Colm Wilkinson is one of those performers that you have to go and see if you have the chance. Why wouldn’t you? He is a legend and at 69 years old, wow can he still perform!
His new album ‘From Broadway and Beyond’ is a wonderful mix of musical theatre and folk songs including stunning versions of Hallelujah and House of the Rising Sun as well as an unexpected Wind Beneath My Wings. Mixed in with a real Irish folk sound I wanted to put on my stensen and line dance around the living room when I heard it.
On stage he is even more of a character, with a look in his eye that makes you realise, when he sings, he could be 20 years old again. I’ll forgive the awful jokes he told on stage because he said his wife told him not to say them (and he shouldn’t have but it was a sweet moment).
The only let down of the evening was guest performer Aine Whelan who sang the most lifeless version of I Dreamed A Dream that I have ever heard. That song has so much heart and emotion and for her to sing ‘I had a dream my life would be so different from this hell I’m living’ with a smile on her face showed that she wasn’t even thinking about the song.
Colm Wilkinson is an incredibly endearing performer that you could listen to for hours. Luckily, even though the concert is over, I still have the new album to listen back on, and a wonderful album it is.