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AIBU?

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Original poster

WIBU to say that choirs full of people who can't sing (Rock Choir) are awful?

433 replies

PleasantPheasant · 21/01/2017 22:06

Honestly? I love singing, I think everyone should sing, and sing in groups - it's great. But why all the performances, crap choreography, shitty leaders who also can't sing and are presumably failed musicians. Why can't the ladies (and men) - very few of which can actually sing or understand rhythm, harmony, pitch... - just do it for fun and leave it at that? Why do they think they're amazing singers and their performances are great. From what I've seen they are largely outside, with shit backing music, crap acoustics making the whole thing even worse. AIBU?

OP posts:
Yamadori · 22/01/2017 00:12

Singing, like dance and playing a musical instrument, is a performing art. What's the point of putting in all that practice if you aren't going to perform?

candycoatedwaterdrops · 22/01/2017 00:13

I've been to a couple of country fair type things and seen Rock Choirs. If I don't like it, I just walk on by. It's not difficult. The other day, I saw some art that I thought was ugly. I kept walking.

Rooiboscz · 22/01/2017 00:13

For the cost of a ticket to see the last concert you could go to see a professional choir, with excellent singing which would be enjoyable and worthwhile.

You wouldn't pay to see a little local football team if you could go to a Premier League match for the same money.

Rooiboscz · 22/01/2017 00:15

Singing in a choir doesn't demand to be performed publicly. Plenty of people attend dance sessions, but they don't feel the need to foxtrot in the local shopping centre!

dailymaillazyjournos · 22/01/2017 00:16

There are loads and loads of dodgy sounding amateur musical performances of every type and performed by young, middle-aged and old people. Lots and lots of amateur groups aren't great. Some are amazingly good and some are virtually professional. I used to play in an orchestra that at one point was banned from performing on the basis we gave a bad impression of the College of Music that the orchestra was part of :) And I can see their point. It would have been cruel to inflict that on innocent members of the public, family and friends AND make them pay to listen to the cacophony. But generally I think all standards of amateur groups are doing a bloody great thing - bringing people together, having fun, lifting mood and often raising money. Tis a joyous thing, even if it's not always so fun for the audience.

JeffreyNeedsAHobby · 22/01/2017 00:17

"These choirs are no different. It's the unskilled and untrained taking a good, enjoyable, fun hobby a step too far."

If there's one thing this country doesn't need it's people controlling what other people do in their spare time that makes them happy. As a so-called rabid remainer I've just got a glimpse into why people don't like the 'experts' from your post.

NannyR · 22/01/2017 00:19

Hardly any of the rock choir performances are paid ticket events though. I've been a member for two years and we have done one big show in a theatre, everything else has been fundraising or free.

therealsquireofwideacre · 22/01/2017 00:19

Are you also against busking and street theatre Rooiboscz, out of interest?

Rooiboscz · 22/01/2017 00:19

I once went to a comedy club and saw a really crappy comedian. He was really, really bad. Should I have smiled and clapped out of sympathy for the fact that he was 'just having fun'? I wouldn't have been so patronising.

Rooiboscz · 22/01/2017 00:22

Buskers don't ask for my undivided attention or to buy a ticket. They're also much more likely to be better than an amateur choir.

ShoutOutToMyEx · 22/01/2017 00:22

I think it's cruel and mean spirited to try to make people feel ashamed or embarrassed about something they obviously enjoy.

YWBVU to say what you've said in your OP to anyone in a rock choir, and to be honest I think YABU to even say it here.

JeffreyNeedsAHobby · 22/01/2017 00:24

I'm sure you went home thoroughly annoyed after a miserable evening. I'm sure the comedian could have done without you being there too. I am also sure that he didn't give a shiny shit as he got paid and as the people in these choirs also don't give a shiny shit because they didn't make you attend and they are raising money for charity, not their own pockets.

Rooiboscz · 22/01/2017 00:27

I saw several other very good comedians that night, so it was worthwhile. That shit comedian went down like a lead balloon and so won't be booked there again.

The people who pocket all of those tenners - that's for charity is it?

SecretWitch · 22/01/2017 00:27

Rooibuscz, you seem a bit over invested in this thread. You ok, dear?

Rooiboscz · 22/01/2017 00:30

Actually, looking at community/ rock choir websites, I'm not convinced they perform in aid of charity to the extent that some may presume. It looks as though their coffers are nicely swelled too.

candycoatedwaterdrops · 22/01/2017 00:31

SecretWitch Wink

Rooiboscz · 22/01/2017 00:35

According to the Rock Choir website, people pay £300 per year to be a member, which is nothing to do with charity.

NannyR · 22/01/2017 00:36

Our choir held a fundraising evening for our local hospice just before Christmas. Tickets were £5, there was a raffle, the venue (a hotel) was free, we raised £600 for the hospice. The audience were mostly friends, family and hospice supporters, (no one forced them to come!!!) but they had a good night, we enjoyed singing and the hospice benefited too - win, win all round.

glitterazi · 22/01/2017 00:37

This thread is having the opposite effect on me. The more I read the whining posts, the more it makes me want to google and see if there's any Rock Choirs in my area.
I can't sing, but I really enjoy it when nobody's around to listen
People think you have to be Glee type young teenagery age otherwise you're cringey?! Makes me want to go out and sing loudly in their faces. Grin

LapsedPacifist · 22/01/2017 00:50

Fucking Hell. Thanks a lot to every stupid ignorant bastard who thinks no-one is entitled to sing for their own enjoyment or stand up and make jokes in public and make other folk laugh, unless they are 'X-Factor Ready.' What a sodding endorsement of our pathetic Celebrity Culture.

Wankers. If you want the best, then fucking pay to hear a professional choir and orchestra. Or go to Jongleurs for a night out. Don't sneer at 'middle aged women'. Or pensioners with dementia who sing because music is the last part of their memory they can access.

JeffreyNeedsAHobby · 22/01/2017 00:51

Oh no, some more middle aged women trying to improve public health AND let people have fun. Bah Humbug! happy people not miserable bridge dwellers

SarahLinden · 22/01/2017 02:11

The £10 per two hour session is actually really good value IMO.

It goes towards the salaries of the leaders, who are all professionals, and the running of headquarters, who organise our events, from small appearances in local churches to 10,000 members singing together at the NEC in Birmingham, for example.

I see no reason why they should work for free.

IamtheDevilsAvocado · 22/01/2017 03:29

Rock choir is a huge business...

ImYourMama · 22/01/2017 04:44

My SIL is in rock choir and demands the whole family attend anytime they're 'performing', she's shit, they're shit and it's a complete PITA for anyone that's not actually in the choir. Feel free to meet and sing and socialise but FFS stop forcing it on people who don't want to listen to it.

JanuaryMoods · 22/01/2017 06:01

I think it's a wonderful hobby for those who enjoy it.

But I don't want to hear it and am getting a bit fed up with choirs being at events I go to as a warm up act. I love to listen to a "good" choir but not these.