Sailing, Sailing!

On Friday, December 18th, Harmony Channel entertained the crowds in the Ventura Harbor as they sailed along as part of the weekend's Parade of Lights event.  An armada of ships, large and small, all decorated in lights, paraded around the harbor to the delight of hundreds of people watching from the shore and on boats docked along the parade route.

But for all their glory, there was one boat that was just a little more special than the all others.  That boat had the only live music in the Parade, the Harmony Channel quartet!  The night was a little bit chilly but the quartet warmed the hearts of parade goers with Christmas carols, receiving cheers and applause as they floated past. (At least I think it was cheers)

A small mis-hap occurred about 1/3 of the way into the first lap; Doug "fingers" VanBogelen dropped our only pitch pipe overboard, and with a 'ploop', it went to the bottom of the harbor.  Undaunted the boys carried on, guessing the pitch of each song.  For the most part they were able to hit it pretty close but there were a couple of times they had the Tenor squeaking along way up in the vocal stratosphere!

Preparing to get under way, the quartet is working out sound details with sound technician Brian Parra, of Saturday Night Sound, (www.SaturdayNightSound.com).  He set up the equipment so the quartet could be heard by the audience on the shore.

Warm up and sound check, (that's "fingers" in the forground).

"...If not for the courage of the fearless crew..."

Heritage Square Performance

Our first performance of the Christmas season.  We sang at the Heritage Square in Oxnard as part of their Christmas tours.  We performed for two hours and pretty much wore out poor Brent's voice.  (He is on the upside of being sick this week).  Attendance was light due to the rainy weather, but those who did brave the elements got to see the beautifully decorated houses, (I just love them), and hear the quartet share their best wishes for the season.

Along with our standard Christmas repertoire we also sang Chanukah Medley in honor of the Chanukah holidays, (started last night).  We even threw in a few of our regular songs to fulfill some audience requests.

 Left to right: Doug, Brent, Bruce, Duane

We make Brent stand in back to protect the audience. 

Just look at that expression and you can understand why. 

(And no, Bruce is not scowling).

 

Did Doug swallow a fly?

 

Duane is showing his best "butler-in-waiting" look.