REVIEW: Moments after all 1300 of us were seated at the sold-out Wellington Opera House, Astrid Jorgensen burst onto the stage, got us laughing and cheering, then told us we'd probably have to move seats.
It was all in good fun; we were part of the show and she was about to teach us all a song which we'd have to perform together.
At Pub Choir the audience is divided into higher registers on the left, middle in the middle, and lower voices on the right. You were meant to choose your area when booking, but not everyone got the memo.
Astrid gave us examples of the kinds of register each section would need to sing in. Thanks to a voice modulating microphone she could reach the low notes for the right side of the room, which ended up being mostly the blokes.
Once the shifting and shuffling was over, she laid down the rules.
Number 1: Don't be a dickhead.
That pretty much said it all. Another rule was being present. The whole thing was being filmed, she said, and she would send us the footage - so we should put our phones away and be fully in the moment. Awkward, when I'd been told to "make sure you get lots of photos".
Someone from behind gave me a slightly aggressive poke when I tried to take one.
Astrid is a former schoolteacher and kept us in line with a perfect balance of humour and bossiness. Sometimes she was shushing us, other times teasing us, but always encouraging. Her mantra: it's not about you; it's about what we can do together.
The song we were going to sing was 'Everywhere' by Fleetwood Mac, but in her own unique arrangement, mostly powered by voices.
Each section followed different coloured words on the big screen. Bit by bit we learned the whole arrangement, the "dum dum du dum dums" and "oooh wahs", along with "I wanna be with you everywhere" in soaring harmonies. Yes, she successfully got an opera house full of strangers with questionable singing abilities to sing glorious three-part harmonies that left everyone buzzing and grinning.
Astrid is the conductor, teacher, arranger, guide and entertainer in one. She had everyone in the palm of her hand; we all did as we were told, we sang loud and proud and I have to say, there is nothing like being part of a chorus of voices.
At one point she bemoaned the emails she gets after her shows, many of which say the same thing: "Why that song? Why not 'Bohemian Rhapsody'?" Because we'd be shit, she told us. That got everyone laughing and realising she was totally right.
She explained while it is just too complex to teach in two hours, however, she is tackling the song bit by bit with each audience and plans to stitch the footage together to send to Queen guitarist Brian May. There was much excitement, then more laughter as we found out our bit was the middle "for me" and that was it. We still put our all into it.
The show ended with us all standing and giving our very best performance of 'Everywhere', before we cheered for ourselves and each other, and mainly for Astrid.
It was a lovely, uplifting evening and much needed in Wellington right now.
Pub Choir was part of the New Zealand International Comedy Festival in Auckland and Wellington - however, it is planned to be an annual event and will return soon.
