Cotswold Life assistant editor's blog: Hairum-scarum

Hairum-scarum

They came down from the Blue Mountains of New South Wales to sing to us their epic songs of tools and facial hair...

Men. You can grow beards (if you want to). You play the testosterone card and look knowingly into the middle-distance to wring emotional nonsense from us womenfolk. You wear hats. You drink beer. You hide in sheds. You like tools. Big tools. Huge tools of iron not designed for the female hand.

What you also do, if you’re a Spooky Man, is make the most beautiful music. Yes, you have the facial hair, you have the legs-apart-hands-on-hips stance, you have the look of someone who’s acquainted with the bottom of a foaming tankard, but you also make the kind of sound that makes the heart ache in such a way that you hope the pain never ends. And just when we’re caught, hands clasped together in the tragi-ecstasy of the moment, you go and sing Abba, and, though I never thought I’d say this, I thank you for that too.

With music ‘forged in the red-hot cauldron of Georgian table singing’, the Spooky Men’s Chorale has nailed this tradition of singing perfectly. Led by ‘spookmeister’ Stephen Taberner, the 15-strong choir has come down from the Blue Mountains of New South Wales to tread the boards of our theatres and blink confusedly into the par cans of stages across the UK.

There’s Neville who can’t find no ‘Satisfaction’ and, with heartfelt delivery, we truly believe he can’t; there’s Ryan – one of the choir’s youngest singers – who was plucked from a home for nervous boys in Western Australia and pushed forward, centre-stage, to deliver his plaintive song ‘Light Pole’ about lamp posts; and then there’s Adrian with his rendition of Prince’s ‘Kiss’ which leads him from shy man’s man to thrusting, prancing sex machine (‘… think I’m gonna dance now’. Oh yes, ladies, he most certainly did).

They returned to Stroud – it was the last date booked in their extensive UK schedule – and showed their appreciation for the audience’s participation (goodness – I even held hands with the man next to me at one point on their instruction!) as much as we all showed our appreciation for bringing their beautiful three-part harmonies to the town’s Lansdown Hall.

We laughed, we nearly cried, and we were all given an insight into what it means to be a Spooky Man in these days of metrosexual ambiguity.

In the beginning there was the 'thing'; it was without form and no one knew what it was for… then man saw it, and it was good.

The Spooky Men’s Chorale is touring the UK until September 7. For more information visit www.spookymen.com