady!) from Loose Women - and an auction of many sporting and entertainment rarities that total was easily reached.
More than £50,000 on the night bringing the grand total to over £250,000!
Okay, it was a very late night by the time we reached Peterborough, but it felt good to be a small part of something so worth while.
