Rock Tour 2 - Derby

After nearly a week off, the touring party were once again out on the road, for this, the penultimate performance of Rock Tour 2. But the journey was not without it's mishaps. Alan's beautiful new Audi decided to completely give up - all the electrics failed on the A38 in Birmingham, leaving him stranded with Helen and Viv, the prayer coordinator for the weekend. Thankfully Gill, a member of EBRG and one of the choreographers for Rock was reasonable nearby, and she drove Helen and Viv to Derby, where they arrived just in time for dinner. Alan arrived with Gill's husband Bill just in time for prayers before the performance. Everyone else arrived ok, apart from Laura and Ann, who got a little lost in Derby. They made it in the end though.

The Derby performance had been looked forward to with much anticipation by several members of the touring party. Marilyn, Laura, Felicity and Richard all had lots of people attending from their churches - Richard had sold a significant portion of the tickets for the night to his church, who came on a coach. Also, Helen's mum was part of the choir, along with several members of her church in Long Eaton.

The Derby performance has traditionally been organised by Ian MacLaren of Derby Wesley Owen. Ian retired a few months before the performance, but still helped with the organising along with other staff from the Wesley Owen who sold the tickets. The main Derby choir was trained by Peter Nelson, and they were supplemented by a choir from Nottingham trained by Anne Hicks, and a choir from Long Eaton trained by Jane Allen. It was the first time the Long Eaton choir had been involved.

The Derby Assembly Rooms have a unique layout for the performers. The stage itself is enormous both in breadth and depth, and is surrounded by a black wall about 3 metres high. At the top of this wall the choir seats started, almost like a balcony, and the choir was so big it surrounded three sides of the stage.

The performance was great fun - so much room to use, and tickets pretty much sold out. The choir sounded fantastic, and there was a great buzz in the auditorium afterwards.

Thanks so much to all those who worked so hard to make it all possible. The Derby choir always holds their own performances afterwards, so our thoughts and prayers are with you. And also with the Long Eaton choir, who are performing themselves on 26th April.