THE FIRST OF 2022

We all met a little earlier for the first convention of 2022 when we gathered in the Lancastrian Suite of The Imperial Hotel on February 26/27. The Saturday afternoon and evening boasted a good attendance, quite a lot more than I would have expected what with all that we have had to put up with over the last two years.

WELCOME TO TONY THORNTON

It was very nice to see so many old friends again, this will be our third meeting since it was safe to gather after the COVID pandemic and especially nice to meet up with Vellum editor, Tony Thornton who has been quite ill but now looks to be well on the road to recovery. Our editor took his usual place on stage with his bass guitar as a member of the band. One change to the band's line-up was when Steve Thomas came on stage with a bass ukulele on Sunday morning and livened things up with his expert playing. I feel sure that Steve will give Tony Thornton the very best support and will share many more GFS band moments in the future.

GEORGE WOULD BE AMAZED!

As usual, there were plenty of performers wanting to take to the stage to entertain their fellow members and the playing skills of the GFS are just as high as they ever were. I often wonder what George Formby would think of the legacy that his music and playing skills have left, 61 years after he departed and around 100 years since he first took to the stage. I feel sure that he would be amazed and delighted by all his followers and of course by those who endeavour to emulate his ukulele genius.

ANDY EASTWOOD

One very memorable moment for me was when Andy Eastwood took to the stage on Sunday evening to play without any backing. Just Andy, his banjo-uke and a classic, slightly slower version of Fanlight Fanny that I feel sure will be of benefit to all those in attendance and those who may view in close-up from the forthcoming DVDs. I cannot praise Andy Eastwood enough, he makes sure that he attends our conventions whenever his professional diary will allow and when he is working, he always features the music of George Formby in theatres, on cruises and whenever he is called upon to be on national TV, images and clips of Formby always accompany him. In short, I consider him to be the best representative that this Society could have. He has been active professionally for over twenty years and the GFS is blessed that they have such a talented and dedicated member. I also met his lovely partner Helen over the weekend and was delighted to learn that she is much better after a recent bout of ill health.

LIVE STREAMING

Members attending the meeting were met with some unexpected changes. The main one must be the trial of streaming the conventions to the internet. I am not aware of the destination of the streaming clips should the trial be considered a success. At this meeting, a request was put to me not to use a performing duo on any forthcoming DVD. I was happy to comply with their wishes. With live streaming, that would not be possible and I wonder if this might be a deterrent for anyone wishing to perform on the main stage? The GFS has always given equal stage-time to beginners as well as top-class entertainers and that is something to be applauded. Will live streaming now create a two-tier level of those who are comfortable performing and those who are not? Are members of the audience happy with the idea of perhaps being caught in the camera's all-seeing eye? There are so many unanswered questions to consider and hopefully, those who are behind the streaming idea will consider them. It also raises issues like broadcasting copyright material and frankly, no one has explained to the membership just what the benefits of streaming conventions might be. For the conventions to remain the success that they are, we need people in the room, not sitting at home watching the show on their computers and smart TVs! It will be interesting to see just what will happen at forthcoming meetings. I assume that no one other than the committee has seen the results of the trial as I was told that nothing would be streamed live over the weekend.

FINALLY THE SOUND DESK COMES HOME

One other change that must surely be a great improvement was to move the sound desk to the centre of the room. This enabled sound engineer Kevin Staniland to properly monitor any audio issues that might occur and then quickly correct the very few that did. In my theatre going life, over the last fifty years or so, I have attended and enjoyed many concerts of all descriptions from rock, musicals, plays and classical music orchestra performances and I have never, even once, witnessed a production when the sound desk was placed at the side of the stage. In every case, the desk is always either placed at the back of the hall or midway towards the back but always in the centre of the theatre. I recorded throughout the weekend, both on two video cameras from the back of the room and around the room and also recorded the sound supplied by the audio mixer and for the first time in 30 years of video and audio recording, I have not had cause to adjust the mixer sound in DVD post-production. In Kevin Staniland, we have someone who knows his way around the mixing board and is attentive at all times to what the many different performers need to give our discerning audience the best possible theatre experience.

STUART FIXES THE LIGHTS!

I would also like to thank those on the committee who got the lighting situation back to being as good as it has ever been. I think we also owe a debt of thanks to Stuart Lowther who actually unwound the lighting system to make really sure that the lights were fine-tuned so that they gave optimum lighting for the weekend’s performances with all those who took to the stage, looking nice and well-lit and colourful.

A BUSY YEAR

With three conventions to look forward to plus a weekend in Morecambe and another weekend in Llandudno, the GFS diary has plenty for everyone. In these troubled times, perhaps members will be forced to pick and choose as prices of everything continually escalate. Travel expenses, energy costs, food prices and hotel accommodation have all increased alarmingly in the last two months and shows no sign of slowing down. The GFS committee has such a lot to do to even maintain the current membership and hopefully increase it. In this 61st year of the Society’s history I sincerely hope that they are successful in their efforts. PP - March 2022