Sounds from beyond the Shed 182 “Well bless my soul…”

I have discussed the power of live music many times in this column before, as well as my father’s descent into dementia and the sheer joy of the dementia choir that we attend together, run by the choir that my wife sings with. And without wishing to bore, I will combine all three this week.

It was just a normal Thursday morning. I collected Dad, he asked at least five times, “Where are we going?”  during the 10-minute car journey to the venue. We made our way in and took our normal seats. The vocal warmup was the same – singing 1 to 5 and raising arms, breathing exercises, and gentle stretching, etc. And then something different. It was announced that this week, rather than all singing to a series of backing tracks, we would be singing along to a live entertainer, none other than the king of rock n roll himself – Elvis Presley!

And, to the sound of a full orchestra intro, which seemed to go on forever, in walked the man himself in a complete Vegas pant suit and golden shades. He then proceeded to rip it up with a number of his classics. The room went bananas. It was the most fun I have ever had with my clothes on, and I laughed until I cried. It was extraordinary. Everyone was singing and dancing as Elvis worked the room. Leaning into the wheelchair bound, gyrating libidinously on people’s walking frames as they sat spellbound in front of him, leaping onto chairs (see photo), hugging and dancing with carers and patients alike. Dad sang along with everything as I tried to stop laughing and actually sing along myself as during ‘Burning Love‘ the jumpsuit was put through its paces as Elvis tried to do the splits, each time stopping just before he herniated himself. He was brilliant and it isn’t easy to quantify the impact that he had on 150 people on a Thursday morning in a room on an industrial estate, except to say that in that moment, which is, of course, what it is all about, everyone there felt special and part of something magical. A breathless hour later, after two encores, he was gone.

In the car on the way home, I asked my father if he enjoyed the performance. He looked at me and smiled, “What performance?” but for a while there …..

Sounds this week have been mainly upbeat, if shronky, as Easter weekend brought sunshine and serotonin. There’s been a lot of Geese and also the fabulous Florry (which to my mind is the song of the year so far), and the radio show is the 99th one and is chockful of my favourite toons before next week’s all request show. Self-indulgent – moi? Just this once. As ever…..