A Close Enough Christmas! - Festive Barbershop at St Olave's

Close Enough Barbershop Quartet are playing St Olave Hart Street on Thursday 17 December, a lunchtime concert that runs from 1.00pm to 2.00pm. It's a festive set, and the ticket price is £5, with all proceeds going to Providence Row's Christmas Appeal. There's also the chance to make an additional donation during the concert.

Close Enough have spent the last decade taking their light-hearted, lyrical brand of close harmony around the UK. They've won Best Small Vocal Ensemble at the Buxton Fringe three years running — 2022, 2023 and 2024 — and have played the Big Feastival alongside the Burford, Bath, Brighton and Buxton festivals. They've even toured the distilleries of Islay. The Buxton Fringe Awards described their act in terms of 'witty repartee' and 'vocal acrobatics', and that's a good way to sum up what they do: four voices locked in tight harmony, with a fair bit of banter in between the songs.

The festive programme mixes numbers associated with Perry Como with favourites from the worlds of Louis Armstrong and the Marx Brothers. It's a broad spread of mid-century songbook material, and the quartet's approach is as much about the delivery as the singing. The line-up is Woody Allen on tenor, Thomas Eyre on lead, Tom Rogers on baritone and Johnny Shipley on bass.

It's a short, one-hour show in the City, so it works as a lunchtime break if you're nearby. Tickets are £5 in aid of Providence Row's Christmas Appeal, and you can add a further donation on the day. St Olave Hart Street is at 8 Hart Street, London EC3R 7NB.