u3 has only been going for 21 months and yet see what’s we’ve been up to!
Click here to see pictures of our first big performance: Click on 
for full screen, press Esc to exit full screen
Here is the YouTube link
And here are video links to the live performances:
Mojo https://vimeo.com/1038667315
Need Your Love So Bad https://youtu.be/Bs17envOE-w
—————————————————————————-
How did it come to this?
The story so far:
April 2024
“With well over 500 member in the Monmouth u3a, surely there must be a good number that play musical instruments and would be interested in making music”. It was this thought that led to a group of us meeting up one evening in early 2024 in the Robin Hood to talk it through. It soon became clear that these initial members of what would become the Scratch Band Group divided rather neatly into what became 2RiversJazz and u3. Having played in bands pretty well continuously for more than 50 years, I remember saying that this whole idea was predicated on the notion of playing for ourselves, having fun and was not about public performance, recording and, musically, trying to conquer the universe. And that is exactly how it was … for a while!
Summer 2024 – the gauntlet of Not the Xmas Party was thrown down
Things changed in the summer of 2024 when the u3a Chair suggested holding the “Not The Christmas Party” (NTXP) in Bridges, where both 2RiversJazz and U3 could play. Strange how quickly the playing for ourselves and not about public performance ethos had slipped, but having a date to work towards certainly focused minds. Anyway, with us only having to play for 40 min, it shouldn’t be a major task, even given that most of u3 had little recent performance experience. Everything for the event was meticulously planned: we even went as far as having a dummy run through a few weeks in advance, to make sure that everything would work, come the night. This just left a question: would anyone actually turn up?
December 2024 – NTXP!
The answer to that was yes and nearly 100 u3a members and friends convened in Bridges one dark and stormy night in early December. Next question: could we actually put on a show that people would like? Again, the answer turned out to be yes!
Spring 2025
Since that initial experiment, the line up of U3 has changed a bit and the “not for pubic performance” idea has faded. First, we played Garway Live in the middle of April – this involved playing two sets with a total duration of about 90 mins. Lots of new material had to be learned double quick! Then, a few weeks later, it was back to Bridges for the “May the Fourth Be With You” party, again with 2RiversJazz.
Summer 2025
Our confidence was growing. Indeed, when the landlord of the Robin Hood asked if we could play there for August bank holiday, the answer was “yes” … even though a key member of the band would have to be absent. How tricky could it be? We found out! The result was an interesting afternoon with us playing in the Robin Hood car park … at one point the queue for drinks stretched across the bar and out into the street! We had a very happy landlord.
Monstock!
Meanwhile a u3a member had suggested organizing a musical event at The Savoy. Clearly, this is a significant venue where some pretty famous musicians have played. Should we try to get involved? The musical focus would be “traditional” music, in the broadest sense, so not what U3 does. But the blues has traditional roots and is close enough to our core interests – that could work! So Monstock Friday was set for early September 2025, giving us plenty of time to generate another new set over the summer … when everyone goes away on holiday. Oooops. Anyway, demo recordings were duly produced, so that we could each practice separately, and, when the date duly arrived, the whole event was a great success with over 160 tickets being sold and more than £2,000 raised for the Savoy. I think it’s fair to say that playing the Savoy was a stretch for us … indeed, such a stretch that we were unable to accommodate another factor. The fact that we had agreed to play two 45 min sets the following day on Monstock Saturday. No option … we’d just have to wing it … and it broadly worked.
What does this have to do with u3a?
Before wrapping up the story … so far … I should address one question: what does all of this have to do with the aims of the u3a? Google’s AI system provides a nice answer to this: the main aims of the UK’s u3a are to provide opportunities for retired and semi-retired people to come together for lifelong learning, pursuing interests in a friendly, non-formal environment without the pressure of exams or qualifications. The musical journey we have been on since that first get together at the Robin Hood in early 2024 has certainly involved a lot of learning in a friendly non-formal environment. As for without pressure … not so sure I can go along with that! But the whole experience has been massively rewarding and it all came about because a few people decided to give it a go. Monmouth’s Scratch Band u3a group is there to help make links so that other groupings can set out on their musical journeys. So, if you play a musical instrument, why not give it a go?
And the Future?
After a great NTXP2 on 12th December 2025, Monstock 2026 is already under discussion, Watch this space!
