Fantastic Folkestra!

Buoyed up on a cloud of euphoria and white wine I probably shouldn't be trying to type this...BUT....
I had a rehearsal today for the gig on Dec 20th for The Sage Gateshead's 5th Birthday celebrations...
It's going to be a stormer of a gig - I've only gone and got Sting as a special guest...(Hooray! Hurrah! Haroo!!!)
Anyway - Folkestra are going to perform and as it's the Sage's 5th birthday extravaganza I thought we should open it up and say that any ex-Folkestra members are very welcome to attend...SO...we had a rehearsal today (and the only rehearsal that I can be at- I'm off to the US very soon and only get back just before the Sage gig... aaaghhh!!)..AND IT WAS FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!
Sorry to shout... but it really was.
We hadn't really publicised the gig so I wasn't expecting too many people to turn up to the rehearsal, but we ended up with a band of about 40 people....which is an awful lot larger than Folkestra has ever been...and also a band of a size that makes it very difficult to hear what is happening from one side of the stage to the other....
SO - there is a chance that each end of the band might be at a completely different tempo from the other...but let's just hope not and pray for fair weather...!?!
But what I really wanted to speak about was the camaraderie and the positive feeling that pulsed through today's rehearsal...there were people there from the first days of Folkestra (Laura Hewison, Peter Tickell, the Joneses, the Lewises, etc etc) and from then onwards - Heather, Leanne, Julia, the lovely Laura...finest saxophonist ever to grace the ranks of Folkestra...okay, the ONLY one...(but even if there had been others we would have loved you most!) and of course the boys ghetto...Dan, Greg, Dave, Kev, Rob, Stuart ..(where are you Joe...????! Okay - China - that's not a bad excuse...!)
Those who know me (perhaps you don't...and if you don't - please understand that I am an Old-School disciplinarian who believes in ruling by fear alone, without the faintest hint of praise...) may be rather taken aback to hear that I came home and cried...with pleasure (and an unworthy hint of pride...!) at what a fantastic experience today's rehearsal was.
As well as beautiful music, I witnessed a wonderful conviviality and feeling of communal pride and support for a brilliant band.
THANK YOU ALL!!!!!
kxx