We had a great time playing at a fund raising event for a Jamaican charity last Saturday.
This was held at the Jamaican High Commission (the equivalent of an embassy) just by London’s Royal Albert Hall – and a rather grand Victorian building too.
It was something of an honour for a British ska band to be asked to play in the High Commission, and to be honest we were a little nervous. A carpeted reception room with no special lighting is perhaps not the ideal conditions for a gig, but perhaps helped by lots of rum punch, it turned into a great evening, with lots of dancing.
We’ve had a lovely message back from the organiser:
Awesome! Amazing!
You guys are just amazing.
I cannot get over it.
Cannot.
You were such a hit.
I hope we can grow together because this isn’t the last of Mangia!
Please give the Band my special thanks.
Perhaps even better was what was said in the ‘thankyous’ speech at the end of the evening:
“If I had been walking past in the street I would have had no idea that this was bunch of white people – they were playing with such energy.”
The Italian/Jamaican food was also rather special.
We were also told in no uncertain terms that we should not call it ska – with a long a as in ‘art’ – but with a short a as in ‘ass’.
Here are some photos we took:
