Well, On Tuesday (18th Mar) I was fortunate enough to be invited along to help in Photographing the Hope Springs Charity Concert at Cadogan Hall in Chelsea and what a day it turned out to be..
After working a night shift in my “real job” the night before and not getting to bed until about 5am i was up again at 9am to start making my way to the capital. After a long 2 1/2 drive I arrived at the meeting point just outside the City where I met for the first time Steve & Carol who I will go on record now and say thanks first to Steve for inviting me along and to Carol for helping make the day very enjoyable.
Upon arriving in Chelsea we pulled up at the organiser address where we were met by their chauffeur in a very nice Range Rover where we loaded our kit in to the car before being driven to the Cadogan Hall where we had unlimited access to photograph rehearsals and later on performances..
There was an excellent variety of musical talent on display there ranging from professional performers such as Xfactor finalist Misha B, Beatbox Supremo Reeps one (who is already a personal favourite of mine) to up and coming local london talent such as Skribblez and Sketch & Sarah Eliza. What was even better is that this fantastic evening was all in the name of charity with 100% of money raised going to the nominated charities. OrganiserGina Miller of Miller Philanthropies really did put on an amazing show.
Kicking off the evening representing Regenerate UK Charity was local rap due Beatnix who performed their fresh and catchy tune titled “Hope Dealers” which had the crowd up on their feet singing “I used to deal dope. now I deal hope” Their energy on stage really set the tone for the Evening
Following on from the fantastic Beatnix was another Regenerate UK Rap duo by the names of Skribblez & Sketch 2 15 year old up and coming rappers from the Roehampton area of london.. Their performance really followed on very well from the first act and was again full of energy and lyrically very good. Check out some of their videos here..
These really are 2 nice lads i had a chance to talk to them and photograph them in the green room even game me a signed copy of their CD.. Born to be stars…
With the crowd nicely warmed up what can only be described as a super human musical talent took to the stage. Reeps One does things with the human vocal cords that no words on this planed can describe. If you have not seen this guy perform wether you are a fan of Beatbox or not then you really are missing out.. I have watched him on You Tube loads of times but seeing it live takes it to a total other level.
After Reeps Amazing mind Boggling performance saw a change of pace in the show.. Probably not a bad thing after the last three acts… PIP (Pursuing Independent Paths)charity took to the stage to perform a scene from their play which was written and performed by members of the charity..
Speeding the pace of the evening up again none other than Xfactor Finalist Misha B took to the stage. She is an excellent live performer and had the crowd up on their feet from the first note to the last of her 3 song set. Very enjoyable songs..
After the short interval it was back to the stage with A Choir With No Name this time providing the musical entertainment. Every Single person in this Choir was at the time of performing living on the streets of London, They get together once a week to practice and for a hot meal..
Really inspiring performance and their version of Lean On Me was excellent and had a lot of people up singing..
Next Danny Kruger took to the stage to introduce the next 2 acts from the Charity he Co-Founded Only Connect. The First of the two acts was one of my personal favourites of the night. A female rapper took to the stage and absolutely made it her own Lady Lykez Performed her two tracks Eurgh and I Love My Butt both of which are excellent, catchy and very good hip hop tracks.
Next up from Only Connect was a Young Lady by the name of Sarah Eliza – Totally different to the last act but equally as amazing.. She performed a song called Raindrops which was an excellent song an she performed it so well..
In my opinion there was no better way to close the night than with the next and final act.Derek Paravicini really and truly is out of this world. The man is blind and Autistic and can play piano better than anyone I have personally heard.. He is world famous for being able to hear any piece of music once and then being able to re create it on his piano. Mr Paravicini took a number of requests from the audience and did not miss a note all evening. Truly amazing..
What an excellent way to raise money for charity that whole evening was. excellent to see so many people there showing there support.. Also nice to see a variety of acts get on the stage and do their thing.
On a more personal note it was a good experience for me and provided me the opportunity to take photos for someone else rather than just my own collection. The sample shots have been sent to the organisers who I believe were very happy with them..
So… up and coming in the next few weeks is an Avant Garde Photoshoot for a local college, a trip to Madrid with family and a possibility of some product shots for friends new company. Keep an eye on the blog i will try my best to keep you updated..
Ben ..
