The Duke does it again at inspired Empire gig
This week has been a rather special one for fans of Duke Special.
The local troubadour has played five consecutive nights in The Empire Music Hall, each night with a different theme.
On Wednesday evening he performed with the St George's Singers in a special concert entitled A Symphony of Songs.
Dividing his time between the stage and performing with his band and then huddled at a piano in the middle of the floor with the choir behind him and the audience all around him, Peter Wilson and company created an evening of intimacy and delight.
No stranger to experimentation, Duke Special's music is the sort that lends itself so well to reinvention.
Already calling upon an eclectic array of influences, including everything from vaudeville extravagance to chamber pop, this week's series of concerts only serves to enhance his reputation for creating heartfelt, quirky and completely original songs.
The collaboration with the Belfast-based choir was the kind of master-stoke of inspiration and daring we've come to expect from The Duke.
Members of St George's Singers, a choir specialising in choral works from the Baroque and Classical periods, were instantly at home vocalising and enriching an already vibrant set-list.
They may go some way to breaking down barriers of preconceived notions and introducing a whole new audience to the pleasures of choral concerts.
While Wilson played out rich and soulful songs such as Portrait and Freewheel, the choir would build layers upon layers of spine-tingling harmonies, culminating in a cacophony of Danny Elfman-esque exuberance.
Supported by fellow pianist Aqualung, aka singer/songwriter Matt Hales, with his curiously beautiful compositions and lauded rendition of Somebody to Love and the eccentric and wonderful Factotum Choir, the evening was awash with inventive, rousing, touching and playful performances all round.
It was when Duke Special was cosying-up to his island of a piano though, in a sea of adoring listeners, flanked by Saint George's singers, that something really special unfolded.
Those present knew they were witnessing an ever ascending, yet incredibly candid star, worthy of all the praise bestowed upon him.
James Gracey
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Weather for Belfast
Monday 13 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North west
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Sunny spells
Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
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