Marching bands in miniskirts (Klub Kakofanney Lockdown Letter)

Marching bands in miniskirts

This weekend the powers that be removed a few more of the covid restrictions and now you can legally go ten-pin bowling again, or fritter your money away in a socially-distanced casino. I've never been to a casino, and the only time I ever went to a bowling alley, I had to wear the special shoes provided at the desk. I'll swear the pair they gave me were still warm and clammy from the previous customer.

I've been to some pretty strange gigs in my time, but never one where you had to wear communal footwear.

Withdrawl symptoms and lockdown fever

If you are missing the music and the visits to the Wheatsheaf, maybe this selection from my video archive will take the edge off the withdrawl symptoms. Adam & Elvis are a band from Reading, and confusingly, no-one in the band is called Adam or Elvis. They have played at Klub Kakofanney several times over the years, both at our club nights and our Sunday afternoon sessions and they never fail to impress us. They have such thought-provoking lyrics woven into intricate complex vocal arrangements. Sometimes they remind me of Meatloaf, sometimes of Bowie, sometimes of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel,... but you make up your own mind from this mixture of clips reloaded from previous Klub Kakofanney appearances.

You can hear more Adam & Elvis music as well as wear the cap and buy the t-shirt by visiting their Bandcamp page: [adamandelvis.bandcamp.com]

Beware the confetti

Another Covid restriction lifted from this weekend applies to weddings. People are now allowed to hold small weddings and socially-distanced receptions of up to 30 guests, all wearing face masks. The official government guidelines from the Ministry Of Fun say that guests must remain in their bubbles and refrain from socialising with their newly-acquired extensions to the family. Dancing is not permitted, and neither is the throwing of confetti due to the risk of spreading the virus. Well that all sounds like a bundle of laughs. Weddings are supposed to be fun, and this wedding video from 2009, entitled "Jill and Kevin's Big Day" is pure joy.

This video has now passed the hundred million viewers mark. Thank goodness someone had a camera there to capture this stunningly original idea.

Crazy drummers, crazy weddings

When it comes to wedding receptions, this one takes some beating. There is a fantastic drum troupe from Odessa called Crazy Drummers Ukraine, who are percussion's answer to synchronised swimming.

Normally they'd be wearing gold-braid costumes and lycra leggings, but for that wedding video, they adopted a more individualistic style, and yes, the bride is playing at her own reception.

Marching bands in mini-skirts

For a different sort of ceremony with added music, you've probably all seen New Orleans jazz bands playing in funeral processions, and you may also have seen that there was a piece of funeral video that went viral recently of the dancing pall bearers of Ghana, but much better than any of those, this next clip is an amazing example of a Taiwanese funeral which I found so uplifting. I love it. When you watch this, please do not think that there is anything in any way disrespectful about marching bands in miniskirts at a funeral, and please don't think the church officials have any problem with proceedings. Just accept that different cultures see things in different ways, have different traditions, and we should be accepting, not judgemental.

Hopefully you recognised the piece of music used for the final exit. Music transcends international boundaries once again.

16th August 2020
The Lockdown Letters
Klub Kakofanney