Magnificent 2016

It's been a Magnificent year, even by our high standards, so worth recapping a few moments to savour them all the little bit more...

From top left moving clockwise, spiraling into the centre...: the caged lions of song before they unleashed the sound of testosterone and thunder at Stroud Fringe; those 'ombres at Bath Old Theatre Royal; Singing in The Barn, Ciren; Singing in the cold in Cricklade; a suitable reward for our ChoirMeister; #MagnificentDerry; Singing in the Shed; More utterly #MagnificentDerry; Singing on the seafront at Lyme Regis; Singing in Bath Abbey; Singing on Giant's Causeway...

And we thought we would celebrate another Magnificent year of art work from our ArtMeister and CartoonMeister...  some more superb material.

And it is also worth noting that we have been in the media more than ever before which is a testament to the hard graft and unseen work (until it's published!) done by our splendid MediaMeisters.  Here is a sample of some of the media highlights.

Highlights of Magnificent 2016?

#MagnificentDerry has to be the stand out memory... what a trip!  So much packed into those five days.  The fun of being a big black-clad gang boarding the plane, singing all over Derry and the surrounding parts, the Bushmills Distillery visit, the Choral Competition, the "Sing-off" with all the other choirs, the trips, the hanging out, the Radio Show, all legendary.

BlokeFest 2016 - another brilliant event that surpassed all others to date, more fun, more food, more cake.  A great souvenir video.  Well done to the organisers and here's to whatever is in store for 2017.

Other highlights include:
"Singing in The Shed"; singing in The Barn; a grotto; a distillery; on city walls; in the oldest building in the land; all over the SS Great Britain; on a sea front stage being dive bombed by seagulls with the waves lapping nearby; on Giant's Causeway with the waves crashing very nearby; in Bath Abbey and that immense acoustic; Bath Old Theatre Royal / Masonic Lodge; the most diverse and inclusive Beer & Carols yet... the list is long but must end here.

Great times, places and people and song - Let's do it all again in 2017!

Calendar should start working soon

In exciting news, we need to inform you that The Magnificent AK47 2017 calendar should start working any day now, so to help you get to grips with the niceties of using it, try copying out our known schedule for 2017.

Already we have a host of fun packed features planned, including a few exciting trips, a return to the Ashton Keynes Music and (now also) Arts Festival and some other stuff that hasn't quite materialised yet.

The past twelve months have been quite Magnificent and we look forward to another imperious year ahead, wishing you all well and thanking you for all your support in whatever capacity.

Much Magnificent Love to one and all.

Beautiful? Us?? On the BBC Radio again

One of the ladies who visited us the other week has been busy editing what she recorded and, dare we say it, has made us sound actually quite good!

You can judge for yourself on http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04h5y5w if you scroll in around 1 hour and 12 minutes and you can hear Marie come out with quite a remarkable statement towards the very end.

We've never been called beautiful before...

Ladies everywhere #2 & #3

"It is a rare occurrence to have a community choir that is this dominated by blokes" ("bottom heavy" some might say), was more or less what our belovéd ChoirMeister, Mr Chris Samuel proclaimed at our workshop last Wednesday.

Indeed, a rare moment of allowing a second set of ladies into our secret lives of BlokeSong in the one evening as we were joined by some of the finest women folk of Ashton Keynes to rehearse some Yuletide pieces that are being especially prepared for the forthcoming "Beer and Carols" in The White Hart Inn pub Thursday 15th December.

And talking of the pub, here is a very happy Abbie a little later that same evening with her copy of our Magnificent 2017 Calendar hot(ish) off the presses.

Come and join us in the pub for what promises to be another great night out simply singing and enjoying great company.

Ladies everywhere #1

Interesting evening at our Workshop rehearsal last night as we were infiltrated by a number of non-Blokes...

First we had Marie from Radio Wiltshire with some very high tech kit recording some of our singing and conducting a couple of interviews.

More to come in the next couple of postings.

Barnstorming gig at The Barn

What a great night at the newly re-vamped The Barn Theatre in Cirencester!

A re-invigorated venue and a huge leap forward for the local scene, much as was the blokes' performance from their last performance at the Barn.

Some cracking moments including a killer version of one of our newest songs about the travails of men in the 21st century which brought the house down and resulted in a deserved encore.

Well done to all who worked so hard to make it happen.  Here's to many more excellent acts treading the boards and now it is officially time to say "Roll on a Magnificent Yuletide!"

Three Word Friday - Gig nearly sold-out

Pedant's amongst you should not only read to the end of this article but acknowledge that "Gig nearly sold-out" counts as a three worder by dint of playing the "Hyphon Card".

Whichever way you spell it, we are very close to selling out to the point where we are having to withdraw the option to purchase through the Tourist Information Centre in favour of just using our website.

It seems that some last minute surge following the article in the Wilts and Gloucs Standard and piece on Corinium Radio has nearly tipped us over the edge.



So, to secure your tickets you will have to very quickly head http://www.themagnificentak47.com/tickets/...

And for the pendants who have read down this far, we know who you are and say "bless you" and thank goodness for the misappropriation of apostrophe's!  

The Magnificent calendar is back!

After an absence of a couple of years, The Magnificent AK47 calendar is back and being launched for sale this coming Saturday 19th November at our gig at The Barn, Cirencester amid great excitement (at least amongst us).

It features more than a dozen fabulous photos taken over the past months by various members of the group and has been stitched together under the expert and enthusiastic care of Chris A and DR Sweeney.

From sneak previews that have been seen it is going to look quite, er, Magnificent and will be an ideal Yuletide celebration gift - just email us on themagnificentak47@gmail.com for how to purchase or come along to the "Launch Party" at our gig, The Return to the Barn, Cirencester.  Secure your tickets if you have yet to do so quickly by heading to http://www.themagnificentak47.com/tickets/ or go in person to Cirencester Tourist Information Centre in the Corinium Museum in Cirencester or call 01285 654 180.

More Magnificent Radio

We are due to be on the radio again!  This time it is one of our very own local stations, Radio Corinium, are scheduling a piece from an interview between Ashton Keynes's very own special correspondent, Martin "Nic" Nichols and one of the prime instigators of The Magnificent AK47, Neil Burston.

We have been told that the piece is due to go our this afternoon in the "Town Crier" show some time after 12:30 - more information can be found at http://www.coriniumradio.co.uk/programmes/ and we will keep you posted when we know more.

Would you trust your evening's entertainment to this lot?

Would you trust your evening's entertainment to the likes of these 'ornery 'ombres?

Well, a few lucky people at Bath's rather Magnificent Old Theatre Royal did... and to great impact with the rather lovely and sparkly Sassperella who joined us for a rather wonderful rendition of that great Russian flirting song that we just happen to have in our repertoire for just such an occasion.

Judge for yourself by listening to the "Sound of Testosterone" melding together with the ladies to make the "Sound of Flirting".

For your chance to see us at The Return to the Barn, Cirencester quickly head to http://www.themagnificentak47.com/tickets/ or go in person to Cirencester Tourist Information Centre in the Corinium Museum in Cirencester or call 01285 654 180.

Everything you read about us is true, apparently

Another lovely piece of press about us and our Magnificent Return to the Barn Theatre this coming Saturday 19th November.  

Can't think quite why it is so lovely... but it is corroborated by the Editor's comments at the very end of the piece, so it must all be true!  Click on the article above to see it at a readable size.

Read for yourself at http://www.ripplesmag.co.uk/ page 28.

For your chance to see us at The Return to the Barn, Cirencester quickly head to http://www.themagnificentak47.com/tickets/ or go in person to Cirencester Tourist Information Centre in the Corinium Museum in Cirencester or call 01285 654 180.

Just rewards

Smiling like a cat that has just been given the whole of Cheshire on a stick with cream and cherries on top, one happy ChoirMeister!

Seen here with Big Chief Effing John and a unique bottle of Whiskey that was personalised in Bushmills Distillery on our epic weekend in #MagnificentDerry as you can see below.

Is that a slightly smug and everso pleased looking ChoirMeister?  

We think so!  

And deservedly so for conducting us with such gusto all the long few days on a trip that we will never forget until we can't quite remember any more...

Another Magnificent Sell out

It has happened again, another iconic venue, sold out.

We are all very much looking forward to singing with the ladies from Sassparella this coming Saturday, but if you haven't got your ticket yet then too late!  

Your last chance to see us at a proper gig in 2016 is now at The Return to the Barn, Cirencester so quickly head to http://www.themagnificentak47.com/tickets/ or go in person to Cirencester Tourist Information Centre in the Corinium Museum in Cirencester or call 01285 654 180.

In the press again - we're part of the "scene"

A nice little piece in this month's edition of the very informative Cirencester Scene mentioning about the #MagnificentDerry weekend and our up coming gig at The Barn Theatre and a poster squeezed in amongst the crosswords and sudoko...

See more at the full online version at Cirencester Scene.

And a further prompt that tickets are selling very well two weeks out from the gig so if you are interested in coming please don't delay, head to  http://www.themagnificentak47.com/tickets/ or in person from Cirencester Tourist Information Centre in the Corinium Museum in Cirencester or call 01285 654 180.

Something for the weekend...?

Not only has the VideoMeister struck this week, but now the Magnificent CartoonMeister has returned too!

Proving that being Magnificent and caught up in the wonderful world of BlokeSong is liable to unleash all sorts of hidden talents buried under our humdrum existences...

The VideoMeister was issued a public information warning about our Return to the Barn in Cirencester on Saturday 19th November (http://www.themagnificentak47.com/tickets/) and now his mysteriously secretive (à la Banksie) cohort the CartoonMeister is providing similar public advice about our forthcoming gig at the Old Bath Theatre Royal with the lovely ladies of Sassparella.

Hope to see you at one or both show!

The VideoMeister has been at it again...

It's dark, sinister, and a little bit scary, but it is out there...

The Return of The Magnificent AK47, the multi-award winning singing blokes of Ashton Keynes and beyond are back in The Barn.

Cirencester, you have been warned!

Click here, if you dare.

The sounds of #MagnificentDerry

It is fair to say that the blokes from The Magnificent AK47 had a very special time in #MagnificentDerry at the stunning City of Derry International Choral Competition 2016, or more correctly stated, they had THE most amazing time, full of singing, culture, history, camaraderie, exploring, the odd tipple (to lubricate the larynx you understand...) and many new experiences and friends.

And we weren't alone, as you can see...

There were many, many highlights of the long weekend for all the blokes that we are still re-living as we pinch ourselves and try to piece together a few "missing bits", like singing on the Giant's Causeway, wandering around the city walls, being asked to perform at the after event party, but one particular session stands out above all - the hoolie!

The hoolie happened more or less spontaneously (with a bit of blowing the embers) at the Ceilidh on the Saturday night underneath the main concert hall.  A band had gathered and the dancing was in full swing, then during a lull suddenly some singing broke out and "woof", up went the flames of song and we had a full on "SingOff" on our hands as choir after choir was inspired to bring out their party piece to sing for the pleasure of the other groups in the room.  The Magnificent AK47 as ever in the thick of things instigating and egging people on, followed by phenomenal Fauna then many more.

It was utterly brilliant (even if some of the singing is a little "tired and emotional") and will live with all of us who witnessed it for many a year to come until the memory has faded, become a bit worn round the edges and starts to blur into mythology.  But to help stave off that moment for a wee while, luckily some clever people managed to capture the moment(s) so they can be re-lived a bit, at least the first parts with maybe more to come...

More Magnificent AK47 on Radio Foyle

One of the many great characters we bumped into whilst in #MagnificentDerry was a guy by the name of Mark Patterson who came across us in Badgers pub just opposite the St Columb's Hall just so happened to be a bit of a local celeb being a presenter on Radio Foyle who did a great Live Stream of us.

He loved what we were doing and by chance we bumped into him again on the Derry Peace Bridge and he Live Streamed us again!

Finally we got to meet up at his day job at Radio Foyle as the last piece of icing on an already generously huge portion of cake that was our time in Derry.

You can here the full program on his page starting around 33 minutes in after the weather at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08074js or have a listen below.  

#MagnificentDerry

The specially inaugurated "Audience Award" winners from the City of Derry International Choral Competition are back home after a quite breath takingly wonderful long weekend of song, banter, craic, a couple of wee drams, not quite enough sleep, loads more singing, and making friends with people from literally across the globe.  

But who are they?  None other than little old us, The Magnificent AK47, now officially double award winning choral group from North North Wiltshire

We had an amazing time in all sorts of ways at this year's festival, are all a little tired but would like to thank everyone who made it possible just before we retire to our beds for some well earned recuperation. 

Sensible advice for the Magnificent traveller

The new Magnificent Performance T-Shirts have arrived just in the nick of time for our trip to Derry.  

And they have some very sensible safety notices for any of the blokes who become "lost boys" during their time away from their normal stomping ground.

Let's hope there won't be someone still wearing this if it has to be put in the post!

Blokes Abroad

We are very excited to be only one more sleep away from heading off for our very first overseas trip to represent England at the International Choral Festival in the City of Derry!!

It is quite an honour to effectively be representing our nation in such a prestigious competition and we are hopeful of a "podium finish", but not taking anything for granted as it is a marathon not a sprint but we are up for it and really looking forward to what should be another Magnificent experience.

More info at http://www.codichoral.com/2016-festival/participants/national-competitions.php and beyond.

Good bye great bloke

It is a little belated, but  not too late to pass on some sad news for those of us who had the pleasure of knowing the legend that was Ron Thomas, who passed away recently after another great night out in his beloved village.

Ron was one of those epic "Village Elders" that we all looked up to for so many years of doing so much for the community and being such a stalwart of both the village and church choirs, Parrish Council and much, much more besides.

He regularly attended our shows with his wife Maureen and other members of his family, like daughter-in-law Paula (holding the wine glass!) to watch his son Mark in action along with son-in-law Ade.

A really great bloke who will be sorely missed.

The Return of The Magnificent AK47 to The Barn

After sailing the high seas and low notes of BlokeSong as far away as Bristol, Lyme Regis, Birmingham and an international singing competition in Northern Ireland (!), the blokes are return to their native stomping ground with a cross-border raid from North, North Wiltshire to the ancient capital of the Cotswolds to help celebrate the opening of the re-vamped Barn Theatre at 5 Beeches Road, Cirencester, GL7 1BN.

Expect fun and frivolity and some seriously good singing and a great night's entertainment.

Plus support from the popular local singer/guitarist Stuart Elwin, and a retiring collection in aid of Children in Need.

Stick around for the "Afters" for the after show party.

Tickets available online from http://www.themagnificentak47.com/tickets/ or in person from Cirencester Tourist Information Centre in the Corinium Museum in Cirencester or call 01285 654 180.

We very much hope to see you there.

DR Sweeney, Magnificent Ethno-musicologist, on the Radio

We're not just a bumbling bunch of beer-soaked blokes you know... No! We've got some right clever beer-soaked blokes too as well...

One such bloke is the marvelous DR Sweeney, one of our resident Ethno-musicologists, and he has been on the Radio to prove it.

You can find it at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p047syv8 for a few days, or from listening below.

What a clever fella!

Pow Wow 2016

The Magnificent Pow Wow 2016 passed off with a few controversies this year, mainly engendered by the rush to consume the Cheese and Biscuits that had been salvaged from the Village Harvest Thanksgiving lunch earlier in the day.

There were others but they shall remain unmuttered about for the moment, save to say a big thanks to Angus V who steps down as FinanceMeister after somehow managing to keep the books in some semblance of order for EIGHT years!

More information about dates into 2017 and thoughts about how to celebrate 10 years of BlokeSong in Ashton Keynes and beyond, soon(ish).

The Magnificent AK47 ride back into town for this year's Pow Wow

Lock up your drinks cabinets, The Magnificent AK47 are back in town!

Those rootin', tootin', hollerin' and cahootin' reprobates and "Plunders of the High Seas and Low Notes of BlokeSong" are back in the neighbourhood and all self-respecting village folks should be afeared for their exploits.

Luckily, they are really quite a nice bunch of blokes and only prone to high spirits, beyond those found in public house optics, in the form of singing in public whenever no one can quite stop them in time.

And so they will gather for for this year's Pow Wow, a thinly veiled AGM (but don't tell those of an operationally and administratively averse nature) with the blokes lured to a Workshop then forced to remain, possibly have a glass or two, and hear blokes waffle on about what a great year it has been (no really!) and what great plans we have for next year (and even beyond... yes, indeed).

It all kicks off after this coming Sunday's workshop in the Back Room of The White Hart Inn, so expect controversy, bitter in-fighting, and petty rivalries aplenty - but that's just to work out who's round it is, you understand...

'Tis that time of year again, ahaaar!

'Tis widely known across the Seven Seas that thar be one or two of the motley crew labouring under the black flag of "The Magnificent AK47" who do enjoys donning the occasional items of fancery on the odd occasion, and oftimes even in front of their publics...  And pirate outfits are always most popular for the donning with especial glee whenever those scurvy landlubbers get to singing a Sea Shanty or two.

And taking this just one peg leg step beyond, it is beholding on us to remind 'ee, in case it had somehow slipped off your calendar, that it is International Talk Like A Pirate Day this very September 19.

Thar be a whole treasure chest of jewels and general web booty that can be unearthed over at the a number of those new fangled devices that be known as websites dedicated to this daft notion at http://talklikeapirate.com/wordpress/ and http://www.yarr.org.uk/, so put on your Pirate hat, stick your hand in your fake hook and start singing this particular song or this  other daft ditty or even the one recorded by some able hearties at BlokeFest 2015 Cabaret - all together now you swabs!

Naughty choir (old) boys who can actually sing...

Evidence that inspiring place can produce inspiring performances.

Bath Abbey's multi-second reverb meets The Magnificent AK47 in one of their more sensitive moments...

We few, we Magnificent few

It's been quite a busy week for the blokes these past seven days, and it has taken its toll...

First there was the excitement of dressing up as pirates and leading the parade at Lyme Folk Festival down to the seafront stage and wowing the audience with their daring-do and many hours of philandering round the town spreading the joys of BlokeSong and pubsong (more later).

Next up was Thursday night in Bath, a hot and steamy evening that half a dozen nearly missed out on because of traffic problems, but eventually made it along to give a very "contrasting" performance to the rest of the show at the amazing acoustic that is Bath Abbey (more later) and some wonderful street singing for "Afters".

Now a crack squad of blokes who can be "spared" for another day are hauling themselves out of bed on a Saturday morning to beetle up to Birmingham to re-join the gang at Voices Now.

We wish the few who can make it well  and hope they enjoy the day, and are careful they go to the right workshops as the thought of the blokes from The Magnificent AK47 inadvertently ending up in a "Singing with Movement" session by mistake is not going to be a pretty sight, although it might do them some good....

More info about another amazing Magnificent day can be found at https://macbirmingham.co.uk/event/voices-now.

We're only singing in Bath Abbey!!

Who would have thought?!  Little old us, from darkest North, North Wiltshire, The Magnificent AK47, the "Sound of Testosterone", "The Harnessers of Thunder and Lightning", performing at one of Great Britain's most celebrated Abbeys...  Well, 'tis about to happen.

We will be performing for the Dorothy House Hospice to help celebrate their 40th birthday with a concert and service of thanksgiving at Bath Abbey on Thursday.

Doors open at 7pm while the concert starts at 7.30pm. Entry is free to all and no tickets are required.

More info at https://www.dorothyhouse.org.uk/events/than/.

A Magnificent time at Lyme Folk Festival

A very big THANK YOU to the organisers and all the visitors at Lyme Folk Festival today who made us feel so welcome and came along to enjoy our many performances around the town and sea front.

More pictures can be found at https://twitter.com/magnificentak47 and hopefully more to come soon.

Wending down South for the weekend to Sing Like a Pirate

And here we are... on the verge of another landmark event in the annals of Magnificent places we have sung... 

We've done concert halls, grottoes, caves, castles, windmills, ancient monuments, preaching circles, cliff tops and now finally a stage by the sea!

Tomorrow also marks our first participation in a Festival Parade to entice the audience along to our show by the sea and thence to our "Sing Like a Pirate" Workshop.

Here's our timetable in case you can make it along 

(Ignoring the horribly early start for Day Trippers...)

10:30 – Start to assemble as close to Langmoor Gardens & the top of Broad Street as possible 

11:00 – parade down the seafront

12:00 - NOON – performance on stage

13:00 - Fast lunch then

14:00 – WORKSHOP lead by Chris Samuel helped by The Magnificent AK47 at Langmoor Marquee just above the seafront stage, in the gardens, on top of the By the Bay restaurant

15:00 - After that you are into "Afters" territory and who knows what might happen

Enjoy the festival if you are coming and do pop along to say hello.