Stanley Arts
With the lock down in London coming to an end, and the chance of gigs coming back to town, John’s agent and good friend Graeme Maile approached john offering him and IDMC their first gig which would be billed in from of a live audience. You know John, He jumped at the chance, but what made the gig even more special was that it was going to be held at a venue which was attached to his old secondary school. As soon as the gig was confirmed the posts on social media started to fly, and the gig was billed as the first in a series of “CONCERT ARE BACK” friends reunited events.
The show sold slowly as they thought it would as people were still very wary of coming back to venues where there were big number of people. The venue had to be set out Covid-19 sensitively so this meant that the venue capacity was reduced, but it was still a full show. The atmosphere was charged with the audience taking a while to settle as the caught up with friend they phoned to come, ones they hadn’t seen for over a year.
The choir prayed back stage and felt ready to bless the house.
With friend and buddy the infamous Anthony King as MC, he wasted no time in settling the audience and creating a fantastic foundation towards what would be an amazing evening. The set up was a big one, and the band was led this time by John second son Dayna, with Andre on drums, Clive on guitar, Wayne on keyboards along with Mike on percussion. The rich sound of the choir was enhanced by the skill of good friend and sound engineer Junior Hall.
IDMC delivered a full song set which saw the audience sing with full voices after not being allowed to sing at events for a year, they caught their breathe in moments of the show, where you could hear a pin drop such was the intensity of a couple of the classical songs that IDMC sang. The gig was promised as a night to remember and that it was. With support from UK songstress Sarah Teibo, and comedy from Bishop Shacklefoot, and with poetry from wordsmith Janice Whyne, the first gig back was a total success.
