Rod Miller-Kelly asked me to find a place on my site for this tribute to the Sing-ALong-A-Dee Extravaganza. I was more than happy as I'd been present at the Friday nights performance and enjoyed myself immensely and took a few photo's and Rod's excellant article has given me a chance to show them to the World.
I hope that any Stayaway fans who read this article will realise that they missed a couple of great nights out. Let's not forget this was organised by the fans to help the Youth Team Development.
After the introductions were made we got down to the serious matter of a pre-match warm up, and so Graham trotted off to the bar. The mood was set when we left the public house to take our place inside the Whitehall theatre, once inside the door a tingling feeling ran down my back, as if in expectation of what was to lie ahead in this unique evenings entertainment.
We made our way into the auditorium and first thing we noticed was that the attendance was very dissappointing, at maximum I’d estimate 160. This was a slight set back in the match plan but we were all determined not to let it affect the squad.
Grahams brother Steve - nicknamed `the beer monster` by Graham and in due course he would live up to his handle ;) and myself made the long journey to the bar and received some terrible news – They wanted £2 !! for a bottle of Bud, undeterred we made our way past the rabble and took our seats suitably refreshed and awaited the team.
The dark blue lights were busy dancing around the room when Joe Lamb took his place on the stage as M.C. for the evening, introducing the band Boogaloosa. The lead singer bore a scary resemblance to Deacon Blue singer Ricky Ross (the dirty ar*b ….) but thankfully the band sounded nothing like them and proceeded to treat us to a few songs with Reckless & Cajun Satstanding apart from the rest for me.
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Joe Lamb then took centre stage with Euan the bagpiper in tow and fair belted out Bonnie Dundee, this was turning into a night to remember and it was Alan’s turn to be dispatched to the bar, in order to quench the squad’s vocal chords.
Half Time score The Dees 1 – Stayaways 0
Half time analysis was held in the main theatre bar, and once more the fans and drinkers joined in to practise their singing `talents`! Internet famed Dark_Blue_Fish was in high spirits (or was that long vodkas Margaret?) and Gavin Rae’s biggest fan, Petra Rice was enjoying the fun judging by the smile on her face.
The second half began with Johnnie Scobie ringing around the hall, all the fans were up on their feet and most were treating it like an away match. We’ll be coming down the road was launched into by the support - and Joe & co. were quite happy to join in and let us finish our interaction. We even managed to entice Jim Fish into getting up on his feet for the song! Follow Our Dundee was the next foot-stamper to belt out and then mysteriously Sara’s song was played with Juan’s voice reaching all the way from Bologna ;)
The Dee-lites came back out for an equally perfect 2nd half workout. The smiles on all the lasses faces as they strolled through their routines told us all this was indeed a labour of love for the talented team.
Next up was a stunning rendition of The Road & the Miles played solo by Joe Lamb in memory of the late great Wullie Dryden, and for such a small number, the thunderous round of applause received spoke volumes for the fans appreciation of the clubman.
Jump the Q appeared from nowhere and whipped a delightful version of Cheer Up Alex Smith across the bows of a very appreciative crowd. The `Dundee Opera` (another track written by Jump the Q for the show) had everyone in fits of laughter and the fans joined in with the hilarious song. The evening closed with another two songs by Jump the Q (Shake your tail feather and Everybody).
And finally the lads from the Youth team made their way onto the platform. To take their thank you bow, complete with red beamers.
After thanking Joe Lamb for his and everyone else concerned efforts, it arises that the TOTAL attendance for the 2 nights performance was a shocking 280-300. I later learned that all the artists involved reduced their fees and poor Joe & Mike from LBC productions were left out of pocket to the tune of 4 figures. There was talk of the performance being videoed in order to donate more cash towards the Youth fund and hopefully the guys and gals who couldn’t make it along will perhaps have a think about buying a copy for this worthwhile exercise, you missed out on a fantastic nights entertainment and the party atmosphere could be heard winding its way into the town centre with the words to the fans song Charlie Miller the 4**** Fusilier drifting out into the evening rain.
Final score; Dees 2 Stayaways 0
Written by Rod Miller-Kelly of Dee-licious