I’ve just returned from a week in London where I went to see one of the most brilliant concerts I’ve yet to experience. It was “A Not So Silent Night” and held in the Royal Albert Hall. Traditionally the show has been rooted in Carnegie Hall, but for the first time it has made it across the Atlantic. Hosted by Rufus and Martha Wainwright and their mum Kate, and aunt Anna McGarrigle they invite you into their own little world, giving you a glimpse of what things must be like in their own front sitting room at this time a year. Well, sort of. The main difference being that you’re in an enormous sitting room and there are a ton of special guests – most notably Guy Garvey from Elbow who led a choir and had the whole of the Royal Albert Hall on their feet singing along to John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas” (War is Over). A goose pimpingly brilliant experience.
Guy, Rufus and Martha on stage – Click to see more from the night
Topping it off for me though was Sloan Wainwright (the Wainwrights – what a talented lot) singing a version of Queen’s “Thank God It’s Christmas.” What a voice. I was up on the first tier and way too far away to be worrying myself with videos but lucky for me Youtube is littered with videos from the night. Here is that very performance recorded by LysWant. Enjoy.
Anyway – this post was not supposed to be about that particular night. What I’m trying to get to is that I’m now filled to the brim with Christmas spirit. Luckily for me my return to Dublin has been helped by the fact that the 12 Days of Christmas, a Christmas market, has just opened in Georges Dock. I took a trip down tonight with my buddy, Ian, to take some photos. It’s a lovely little setup too, with lots of tents drawing you nearer with the smells of mulled wine and German sausages. I’m very easily tempted. I plan to go back with my camera to take some more shots over the next few days to add to this little slideshow. It’s only there until the 23rd Dec. It would be a shame not to really.
To see the slideshow click here on on the image below.
I don’t remember Merry-Go-Rounds being this psychedelic as a child.
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