Festival Fun ’n’ Further Fantastic Friends!
Expect the unexpected they say! How true is that statement in Bessy’s world! Even when the chips are down and a despondent Bessy is really struggling to come to terms with the disappointment of not having her show at the Fringe for a second year, the musical universe reaches out with a wonderful surprise!
It’s not everyday that you receive a call from Cecily the Balloon Donkey inviting you to join the Musical Balloon Band for one of her performances of her “Belly Laugh Picnic”… at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe! But receive that call we did!!
Through a mutual contact, the wonderful Verona Chard got in touch to invite Bessy to perform in her show on Sunday 29th August at the Counting House Ballroom! Within seconds of chatting to Verona, I knew a new friendship had instantly formed! It was clear we were on the same wavelength. We have the same goal of sharing the wonderful world of music with children, love being creative and are always looking for collaborations and different ways to shout out our message!
A brief meeting ahead of the event consolidated the above and we were all set! Well, nearly… a short discussion and the wonderful Graeme Barclay of Beat Buddies music also got involved in the show.
The three of us met together outside Venue 170 on West Nicolson Street and it was instantly confirmed that this was going to be epic and very likely to be the first of many collaborations!
In true Fringe style, Bessy’s mic finally sprung into action about 3 seconds before the doors opened! The nostalgic stress was almost welcome…almost!! The show was a sell-out! The super-enthusiastic audience who patiently tracked’n’traced, were rewarded with balloons and goody bags and got stuck right into the show. I had nearly forgotten just how powerful under 9s voices could be! It was a wonderful sound!
The magic started at the doorway as Verona, dressed in her vibrant costume warmly welcomed our new friends. The real world seamlessly evaporating into the imaginary and very colourful world of the Musical Balloon Band! Balloon shapes were made, songs were sung and kazoos played as we all helped Cecily in the frantic searched for Lesula the monkey! Bessy was honoured to help and sang her heart out and Graeme led our enthusiastic audience with body percussion moves until finally, the missing monkey was found and the picnic could commence!
With Verona’s story and the incredible trust, understanding and connection between the three of us, the magical atmosphere that filled the ballroom continued till the last pair of feet, accompanied by wide eyes and excited chatter and smiles left the building an hour later.
This itself was more than enough to make our #basswithaface overflow with joy, but there was more…
Amongst our capacity audience was our newest friend. What are the odds?? Our wonderful friend Pam that featured in our last blog had a surprise visit from her young, double bassist grandson!!
Long story short, there he was…for real…in the second front row of the audience! This is worth a blog of its own…watch this space!!
