A couple of weeks back, the most amazing thing happened. Something very Irish, something very wonderful. I was shooting some footage of Brian Kennedy playing live in Saint Brigid's Cathedral for the Kildare Derby Festival. It's a spectacular venue for a concert with incredible acoustics to boot. The footage is to be used down the line in promotional material for next year's festival. I was there essentially to grab shots to give a flavour of the venue and to show off the calibre of the performer, nothing beyond that. But I ended up getting a whole lot more. Brian is a very engaging performer and invites both questions about himself and requests for particular songs from his audience. In one particular exchange Anna Bradley, a local woman in her eighties, piped up from the back of the church in a barely audible voice, that she wanted to hear Danny Boy. So he went down to where she was to better hear and chat with her. When he said he would, if he had a radio mic, sing the song beside her, he was simply instructed to sing a capella by the octogenarian Anna. Brian is no fool, he knew that you don't argue with Irish grandmothers! What follows was as unexpected as it was heartwarming and touching.
I put this little video together the next morning and despite the fact that it's a bit slapdash - I wasn't really prepared for it, I didn't even have time to get the camera off my tripod and there was virtually no light down the back of the church - it was too joyous a thing not to share.
I'm glad I did though, as since I have it's been viewed over 65,000 times already. And it's clear why, a beautifully warm, spontaneous and unaffected moment captured serendipitously. I have heard Danny Boy an innumerable amount of times over the years, to the point of it pretty much becoming clichéd. It will never, however, sound insipid again, now and forever being associated with this wonderful moment on that night in Saint Brigid's Cathedral. Please feel free to share the video to those you think might also be moved by it. #briankennedy #dannyboy #kildarederbyfestival #livemusic #magicmoments #ireland