Abba Symphonica

When I was at school in Hong Kong, my best friend was a lad called David Combes. (I always remember him explaining to teachers that there weren't two 'o's in his surname, which is pronounced "cooms".) I left Hong Kong when I was twelve and didn't see David again until earlier this year. I can't find the post to link back to but, God, it was lovely to see him. Funny how you can still feel as friendly towards someone after nearly forty years.

Anyway, these days David is a professional singer and a few weeks ago he contacted me to say that he was performing in Manchester and did the Minx and I fancy going along to watch? Of course we did! And, as the show was a set of Abba songs performed with the Hallé orchestra, the Minx's mum was keen, too, so the three of us went along, this evening.

I must say, my main interest was in watching David perform but I was taken aback by how much I enjoyed the show. It wasn't just the dignity that David managed to retain performing in platform boots, a wig and a skintight seventies costume, or the fact that the orchestra had all dressed up for the occasion. It wasn't simply the wonderful arrangements of the songs or the brilliant pop music that band wrote or the amazing singing by David and his colleagues (especially the harmonies at the start of 'SOS'). No, what I think I enjoyed the most was the sheer joy of the occasion; so many people there unabashedly enjoying themselves. 

I love the inexplicable fact that music can bring us together in a way that no other artistic medium manages. The dancing, the singing along, the clapping: everyone lost in the moment, yet enjoying it all the more as a group experience. It reminded me of this amazing footage of Bobby McFerrin demonstrating the communal power of the pentatonic scale.