The choir returned to the Edinburgh Fringe this summer for three memorable performances, featuring two iconic churches, a beer palace and three drag queens! As ever, the Fringe was full of surprises, none more so than on day one, when 65 of us turned up for a Saturday lunch time concert at Brewhemia, a live music venue, to discover that we were on after a drag act. We needn’t have worried about our reception though. From the opening chords of ‘Sweet Dreams’ to the closing notes of ‘Thank You For The Music’, the audience was out to have fun, joining in every song with gusto and hands in the air.
Sunday afternoon saw us performing in the beautiful, simple setting of Canongate Kirk on the Royal Mile, the scene of a Royal wedding when Princess Anne’s daughter Zara married Mike Tindall in 2011. Many members of the public, attracted into the church by our rehearsal, stayed on to listen to the concert alongside those who had booked in advance. Opening with ‘Let The River Run’, our set list also included ‘A Thousand Years’, ‘The Rose’, ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ and ‘Chasing Cars’.
For our final concert on Monday, we headed to the magnificent Greyfriars Kirk, which is blessed with a fantastic acoustic. ‘Who But The Lord’ and ‘O Love’ have never sounded more beautiful and our wonderful audience joined in enthusiastically with our last song of the trip, ‘Hey Jude’.
Throughout the three days, there was also time to take in many Fringe shows and attractions and we returned home tired but elated, already talking about a return in the future!