Wadworth's Mini Beer Festival a Big Success

Getting 30+ blokes to turn up at three pick-up points on a single journey was tempting fate, but much to everyone's surprise the trip down to Wadworth's Brewery went without a hitch!

Running to a pretty tight schedule we managed to collect everyone in AK, arrive in Cricklade ahead of schedule and were bang on time in Swidon, where we picked up a certain Spooky Man and his good lady.  

And the trip down was packed with top Wiltshire Landmark spotting with two White Horses and Avebury along the way.

No sooner had we arrived in Devizes than we were disembarking for a "cheeky pint" in a pub belonging to Malcolm Ship of BlokeFest 2013 fame.  Well worth a visit if you are down that way.

Dragging the blokes out, again bang on schedule, we jaunted across the market area back to the Brewery then to The Crown where Wadworths had very kindly laid on a buffet lunch to get everyone fueled up for the afternoon ahead.

Down to work back in the packed Visitor Centre we cranked out a couple of sets to much acclaim from the assemble throng, and judging by the many people videoing us on their phones we made quite an impression.

All too soon our time singing was over but there was still a few minutes in the schedule for one group to go and visit the famous Shire Horses whilst another group were taken for a guided tour into the depths of the old part of the Brewery itself, visiting the original well and the "Training Bar" in the vaults under the main building.

Yet more adventures to come before very long with the forthcoming "Beer and Carols" this Thursday, then a short break before we crank back into action in the New Year with two very big gigs.  It's all go . . .

One more sleep till Wadworths!

We are are off on our Grand Day Out to return to Wadworth's Brewery as part of their Mini Winter Beer Festival in just a few hours, and judging by various emails floating around over the last few days, with much Magnificent excitement!

Only time will tell, but it is building up to be yet another very special event in our growing list of "odd moments", in amongst singing on Wiltshire White Horses, Tugs o' War, Tunneling and many others.

Occasionally the team behind the well oiled administrative mechanism that makes  The Magnificent AK47 such a well drilled multi-hatted Singing Machine likes to prove that they can still organize a P' up in a Brewery, but the blokes being such disciplined singers (ahem!) will of course resist any such temptation until all their songs have been dispatched with aplomb - won't you lads??

Here below are the details of the itinerary, for anyone who hasn't fully read their emails or been paying attention.  There are still a few places spare on the bus coach.

Of course, we would welcome any last minute additions to our coach party, £5 per seat

Off we go then!  Match report and pictures to follow soon(ish).

Timetable of events for Wadworth's Gig
When		What	Where
10:00
10:15		Start congregating AK	AK Ellisons on the High Road
10:30		Depart AK
10:45		Cricklade pickup	Cricklade Town Hall Car Park
11:00
11:15		Swindon pickup	Swindon Train Station
11:30
11:45
12:00		Arrive Devizes	Devizes
12:15		Nip into The Vaults?
12:30
12:45		Arrive at Wadworths
13:00		Pies & Pint = Lunch
13:15
13:30		Sing #1
13:45
14:00		Break
14:15
14:30		Sing #2
14:45
15:00		Finish singing
15:15		Tour / Beer Education
15:30
15:45
16:00		Tour  / Beer Education finish
16:15		Back on Coach to depart	Devizes
16:30
16:45
17:00		Swindon Drop off	Swindon Train Station
17:15
17:30		Cricklade Drop off	Cricklade Town Hall Car Park
17:45		Back in AK	AK Ellisons on the High Road

Tis the season to be . . . . Singing!

So, it is now "that time of year" again, and thoughts turn to chestnuts roasting on an open fire and all that.  But you can do much more to keep yourself warm in this Yuletide Season, you can get yourself SINGING!

In case you hadn't noticed, Choirs and singing together are all the rage (again) and what better way to do it than with a great bunch of people, song sheet in one hand and possibly a pint in the other?  But where?

No need to worry, there are at least two places where you can partake of great atmosphere and singing.  Firstly there are the series of Sunday Singing Sessions at the Prince Albert in Stroud that will be packed for the next few weeks from 12:30 to 14:30 with many Magnificent blokes and then there is our very own "Beer and Carols" on Thursday 12th December in The White Hart, Ashton Keynes.

Go on, give it a try, make this a "Very Singing Christmas" and a "Song Filled New Year".

A Grand Day Out

To say the blokes are excited about our next performance is going to trouble classic British understatement to an extreme . . .

Excuse us whilst we pinch ourselves, but at as bunch of blokes from North, North Wiltshire to be asked to perform at a Mini Beer Festival of one of our favourite Breweries "down South" in the metropolis of Devizes is not necessarily a boyhood dream come true, because as youngsters we would never have imagined such a thing could ever happen!

Remember that we went on our first "Wold Tour" earlier in the year and visited Wadworth's Brewery?  Well, they loved having the blokes sing in their Visitor Centre so much that they requested that they returned to perform as part of their Mid Winter Beer Festival.

Reprising that great start to that great day will be a huge pleasure for us, especially as we are combining a few other treats to make it a "Grand Day Out" extravaganza by taking an Ellisons Coach trip to scoop up the Blokes along the way with pick-ups in Cricklade and Swindon Train Station, along with perhaps a couple of surprise "Honourary Day Blokes".

In fact, we might even be able to pop in to see a very definitely "Top Bloke" from BlokeFest 2013, namely Malcolm Ship who is now running a very interesting sounding emporium providing over 100 beers, The Vaults Micropub, Devizes .

For more details of the exact itinerary and other important details, see here.

If you would like to come along please email us at themagnificentak47@gmail.com to let us know and we can see if we can squeeze you on board.

Currently we have around 10 places spare so room on the bus, sorry, coach to spare at the measly sum of £5 per person.  Our current timetable is a 10:30 depart AK, Ellisons Coaches on the High Road then 10:45 Cricklade Town Hall pick-up, then 11:15 Swindon Train Station pick-up to reverse the process 16:15 Back on Coach to depart Devizes approx 17:00 Swindon Train Station drop-off then 17:30ish Cricklade drop-off then back to AK for who knows what after show activities.

Georgian Singing Workshop in the P.R. of Stroud

Word has reached us of another Georgian Singing Evening with Carl Linich on Tuesday November 26th in STROUD in one of the first floor rooms in the Centre for Science & Arts, Lansdown, Stroud from 7.30 till 9.30. 

The workshop will be with Carl, an American who founded the first Georgian choir in the West, the Kavkasia Trio, and has won awards from the Georgian State for his contribution to the preservation and promotion of Georgian singing.   

You can find a full biography, pictures, audio samples and lots of other information about Carl on his website.

Carl will teach by ear, and promises that he will match the difficulty to the ability of the singers who come on the evening!  All are welcome!  It's NOT just for blokes.

The event is being organized by lapsed, but none the less Magnificent Bloke Nick Mills who has been putting on singing events for many years and several of the current Magnificent Blokes attended Carl's workshop in Oxford the other night and can vouch for the fact that it will be a very interesting evening and you will learn tons about the language, the culture and how to sing this very special genre.

The workshop will be costed on a self-assessed sliding scale £12/£10/£8 depending what you feel is right.   The organizers will provide herb teas & biccies. 

To book please email sing@circleofsong.co.uk, register using an Online form here or call 01453 752978.   And here's a poster for this workshop. 

Please note: there are stairs and no lift, so please call Nick if you may have access issues.

Full links

http://www.nyfolklore.org/tradarts/music/artist/linichc.html
http://circleofsong.co.uk/

Bro-Vember, Mo-Vember

Many may think that "Movember" is just an excuse for blokes to not shave properly for a "Mo-nth", such as Geoff S's case in this photo, as unfortunately the full effect of his "Mo" is not adequately captured (mainly because he hadn't trimmed it!).

Others will recognize it for the remarkable phenomenon that has done an immense amount to pro"Mo"te awareness of male prone cancers and male mental health issues.

By clicking on the website at http://uk.movember.com you can very quickly learn a huge a"Mo"unt about testicular and prostate cancers that might just help save someone's life by early detection.  You will also find many very informative videos including a very clever and entertaining one featuring Ray Winstone and Jimmy White.

Resplendent in the "Mo-ness" in the photo are fine examples of Magnificent "Mo-hair" with Geoff S on the left, Big John, then Paul B and the hairiest of them all, Alan G.

Observers of how these things work will know that Alan probably has the most vested interest to be the "Mo-st" hairy as he is in competition with many of his colleagues at work to raise "Mo-re" funds for the invaluable research that Movember sponsors.  

So, without any more terrible puns or literary devices, and no further ado, visit Alan's page and donate at http://uk.movember.com/Alan+Garlick.

We meet again

 

The blokes are back into action after a brief lull with a series of workshops in preparation for our "Yuletide" Season appearing as headline act at the Wadworth's Brewery Christmas Mini Festival in Devizes, Wilts on Satrday 7th December, then the famous Ashton Keynes "Beer and Carols" where we cram as much of the village into a tiny space and sing carols, new and old amid much good ale.

Much, MUCH more to come in 2014 with a lot of very BIG gigs for the chaps. More soon(ish).