Celtic Choir at Fête de la Musique

The Fête de la Musique gives Berlin musicians the chance to play for free in the city streets and is now a well established Midsummer festival. The Celtic Choir took part in the festival for the first time, an experiment that we should definitely repeat.

We'd booked a session outside the Tipperary Irish Pub in Wedding and tailored our set list accordingly, filled with Irish songs, pub songs and Irish pub songs. We assembled early evening just as it started to drizzle, but the drizzle soon turned into a downpour and it became clear that a concert outside would be very soggy. We decided to put on the the concert inside. The choir with more than 20 singers crammed into one room and performed a shortened set. Thankfully the Landlord was all for it, the waitresses patient and the customers who were crammed in with us were supportive. The songs, buoyed by the acoustics of the pub, were sung lustily by choir and audience especially the old Irish favourite "Molly Malone".

The result was a punchy performance: right choir, right venue, right festival. Let's hope that next year we get the right weather as well!