***If you are attending our weekend you should have received joining instructions in an email just after 3pm on Friday 31st January. Please check spam and junk folders if you haven’t seen them.***

Our fourth Tuneless Choir weekend will run from 7th to 9th February 2020 in Nottingham.  After ‘Britain’s Got Tuneless’ last year we’re spreading our wings further, celebrating that our bags and t-shirts have now to been taken to far flung lands by intrepid Tuneless explorers.

So the theme will be ‘PLANET TUNELESS – SHOCKING ALL OVER THE WORLD’.

For our main venue we are again using Metronome, Nottingham NG1 1AP, a music venue with its own bar and auditorium with stage.  We have booked additional spaces for the songshops including Antenna, our 2018 venue just across the road, so the Metronome bar can be a chill out area and the foyer can be for food service throughout.

The weekend runs from 6pm on Friday 7th to 1pm on Sunday 9th.

We’ve created LIMITED EDITION Tuneless T-shirts which will have the event logo on the front and a list of the locations of choirs taking part on the back – like a band’s gig list.

Friday Evening:  LIGHT NIGHT PARADE AND PERFORMANCE and UNIVERSALLY CHALLENGED QUIZ including KARAOKE

This evening will run from 6pm to 11pm and is designed to get everyone mingling and laughing together, so we’re all getting to know each other for the weekend ahead.

When you arrive you’ll receive a Planet Tuneless Weekend Goody Bag with all the information you’ll need to enjoy the weekend, a few treats of course, and if you’ve ordered one, your Planet Tuneless T-shirt.

You can also collect any standard Tuneless clothing you’ve ordered with free delivery to the weekend using delivery postcode NG1 1AP.

LIGHT NIGHT PERFORMANCE  Friday evening is Nottingham’s Light Night, which sees artistic installations and groups performing around the city.  The theme this year is ‘Life on Earth’, so we’ll be doing a ‘Beastly Singalong’ in Trinity Square.  One of the best things about last year was seeing the massive line of people wearing fairy lights as we walked to our location.  So this year we’re formalising that into an A-weema-weh Parade.  If you want to take part then you’ll receive one of those noodle headbands with LED lights, in orange to ressemble the lion’s mane.  We’ll provide facepaints for those who want to fully embrace the lion theme.  We’ll progress from Metronome to the Market Square where we can pay homage to Nottingham’s iconic Left Lion, before making our way to our singing location.

Pizzas, salads, coleslaws and such like will be served when we return from Light Night at 8pm.

THE UNIVERSALLY CHALLENGED QUIZ will see you form teams to take part in some “activities” which will involve having to talk to other teams in order to get all the answers. Nothing too intellectually challenging… we’re here to have fun after all!  Rounds are bound to include use of the KARAOKE MACHINE which will be available to use and abuse all evening.

We’ll announce the winners at about 10.30pm, with prizes of bar tokens to enjoy over the rest of the weekend.

Saturday Daytime: A BIG SING, SONGSHOPS and FLASH MOB

Arrive from 9.30am for a complimentary tea or coffee.   (More can be bought through the day from the bar. Or something stronger. If you need it.)

If you haven’t collected it on Friday, when you arrive you’ll receive a Planet Tuneless Weekend Goody Bag with all the information you’ll need to enjoy the rest of the weekend, and a few treats of course!

The BIG SING will start at 10am with us all gathered in the auditorium.  We’ll have a few formal introductions and a warm-up, before singing a few songs en masse, each led by one of our choir leaders.

We’ll then break into three 45 minute SONGSHOPS – singing sessions linked to our Planet Tuneless theme.  You’ll be able to attend any combination of three from the five choices:

  • The Wonderful World of Disney:  Imagine yourself auditioning for a Disney live-action remake such as the Lion King.  Stella (Loughborough) will focus on helping us develop expression and acting skills whilst exploring popular songs from cartoon classics such as Aladdin and The Jungle Book.  It can only be a matter of time before Tuneless gets cast!
  • Rocking All Over the World: Dust off your air guitars and get ready to rock it out with Mel (Sutton Coldfield). We’ll be singing rock songs from around the world but with a twist: in addition to our regular backing tracks, there will be moments of magic when our Tuneless rockers form a human orchestra!
  • Hollywood Glitz and Glamour: We’ll be putting on our top hats and brushing down our tails as we sing our way through vintage songs from Hollywood movies such as Top Hat, Singing in the Rain and 42nd Street with Karen (Chesterfield and South Sheffield). Bring along any top hats, canes and umbrellas you have lying around, for a proptastic performance that simply reeks of class!
  • Around the World in 80s Days: Get your Baggy Trousers on and dance All Night Long, if it’s Only You, then Take On Me, but don’t get Addicted To Love! Ladies, dig out your neon legwarmers and blue eyeshadows! Gents, don (Johnson!) your brylcreem and double denim and join Sheena (Maidstone and Tonbridge) for a Tuneless nostalgic romp through the greatest hits of the decade, and may be a boogie or two!
  • Out of Africa: The Zimbabwean proverb “If you can walk then you can dance; if you can talk then you can sing” might be proved wrong again as we attempt to sing, move and play drums to a selection of traditional African songs. You won’t be able to keep still as Bernie (West Bridgford and Nottingham City) creates the infectious rhythms and harmonies – deliberate or “natural” – in this celebration of music from the continent.

We’ll break after one of the songshop sessions for a sandwich lunch.  Throughout we’ll have the now-traditional complimentary sweet/fruit table.

The songshops will finish about 2pm, and then those that want to will prepare for the FLASH MOB.  We’ll practise a little, get organised, and then walk a few minutes into the very heart of Nottingham to perform!  Street licence permitting, we’ll collect for charity.

We’ll aim to finish by 4pm so you have chance to get your glad rags on for the evening!

Saturday Evening:  THE TUNELESS BLUE PLANET PARTY featuring the TUNELESS AWARDS

We’ll get underway at 7pm, with a complimentary glass of prosecco and one or two delicious canapés.

The dress code for the evening is ‘The High Seas’ allowing anything from colours of the sea, to a stripey sailor top and eye-patch, to full mermaid. Or maybe an opera singer reaching ‘The High Cs’?  There’ll be a prize for the best interpretation of the theme.

We’ll gather in the auditorium at 7.30pm for the TUNELESS AWARDS:

  • Most Tuneless Performance (judged by video)
  • Best Turned Out Choir (judged by photo)
  • Best Theme Night Fancy Dress (judged by photos)
  • Most Raised for our official Tuneless Charity Mind in 2019
  • Most Tuneless Sings (number of singers x number of sessions)

And maybe one or two surprises!

We’ll then launch the disco, and get ‘dancing like no one is watching’.  Be sure to drop anchor at some point to buy some tickets in the raffle in aid of Mind, the mental health charity.  You’ll be able to choose which prize(s) you want to win.

Our meal will come from warmer waters with a choice of Caribbean jerk chicken or Caribbean black-eyed peas stew with coconut rice, served over the course of an hour or so.  That will be followed by a gushing chocolate fountain, and of course the bar is open throughout for your grog!

We’ll draw the raffle towards the end of the evening.

We’ll need to walk the plank (vacate the venue) by midnight at the latest.

Sunday:  SINGALONGA ROCKETMAN with FANCY SPECS COMPETITION and if you can stay later, an optional extra BANGERS AND MASH SUNDAY LUNCH

Return to the venue at 10.30am as we blast off from planet earth with SINGALONGA ROCKETMAN at 10.45am.  This 2019 Elton John biopic may be a bit of a “fact-meets-fiction swirl” but it’s a visual and auditory treat.

You’ll be furnished with a Prop Bag with items to use at points in the film, including some special momentoes to keep.

We’ll also have a FANCY SPECS COMPETITION so bling up those glasses and sunglasses and see if you can win a prize!

The film will finish at around 1pm, marking the official end of the weekend.  If you would like some sustenance before you travel, Metronome are then offering us a BANGERS AND MASH SUNDAY LUNCH for an additional £9.50*:

Enjoy a giant Yorkshire pudding filled with your choice of buttery or sweet potato mash.  Add your choice from a selection of sausages (including vegan), a couple of vegetables, and gravy or curry sauce.

Excluding the optional Sunday Lunch, the elements of the weekend add up to £102.50, but you can book the whole lot for £90 if you do so before 31st December 2019.

Prices include entry to the venue, entertainment and food and drinks as listed above.  Not included are accommodation costs, travel to Nottingham, transport costs within Nottingham, additional drinks, and the Bangers & Mash Sunday Lunch.

The venue is fully wheelchair accessible. Previously to access the stage avoiding steps, it was necessary to go outside. There is now a wheelchair lift up the stairs.

Cancellation terms: 90% refund if cancelled on or before Monday 31st December 2019.  45% if cancelled on or before Monday 4th February 2019.  No refunds on or after Tuesday 5th February as all food and knick-knacks will have been ordered and paid for! 

Feel free to email Nadine at tunelesshq@tunelesschoir.com if you have any questions about the weekend.

Planet Tuneless T-Shirt