An eclectic mix of music videos and clips was the presentation at the Sunday, December 20, meeting of the Pattaya City Expats Club (PCEC). A few months ago, the Tavern by the Sea where the PCEC meets installed a large LED screen to replace the projector and pull-down screen it had been using for years. This inspired member David Garmaise to put together his presentation of music videos and clips from concerts and movies to take the new screen on a “test drive.” Given that David was presenting during the holiday season, he included videos with a Christmas theme in the mix.
David has presented videos from his collection several times before to the PCEC; all of which are interesting and entertaining as well as his informative commentary. David is originally from Canada, but like most of us has made Pattaya his home for the past several years. He is very active in the Club, being on the Board of Governors and serving as the Club Secretary.
MC Roy Albiston welcomes members and guests to the PCEC Sunday meeting and introduces David Garmaise who gave a very interesting and entertaining presentation using various music videos and clips.
The show started with a clip of “Little Drummer Boy” performed by Pentatonix, a contemporary American acapella group from Texas. Pentatonix is an example of how an artist or a group can build a career by posting their songs on You Tube. Pentatonix now has its own You Tube music channel with over 9 million subscribers. Their videos have been viewed more than 1 billion times.
Another group that gained fame through You Tube is The Piano Guys. The group consists of a pianist and a cellist plus a lot of people working behind the scenes. The Piano Guys do their own arrangements of popular songs and classical music. They usually film their videos in very exotic locations, ranging from river banks to mountain tops, sometimes using helicopters to move their pianos into position. David presented a medley of tunes by The Piano Guys, including one shot in an ice palace and another on the Great Wall of China.
David Garmaise introduces an interesting music video for the song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”, explaining that the two adult singers did not appear in the video, but instead were lip synced by the two children who do appear in the video in a very entertaining performance.
The presentation included a video of two Irish singers, Glen Hansard and Lisa Hannigan, performing “Falling Slowly” together at a concert in Royal Albert Hall in London in 2014.
Next came a video of a song called “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” David explained that although the song was written in 1944, in the last 20 years, for some reason, it became associated with Christmas, appearing on Christmas albums recorded by artists such as Liza Minnelli, Tom Jones, James Taylor and Natalie Cole. This was a very special version of the song. Although the audience heard the voices of two established (adult) artists, Idina Menzel and Michael Bublé, what they saw on screen were two talented kids, Emily Carey and Harry Collet, who had really good lip synching technique. David said that the kids are British, Menzel is American and Bublé is Canadian. The video, which delighted the PCEC audience, can be found on You Tube at https://www. youtube.com/user/Idinamenzel.
Member Judith Edmonds conducts the PCEC’s Open Forum where expats can ask questions or comment on living in Thailand, Pattaya in particular.
David played a clip from The Mission, a 1986 British movie set in South America in the colonial period. The clip showed an emissary of the Pope being taken to visit a remote mission above the Iguazu Falls on the border of what is today Argentina and Brazil, with the “Theme from the Mission” as the soundtrack.
The screen shows one member of the American acapella group, Pentatonixm, singing “Little Drummer Boy” with David Garmaise adding some commentary beforehand on the group and their YouTube success in starting their career.
In the next video, David introduced the audience to a song called “Chaiyaa,” which became a big hit in India after it was used in a Bollywood movie, Dil Se. The song was also used in an American movie, Inside Man, over the opening credits.
Next up was a duet by Bing Crosby and David Bowie, singing a “mashup” of “A Little Drummer Boy” and “Peace on Earth.” This was followed by a video showing scenes from “Titanic,” with the soundtrack featuring Céline Dion singing “My Heart Will Go On,” the film’s theme song.
Then it was back to The Piano Guys, with a little help from some friends – such as Peter Hollens, David Archuleta and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir – performing the Christmas hymn, “Angels We Have Heard on High.” On You Tube, this video is described as “Over a thousand people came together to break a record and bring this moving Christmas hymn to life.”
MC Roy Albiston presents David Garmaise with the PCEC’s certificate of appreciation for another of his excellent video presentations which are always great to watch; especially on the Tavern by the Sea’s new LED big screen.
Last, but certainly not least, David presented a video from the show “Britain’s Got Talent,” in which a Welsh choir “Only Boys Aloud” captivated the judges, the audience in the performance hall, and the PCEC audience with an inspirational Welsh song.
At the conclusion of the Program, MC Roy Albiston brought everyone up to date on Club and other events and called on Judith Edmonds to conduct the Open Forum, where questions are asked and answered about Expat living in Thailand, especially Pattaya. For more information on the PCEC’s many activities, visit their website at www.pcecclub.org.
Member Ren Lexander interviews David Garmaise about his music video presentation to the PCEC. The interview can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDT3x0zEKm0
