We’re so excited to be hosting Down for the Count for “one hellova celebration of vintage music” (TimeOut London) as they celebrate A Century of Swing.
We spoke to Mike Paul-Smith, Musical Director, Pianist, and Band Manager of Down for the Count, about their upcoming show at our Pavilion Theatre.
How are you feeling about your upcoming performance at Worthing?
We’re really excited to be performing in Worthing – it’ll be our first theatre show in the town and it’s always a huge pleasure to perform in new places.
We have recently performed in Brighton and Eastbourne and are gaining more and more fans on the South Coast and we can’t wait to perform for everyone in January; a bit of live music is the perfect way to shake off those January blues!
Tell us a bit about the show and what you hope to share with the audience.
Our show features some of the most popular swing music of all time. It’s music that just about anyone can enjoy. The energy behind the music is infectious and our musicians are some of the UK’s top jazz musicians, so it’s a chance to really hear the music be played as it should be.
We also talk about the history of the music. Swing music has a fascinating and, at times, troubling history and an important part of our show is telling the audience a few stories about where the music came from.
Above all, we hope that the audience leave uplifted having enjoyed some fabulous live music, and that they will be able to share in the joy we feel when performing it.
How do you prepare for each performance?
We’re on the road so much that on each performance day we arrive at the theatre a few hours before the show to set up and then we’ll talk about what songs we’re going to play that night. We try and make it different each night, so that each show is fresh and different.
Sometimes we might have an idea of a new song to perform on the drive up to the venue so we’ll try that out during the sound check and possibly perform it in the show that night. We then love the hour before the show when sound check has finished, and we grab a bite to eat, have a chat and catch up in the green room, and then get ready to perform!
What has the production and development of this show looked like?
A Century of Swing has been evolving over the past two or three years; we’ve been touring different shows around the country and finding out what audiences really love.
It’s also constantly developing and no two shows are ever the same – sometimes we’ll change the set list from night to night to keep things fresh and interesting for the band, and for any audience members that might be coming back to see us again.
