EDINBURGH FRINGE 2016 ANNOUNCEMENT

Following our 2014 sell-out show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and recent tour of North America, we are returning to Edinburgh this August for another Fringe run!

It's has been a fantastic year for us, finding three great new voices, performing all over the country and across the pond, and generally having fun doing so. What better way to finish then than a six day run at the greatest Arts Festival in the world!

Performing at theSpace @ Symposium Hall from the 15th-20th August, at 1610, we can't wait to be part of the incredible atmosphere that is the Fringe once more!

For more information please see:

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/well-sung

We hope to see you there!

TOGx

TOG Tour 2016 - Toronto

The final leg of our North America Tour saw us cross the border into Canada, and therefore justifies the tour's grandiose title (more or less).

Our three-day stop in Toronto was the absolute dream. We got to know a beautiful city, met wonderful people and had multiple snow fights. Best of all, for the first time on tour all ten Other Guys were staying in the same house. Ryan, the group’s very own Canadian, welcomed us into his home in Burlington. Shout out to his parents for being extremely gracious hosts!

Day 1: When going over the itinerary Ryan had mentioned we were to be the evening’s entertainment. Well, when we filed into the front room of Ryan’s house it seemed like half of Burlington was there. Cousins, Grandparents, friends, dogs and other acquaintances. After enjoying stimulating conversation over dinner, we put on a fire-side performance in Ryan’s living room. The family audience, full of smiles, mirrored a relaxed and enjoyable performance. Before going off to bed we managed to fit in a commentary-filled screening of Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Arc.

Charles McGlone, domestic goddess

Day 2: A 7am start the following morning reminded us we still had a lot of singing to do! In the opposite of military fashion all ten other guys assembled outside the front door as our car arrived and sped us off to Havergal College, an all-girls school. We were welcomed by a talented choir who sang a beautiful choral piece for us, and were awesome to work with in our workshop. Then came one of the most insane gigs we’ve ever done – on stage in front of 800 girls in a grand assembly hall. After the performance we ate lunch in the school cafeteria and made lots of friends.

Cuppa' tea at Harvergal College

Still buzzing from the energy of Havergal College, we decided to go downtown for a trilling ascent of Toronto’s Space Needle. Some OG’s were more daring than others…

Suspended above Toronto.

That evening we arrived suited and booted at Upper Canada College (UCC) for a seventh and final concert as St Andrews ambassadors. Day 3: We ended our 2016 tour with an action-packed day at Ryan’s alma matter, Appleby College. In the morning we sang at two chapel services. Our brief set served as a taster for the students ahead of our evening concert. It also gave each of us a glimpse at what happens when Ryan Hubner returns to his old stomping ground with a collegiate cappella group: energy like fireworks.

During the day Ryan led us on a nostalgia trip around the school grounds.

The evening concert was an opportunity for both the performers and the audience to loosen up. Our hour long set was interspersed with stories, badly-told jokes and enthusiastic dance moves. The audience – again Ryan’s family showed up in full force – responded with a great amount of energy. To close the set we sang a final emotional rendition of “Hard to Say Goodbye” and a rousing chorus of “St Andrews Girls”.

No TOG tour would be complete without characteristic celebration. Straight after the concert we went along to Ryan’s family friend’s 60th birthday party, drank copious amounts of alcohol and boogied like it was 1979.

This concludes our tour blog, we thank you for tuning in! Keep watching this space in the coming weeks as we update you on more exciting projects.

TOGx

TOG Tour 2016 - DC

Washington DC we hardly knew thee!

As we rocket towards the final destination on this whirlwind tour we reflect on our time spent in the capital. Although our quickest turnover yet, all it meant was that the same amount of crazy antics had to be concentrated into a smaller amount of time! We barely had time to put our bags down before we were off to Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart where we spent a fantastic couple of hours workshopping with their resident a cappella group, “Heartfelt’. Later that evening, the talented 'Heartfelt" joined us on stage during our evening concert in the school's theatre, to sing the Scottish classic “Loch Lomond”. 

The next morning we were up bright and early to spend the morning singing and workshopping with the many a cappella groups of Georgetown Day School, an cappella scene possibly even more thriving and diverse than that of St Andrews. We made our goodbyes before hurriedly making our way to the airport where we were met by TOG Alumni Tarleton Watkins III (The Third) for a heartfelt farewell and before we knew it we were on our way to Canada. It’s been an absolutely hectic whirlwind of fun DC, we only wish we could have stayed a bit longer but your gracious hospitality made it feel like we’d always been there and we certainly can’t wait to come back.

TOGx

TOG Tour 2016 - New York

Our two-day stay in the Big Apple began with an early evening concert at the upper east side’s All Souls Church. We benefited greatly from a responsive audience, and even spotted one or two bright red St Andrews gowns in attendance. Also present at the concert was St Andrews alum and Other Guys co-founder Andrew Ogletree. Always keen for a sing, he joined the tenor section on "Loch Lomond". 

This is in fact not The Other Guys, instead this pretty picture features students from Highland Park School in Dallas, putting on a tremendous performance in St Patrick's Cathedral in Midtown.

After the concert Ogletree led the charge down frigid manhattan streets as we made our way to a reception at his art gallery. Once inside, the blizzard conditions were quickly forgotten; the combination of fine wine and merry conversation was an absolute treat. Hours later, we traded English furniture for Italian cuisine, once again graced by the hospitality of a fellow St Andrean and her family. 

On our second day in New York we morphed into tourists. This was the coldest day on record, in the history of TOG. Nonetheless, warming memories were made and batteries were recharged with a particularly busy schedule planned for our penultimate stop: DC.

"The Other Guys are back again!"

Stay classy New York City!



 

TOG Tour 2016 - Boston

After an action-packed stay in Chicago we arrived in Boston feeling very tired. With the prospect of another hour long performance that first evening we needed a pick me up. We were able to fit in a power nap and then received a welcome boost from former Other Guy Spencer Huffman who joined our ranks for the evening’s concert. The venue was a beautiful church in Cambridge, which offered arguably the best acoustics of the entire tour. We milked the set-up as much as possible, going as far as dimming the lights for increased dramatic effect on “Run To You”. The audience was fantastic throughout the show, and afterwards we enjoyed meeting alumni, current students and local families.

Pre-concert discussion topic: Is vocal harmony a social construct?  

The following day resembled a minor miracle: with nothing on the itinerary and no gigs to attend we swapped suits and white shirts for gloves, scarfs, caps and cameras, and embarked on a day of exploration in Boston. Major attractions in downtown Boston included Faneuil Hall and the Common, and in Cambridge several hours were spent at Harvard’s book shops and cafes. One faction of the group wandered into Steinway & Sons by the Common and got a full tour of the studio and workshop, in exchange for an improvised performance. We have since incorporated a grand piano into our design for TOG House. Indeed, an a cappella group can dream…

The pitch-pipe's elegant cousin

New England’s iconic city a great impression on all of us. The cobbled streets and colonial architecture reminded us of home. While our first day-off felt like a holiday, we were quickly on the move again. The following morning we found ourselves on a train destined for Penn Station. 

Straight cheesin' outside Faneuil Hall

TOG Tour 2016 - Chicago

After the first lie-in of what felt like a very long time, we all reconvened at a sunny and warm Dallas Fort Worth airport on Wednesday afternoon. The flight to Chicago was nice and short – but we nevertheless emerged to temperatures 20 degrees colder than we left behind. With the smell of Texan BBQ sauce still hot in our nostrils and the sound of country music still ringing through our heads we headed out into the frozen North.

Being blown into the windy city...

We made it to our homestays in Hinsdale after a first experience of Chicago’s tri-state freeway at rush “hour” (it took us considerably longer than an hour…) and were greeted with a huge meal and a collection of weird and wonderful beers that made for an entertaining evening which concluded in a pilgrimage to Xander’s place of birth somewhere in suburban Chicago.

Xander proceeds on foot to see if he can "feel a connection"...

On Thursday morning we headed into downtown to perform at Chicago Latin School, once to an assembly of the upper school and then to a middle school choir class – the reception was insane, so thank you for having us! As well as singing some songs, including CGWEY by popular demand – we answered questions and encouraged them to keep at the singing in the hope of one day becoming as cool as us (except Duncan).

We then engaged in all-out snowball warfare against each other – newbies vs. the vets. Matt declined to take part as he recognised the very real threat that he would get an ear infection, which is totally fair enough… Following this we all walked further into the city via Lincoln Park and grabbed lunch at Pizzeria Uno so we could experience some true Chicago deep-dish Pizza. They were kind enough to give us a free pizza in exchange for a tune or two!

With a few hours to kill, we headed to Shedd aquarium in the hope of researching some new obscure crustacean names for the recently joined basses (noone has claimed the ‘Caprellid’ title just yet). George, being a hippy, refused to promote the exploitation of animals so boycotted the trip. Instead, he and Xander went on a cute date down to the lake to play with the ice.

The concert that evening took place at Fenwick High School where we were greeted with another enthusiastic audience, relieving us of our last CDs only three concerts into the tour – we can’t quite believe it!

After a long day of being friends and making sounds, we headed back to one of our homestays for a chilled out evening joined by some of our mates (yes, we do have friends outside of TOG) from the Chicago area before catching an early night -although some us were staying on Elm Street, we had no nightmares (sorry) during our stay in Chicago.

Chicago – we nearly froze, but we loved it! 

TOG Tour 2016 - Dallas

Dallas, it’s been great!

After such an incredible start to our North America Tour in LA, we were all wondering whether Dallas would be able to compete…

After a very early flight once more (thanks Matt), the group was met at DFW by our hosts, both good friends of the group. The boys went their separate ways for lunch, with half of the guys being treated to a full-on Texan BBQ and resulting soporific slump, whilst the others went on a dog-walk around White Rock Lake.

White Rock Lake ft. Charles, George and Campbell...

The rest of the afternoon was used to catch up on some much needed sleep. That being said, a couple of the newbies - James and Tristan - found an old copy of Rockband for Xbox, and thus began a rather antisocial banging of a fake drum kit and violent strumming of a fake guitar… #TOGband

That evening the group reconvened in Highland Park, where we had dinner with the SMU Bell Tones (or SMUB-Ts as we christened them). It was a lovely evening (of yet more Mexican food), and it was great to meet the Belles, a group of wonderful young ladies, whom we hope to welcome to Scotland in the near future! We ended the night watching the College Championship game – total nail-biter #Tigers.

GK getting in to the football...

The following day began with a workshop at the incredible Hockaday School. We were all amazed at the campus, as well as the talent of the girls’ choir that attended the workshop. We enjoyed jamming, rapping, dancing, and beat boxing with the group! Afterwards, we were met with a hall filled with the majority of the upper school, where we sang a few songs to a great crowd. A few of the guys had the pleasure of having lunch with their a cappella group, ‘Hockappella’, after the performance, thanks to them for being so welcoming!

Some of the group headed to see the JFK memorial in Downtown Dallas and ran into David Costabile being a tourist! 

TOG lawyering up with Daniel Hardman...

The final event on our Dallas Itinerary was a concert at Highland Park School. Another amazing school with an incredible concert hall! The crowds soon came in, and what a crowd they were, even managing to muster the energy to laugh at Duncan’s terrible chat… We thoroughly enjoyed our set, having made a few tweaks following our performance in LA. Afterwards we hung around to chat and take pictures with some audience members before heading back to hang out with our hosts before heading to bed!

The boys with our Dallas hosts...

It’s been an amazing couple of days in Texas, next stop: Chicago, bring on the windy city!

TOG Tour 2016 - Los Angeles

Here we go!

On Thursday morning, we swapped the dreary weather of Muswell Hill London for the rather pleasant temperatures of Los Angeles, California. The first stop on our North America tour, it was always going to be a little unknown, being a city not many of the boys had visited before. We were all staying at various home-stays near the famous Santa Monica Pier, a sweet base to take in everything the city has to offer. We first convened on Thursday evening for a bit of serious rehearsal, however having not seen each other for a few weeks, as you can probably guess, productivity was low - #BOLQ.

Leaving a rainy North London...

We began our tour with a performance at Archer School for Girls in Brentwood. After briefly meeting with the school’s own a cappella group, the ‘Unaccompanied Minors’, we were met with a hall full of screaming girls! No doubt they mistook us for some slightly better known English boy band… Nevertheless, it was an amazing beginning to our tour, and what was about to happen would blow us all away.

That afternoon we received the incredible invitation to sing at the offices of Bad Robot! We ended up enjoying a full tour of the studios, as well as picking up some stash to add to our extensive collection. After our tour, we were greeted by the entirety of the Bad Robot Production team, including JJ Abrams himself! After a few songs, we were afforded the opportunity to chat to them, and we all met some incredible people! So thanks so much to everyone at Bad Robot, it was literally the best day of our lives…

The boys with our latest recruit - JJ "the Director" Abrams...

After such an amazing first day, we were all rather sceptical as to whether the rest of the tour (or indeed our lives) wouldn’t just be a constant stream of disappointment. However, on Saturday we continued the Star Wars theme by going to see the new film at the Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Blvd.

At the famous Chinese Theatre...

After an brilliant afternoon in Hollywood, we met up with The Scattertones, an a cappella group from UCLA, for dinner in Westwood, after which we headed back to one of their flats, where we got the chance to sing for each other and hang out. It was so great to meet such a like-minded and talented group.

#Theothertones...

Our final day was to be just as successful as the previous. We sang a killer concert at Vistamar School in El Segundo, for a full hall of St Andrews alumni, students and applicants; it was great to be able to share stories about the bubble with people halfway across the world!

After the gig, we headed over to the place of one of our home-stays, who was throwing a party. There we met up with TOGA(lumni) Callum Woolley, who sang with us for the first time since he graduated last year, a great experience for the newbies to learn from SoCal.

After such an amazing time in LA, we are looking forward to what waits for us in Dallas!

Cheerio!

TOGx