COVID Rehearsals, New Members and Gigs Update

Date published: Thursday 6 August 2020 at 18:25

Well we’ve certainly had a different year! On a usual year, we would now be at the height of the gigging season, but this year we haven’t yet been able to showcase our new pieces to the public.

So what have we been doing? 

Since March we have replaced our practices with Zoom socials including quizzes, rehearsal planning and the general catch up! In the past couple of weeks, we have been fortunate to start practicing again in the outdoors whilst being mindful of social distancing guidelines and hygiene! One change we’ve made is replacing our normal whistles with electronic whistles. Now our focus is on getting the band back to the strength we had earlier in the year. 

How do we achieve that? 

Firstly, we need to cover our repertoire and refresh our memories on current pieces whilst helping our latest onset of new members learn the pieces.

Next up, we are approaching our annual intake of new members! With over 50 on our waiting list, we are hoping to have a fairly large intake this year (whilst remaining compliant with limitations on numbers and social distancing). Currently, we’d like more people on large surdo, chocalhos, caixas and agogo bells (see instruments page) which cover all abilities for everyone to have a go! As we approach what would be the end of the gigging season, our focus is on the new members workshops whilst having a little bit of an experimentation phase of testing new breaks and rhythms ready for the next gigging season. 

Gigs

Moving swiftly on to gigs, we are currently not accepting any gigs to ensure the band stay safe during these uncertain times. Whilst we are happy to review any gig requests, we are not able to confirm our availability for any dates until nearer the time when we have a better picture of the situation and how we can ensure that both band members and the audience stay safe. 

We hope everyone is keeping well during these unprecedented times! 

Street Heat