Sunday 29 April 2012

More dates for the 2012



More dates for the collective diary were confirmed at the last Workshop on 22nd April these being

Sunday 13th May - Workshop 5 - 7 pm 

Sunday 20th May - Workshop 6 - 8 pm (Note later time)

Sunday 3rd June - Performance at Ashton Keynes Big Lunch on the High Road, Ashton Keynes, 1:15pm (assemble from 12:45 if you please)

Sunday 3rd June - (Yes, same day!) Performance at Chippenham Folk Festival

Looking further ahead there are more dates:

Sunday 17th June - Workshop 5 - 7 pm
Weekend of 22nd June to 24th June BlokeFest - see BlokeFest.net for more info

1st July - possible performance in Glastonbury awaiting confirmation

7th July - Wiltshire Wailers in Trowbridge

and a couple more things in the pipeline to be confirmed.

Thursday 19 April 2012

Singing again this Sunday

Don't forget this coming Sunday 22nd April we have our next scheduled workshop where we will be having one of our final rehearsals before our extensive "Summer Season". Start at the usual time of 5pm til 7pm in the Back Room of The White Hart (pictured right).

We will be exploring our inner minstrels with broadly the same set list as we have been peddling for a few months now and sounding magnificent in the process. We may recap on a few "oldies", like Tsmidao and Concrete so be prepared, but the majority of what Chris ChoirMeister intends to cover was used at the last couple of gigs and will be expanded to include the "Duct Tape Madrigal". Don't worry about trying to become familiar with it in advance of the Workshop as it will be taught in full on the day.

If you want to revise any of the other material from our back catalog, no, make that Do revise the songs, then visit http://soundcloud.com/the-magnificent-ak47/sets/currentpracticematerial/ and we look forward to seeing you on Sunday when we will update you on plans, dates and BlokeFest.

P.S. There are still a couple of calendars left should you feel the need for the ideal Spring Souvenir.

Saturday 14 April 2012

A study in concentration

Ah! Doesn't Nick look angelic? His mum would be proud. Big Mike on the other hand looks a little like he may have been asked to reach a note that is just a little too high and is thinking "you have to be having a laugh" and considering it a "bit of a no go, mate"!

This study in concentration was taken at this year's St Christopher's gig and was forwarded on to us by Chris A from his mighty collection of Bloke Moments captured on camera. We hope to publish a few more like these to our flickr account for your delight and viewing edification at some point and if any of you out there have any others you would like to share then please let us know via themagnificentak47@gmail.com.

Go on, make someone else's mum proud of her singing bloke of a son.

;-)

P.S. Post initial post (if you follow that) edit, the photo was merely cropped by Chris A from a collection of photos posted by Chris S at http://www.box.com but thanks to anyone named Chris all the same!

Thursday 12 April 2012

Two Blokes in a truck

Some times we do wonder, what it is that makes Blokes do the things they do. Is it the need to return to their primeval roots and satisfy that wanderlust or just a good reason to escape the daily grind of modern living?

Whatever the reason, the opportunity came up for Big Mike to join the truly inspiring party animal / master engineer that is his big mate Tony of Wootton-under-Edge on a once in a lifetime trip to the wilds of Morocco in a massive truck. (Ok some of you might know about Mike's other recent once in lifetime trip to Morocco on a massive motor bike, but that was different, right?!!)

We are expecting some magnificent "Where were you when" T-Shirt competition entries and you can see some sneak previews by heading over to their very own blog at 2meninatruck.blogspot.co.uk. We hope the trip continues to go well and look forward to seeing Mike back safe and sound once again.

Wednesday 11 April 2012

100 up! The Saga continues, the singing gets better and better

Hitting quite a landmark with this post, 100 entries over the course of almost exactly 1 year! That is a scary "posting rate" but perhaps simply reflects just how much we have done over the last twelve months. Any how, well done to the Blokes and our regular correspondents and contributors for their dedication.

And here is the latest blurb submitted to the Ashton Keynes Parish magazine.

The Saga continues, the singing gets better and better . . .

Back in the saddle – recent Performances

After what seems like too long a gap for the Yuletide period and New Year the lads were pressed back into action with a mere couple of rehearsals in the back room of The White Hart before launching ourselves upon the now suspecting public. After two years of being able to cover up many of our vocal shortcomings by having more costume changes than songs we suddenly, and almost unexpectedly, discovered that we could sing, rather well!

This came as quite a shocking revelation to many of our number, but it may well have been helped with the swelling of our numbers by blokes from as far away as Pewsey, Stroud and even Oxford.

Saturday 25th Feb 2012 Singing for Laughs in Marlborough
This was the first gig of the year and we have been invited back for a third year, which must say something profound, if only we could think what that is . . . Whatever profundity it reveals it is nothing compared to the heights of what we achieved that night. We had watched England narrowly beaten by Wales in the 6 Nations Rugby which thankfully meant that our Welsh Choirmeister was in particularly good form and despite a little too much shouting at the TV in the pub we were in particularly good voice, as can be witnessed by the recordings from the event, available via our website themagnificentak47.com.

Sat 3rd March 2012 at St Christopher's in Bristol.
The following week it was on to another repeat event – this time we more than held our own with some highly talented kids choir and three other groups. Again it was very gratifying to be told by our Choirmeister how much he had enjoyed the performance and overhearing several other conversations, it appeared that many others shared his opinion. For reviews and photos of this and other events please see our website.

Next – more rehearsal and more gigs

By the time this newsletter hits the streets there should be a good number of additional dates posted for rehearsals and gigs – all the information can be found, you’ve guessed it, on our website.

Announcing BlokeFest

We are very excited to announce the arrival of BlokeFest, our very own festival celebrating the cult of Blokedom. For one weekend in June we’re going to sing like blokes, act like men and get to be one of the guys. Our guiding philosophy is that singing is a truly manly activity as long as you sing the right stuff, in the right way, with the right men: think Shanties not shandies; Lumberjack not Timberlake, DiY not R’n B.

We have been beavering away behind the scenes for quite some while now and things are beginning to come together with our embryonic schedule:

Friday – visit to Stroud Brewery, food, drink and singing then camp overnight

Saturday – series of workshops for all things Bloke, singing, axe throwing, hog roasting and other such activities

Sunday – more singing, some walking and a bit more eating, drinking and singing

It may surprise you to know that much more can be found on a website, namely

http://blokefest.net. If you are a bloke and would like to join in, numbers are strictly limited to 100 so if you are quick you might be able to still get a ticket.

Unlock your Inner Minstrel – Become a new recruit for our singing troupe

To quote from our constitution, page 2, section 5, paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 “From time to time The Inner Circle may let it be known that the Group may be open to new members to be invited to join. Also from time to time, those wishing to join the Group may let a member or members of the Group know that they may wish to be considered to be invited to join. These potential new members will be invited to attend a meeting, be it workshop, social event, Pow Wow or other type of meeting, to assess whether they would like to be invited to join the Group on a continual basis, and whether the Group would like to invite them to join the Group on a continual basis.

This continued extension of the invitation to be a member will be dependent on the following criteria being achieved:

1. the member can hold a tune to a level appropriate for the rest of the group

2. is a decent bloke and fits in with the rest of the Group and does not do anything untoward

3. pays any subscriptions as may be required, all subscriptions being payable on demand and within a reasonable time frame (even allowing for poor memories and general incompetence).

Members are expected to demonstrate a commitment to Blokiness and gestures of pointless grandeur. In addition, wearing of hats commensurate with the subject matter that is being performed is to be encouraged at all times.”

But don’t be put off by this pseudo-seriousness, we take our singing, fun and silliness just as seriously! We have many, many hours of entertainment and Bonhommie with a great bunch of Blokes who really enjoy each others’ company. We have some truly inspirational teachers and as we learn more about the art of singing we make an increasingly sophisticated sound which we unleash on unsuspecting audiences with around half a dozen or more performances a year. If you are a bloke who is interested in joining in then email us at themagnificentak47@gmail.com or visit http://www.themagnificentak47.com/ to find out more about what we get up to and all our forthcoming events. Which leads us nicely on to

Forthcoming Events

At time of going to press, current plans for rehearsal dates include the following dates in the back room of The White Hart pub, High Road, Ashton Keynes, unless stated otherwise:

Sunday 22nd April 5-7pm - Workshop with Chris Samuel

At The White Hart back room

More information and up to date listings can be found at our regularly updated website.

Come and join us

If you are a Bloke who might like to join in the mixture of heartfelt lyrics, (intentionally) “tricky” harmonies, occasional beer and magnificent silliness, then to find out more about “The Magnificent AK47” from http://www.themagnificentak47.com/ or email themagnificentak47@gmail.com.

The Inner Circle
Sing Like a Bloke Chapter
Ashton Keynes
aka The Magnificent AK47

Sunday 1 April 2012

Your very own Magnificent Action Figure

After the run away success of this year's The Magnificent AK47 Calendar and the Spring Collection T-Shirt range, a C.AM.E.L. (Committee Authorised with Management Executive Level powers) was instigated lead by Dr Sweeney to explore the options for other merchandising opportunities.

After many hours hard work with focus groups, in depth discussions (and probably far too much time spent in pubs) the team are proud to unveil their creation on the eagerly awaiting public, our very own Magnificent AK47 Action Figure, Pirate Pete.

This is model is planned to be the first of a number of limited edition figurines designed to celebrate the manliness of our singing collective. The figures come with their own set of accessories, including minature tankards and also come with pull chord that will result in the merry lad piping up with a chorus or two of some of our classics. Pirate Pete leading the way with a rousing "Haul Away Joe" and other phrases.

These priceless memorabilia will not be available in shops or any other retail channels and will only be available for a special limited time period.

Don't delay, pre-order yours now before the offer ends 1st April 2012!