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It was fantastic to see the singers from Sydney, Newcastle and even one from Tasmania arrive and get organised to sing together for the Illawarra Folk Festival. The weather was not kind, heavy rain since before 6am today, so we ran through our songs in the grandstand. Then up to the Miners Camp venue, which we squeezed into with a bit of chair rearranging. Bread and Roses and Four Strong Women subg en masse got me all choked up and emotional. Our 3 songs sounded great, and the new Coal Seam Gas protest song very well received. Sydney’s 2nd song “I ain’t afraid” was a stand out for me – I think we can learn it for the National Folk Festival. Thanks to Gabrielle and Margot for conducting the combined songs.

Combined choirs warmup

Great first gig at the 2012 Illawarra Folk Festival. With 3 new/returned members and Bella in her new t-shirt, we were at full strength and ready to roll after a quick warm-up and run through this morning. Interspersed amongst the reading of Fred’s bio (what an amazing life and an incredible contribution to change in QLD and beyond, I learnt a lot today) we sang It’s a Long Way to Cunumulla, The Red Flag, Stand Together (choruses to backup Bernard Carney), and of course Solidarity and Internationale (with much singing from the audience.) A range of other performers sang songs as well, and the guy who sang Joe Hill just blew me away. Well done everybody.

and here we go onstage with Bernard Carney during the Fred Paterson Tribute

Bernard Carney and the Illawarra Union Singers

What a shame i did not get a photo of us all looking fabulous at the Art Gallery today. We had just about everybody there, a full contingent of singers and all parts well covered. We sounded great and thanks to Brian for sorting song order, and Zlatko for warming the group up and practicing a few numbers before i arrived. We sang: Let’s Pretend, Last Night i had the strangest dream, Step by Step, Mnogaja Ljeta, Banaha, and Solidarity. I think it gave the audience a taste of what we’ll bring to the Folk Festival in january, as well as give us confidence. Next step – finalise that new Coal Seam Gas song…

Another good night out at the Hellenic Club. We did a great job, sang 4 songs: Lets Pretend (with the kazoos) which certainly got everybodys attention; Imagine (in 3 parts, quite tricky, well done!); Solidarity; and The Internationale, featuring first verse and chorus sung solo in Serbian by Zlatko. Very appropriate to emphasize the global nature of the day, and I think much appreciated by the international guests from Chile and Palestine.

These photos were taken after we’d warmed up, and while we had something to eat.