2016 marked the 40th anniversary of LABBS, with over 30 choruses from England competing against each other to be crowned the national champions.
This year The Red Rosettes performed ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow,’ beautifully arranged to create a variety of emotions within the watching audience, then ‘Anything Goes’ provided a lighter atmosphere, with hours spent painstakingly learning and improving a range of dance moves performed by the front row of the chorus in the space on the floor of the stage, and by the ladies on the ‘risers’ in their own small space on the raised steps.
After achieving an excellent 9th place in 2015, we had been working incredibly hard to improve our score of 71.9%. Performing second at the competition meant it was an anxious wait for the final results but it was all worth it – posting a score of 72.4%, finishing in 8th place.
Added to the excitement this year was the chance to sing Queen’s epic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ with over 2000 other barbershopers, each having perfected their section of the four-part harmony. There was also a chance to interpret the ‘Ruby Anniversary’ dress-code for the Saturday night. After wow-ing the crowds with what we believe were ‘ingenious’ jelly-fish costumes last year for the ‘under the sea’ theme, this year saw us in a troop of personalised birthday hats, customised with fairy lights for candles. After working so hard towards the competition performance, the socialising that happens on the Saturday night is always a chance to wind-down (or wind-up, if you’re so inclined!)