I feel terribly lucky to have been at this event. Not only had I never been inside the Royal Albert Hall before, but to be offered tickets in a box, to a charity concert, was I think one of the nicest ways to first experience it.
Having read the lineup for the event, I wouldn't have said that there was anyone on the list that I'd have particularly paid money to see, but when you step inside the auditorium, the atmosphere just feels good. You know that the money raised during the evening is going to a great cause. I'll admit, I felt a bit posh and spoiled, sipping my champagne, but it was nice, just for once.
The headline act was Pete Townshend who seems to be everywhere at the moment. I'm not familiar with his music at all, not quite old enough to have been brought up on it, so whilst he was good, it wasn't really my cup of tea. Thankfully, someone pointed out that 'Won't get Fooled Again' is used in one of the CSI series, so I did recognize that one!!
However, I was very pleasantly surprised by a lot of the other acts. I'd say the highlights for me were probably Cerys Matthews (performing Catatonia's hit Road Rage, plus covers of Ring of Fire and Love Me Tender) and Joss Stone (I've had Super Duper Love stuck in my head all day), who both sounded spectacular, and also Boy George and Julian Lennon who were so much better live than I would have ever expected.
But with so many other well known names on the bill and in the house band, and the audience up on their feet many times throughout the show, it just felt like a really lovely evening all together. And next year, I would happily pay for a ticket to see something like this again.
The event was being filmed to be shown on Christmas Day on Sky Arts and Sky 3D channels, so if you can catch it or record it, then do. It's well worth a watch, but I don't think it will beat actually being there in person. Look out for me on the telly - I'm the overexcited one dancing whilst trying not to fall out of the box.
No comments:
Post a Comment