The Out to Lunch Festival 2012

Ah so the Out to lunch festival.  What a great idea, put on shows that are roughly an hour long serve up some great food and so people can go on their lunch breaks and have fun and food!  I went to see a Marxist magician at the OTLF last year and it was great craic and the food wasn't bad either.  So this year when the brochure came out I paid a bit more attention.  Also for £6 for a show and food you really can't beat it.  Sure what would you be doing that's better on your lunch break anyway?

Only it's not all done during lunch.  It's expanded over the years, so now some of the Out to Lunch festival take place....well...not at lunch time.  I decided on seeing 5 shows. 3 at lunch and 2 at night.  the food on all 3 days was provided by La Boca and I have to say was fairly delicious.  it was also different at all 3 events which was good cause i didn't want o be getting the same thing every time.  I had a Jambalaya one time and and cous cous another time.  LaBoca is known for their Argentinean food so i wasn't always familiar with what i was eating but i can say it was always tasty.  So with bowl in hand and crusty roll ready for dunking here's the shows.

Kevin McAleer

Comdey at lunch time is a tough one.  Comedy when no-one is drinking is an even tougher one. Comedy at Lunch when no-one's drinking in front of an NI crowd is supremely tough.  But Kevin McAleer pulled it off.  I remember watching Kevin's slide show on an VHS (kids ask you parents) when I was but a young 'un.  I remember laughing my arse off at it.  So when I heard that he was bringing that show back I was more than excited.  if you're not familiar basically he shows a lot of slides and makes joke about them.  It's quite surrealist humour. Also I find Kevin to be funny from the moment I see him, like a Mr. Bean or a Father Dougal from Father Ted.  The moment you see him you can't help but laugh.  And it was obvious from the moment he stepped on stage that this crowd agreed with me.  An hour later as he left I had to return to work with sore side and an aching jaw.

Dorance Lorza y the sexteto cafeI have never seen the Black box as busy as I have for  Dorance Lorza y the sexteto cafe. Barely room to stand let alone sit!  Half the room was taken up with the dance floor and even then it was hard to find a place to dance. As the Latin music filled the air and I indulged in a few Erdingers i even found myself getting up for a dance or 2 and to the people who had to witness it i say sorry. Colombian born  Dorance Lorza wasan amazing front man as he sashayed around the stage and eventually the dance floor belting out music the likes I've never heard before- a sort of caribbean cuban jazz salsa - he had the crowd in the palm of his hand.  A great night that got a tad hazy towards the end (blame the Erdinger) but a great night all in all.

Sarah Savoy and the Francadians

I'd never heard of Sarah Savoy prior to this event, but I do love my down south Cajun music and I do speak a little French, so I thought I'd give this ago.  Sarah sings her way through song after song about lost love and dramatic circumstances backed by her band the Francadians. God only know how her husband feels about all this.  But you could ask him if you want, he's playing the double bass.  But with the songs sounding jaunty and raucous you'd never guess that half of them where so dark, but she takes the time at the start of each song to talk us through the story of the song and helpfully she does this part in English.  The rest is in French. She also does a few covers including Hank Williams - mind your own business in French and Jonny Cash - Folsom prison blues in English.

The band banter well on stage talking about how they've just devoured a 24 inch pizza back stage and how that makes it hard to sing some of the more Tongue twistering lyrics.  It seems like they're having a genuinely good time and are thrilled to be here.  I'm not sure how many of the crowd knew Sarah Savoy when the arrived but i think we were all fans when we left, stoping only to buy her Cd and her DVD of good old fashioned Cajun cooking.

SwingabellaDouble bass. Keyboard. 3 women singing (mainly but not exclusively) 40's and 50's songs. 2 blondes and a brunette with victory rolls and navy day dresses from Tipperary, Cork and Portadown.  I admit it's not a usual way to spend a weekday lunch time, but its definitely a great way.

I'll admit that I'm a sucker for a good vocal harmony, maybe it's because it's something i'll never be able to do, maybe its the sound of the voices coming together, whatever it is I love it! And these girls do it perfectly.  They open with sisters, sisters and from there the tunes just keep coming. Java jive, To know him is to love him, Video killed the radio star, Mr sandman,In the mood , Don't sit under the apple tree and eventually finishing off with Goodnight sweet heart. Oh and They also squeezed in a version of Beyonce's Single ladies in a bizarre con-incidents it transpires that the double bassist is one of the singers husband! That's 2 times in 1 week!

Opera at Lunch

Presented by NI Opera and featuring a cast of top-notch young singers they barrelled though an hour of some of the best bits from well known opera's. One of the High lights was when one of the young male singers went though the audience Serenading the ladies with his operatic song. I'm not a massive fan or Opera  but I have to say i enjoyed it presented in this format. Alot of it was sung in enlish which made for better understanding of what was going on but a few were sung in  Italian and Czech.