Flamenco Belfast

Happy Flamenco Day folks!
UNESCO - 16 Nov 2010 - El Dia del Flamenco :)

Last night the flamenco maestro Paco Peña treated a full house in the Mandela Hall Belfast to another great show. He’s been selling out halls around the world for 60+ years!
Paco opened the show with the haunting sounds of Granaina and wow - did we get a show! After creating so many spectaculars, he just knows how to take an audience on a journey. Gradually, the troupe gets bigger as he is joined by a fellow guitarist and percussion to create the magic of his fandangos with elements of his misa flamenca - a great highlight for me! Then we get a very tasteful Farruca with dance. A single spot shines on stage left for quite a while, then more haunting sounds - this time a Martinete sung with conviction. A very energetic percussion solo and a great Alegrias was beautifully played and danced; before the fin de fiesta.
I’ve only mentioned a few of the outstanding moments for me - the whole show proved yet again that maestro Paco at over 80 years old still rocks!!
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Annoyingly, the local flamencos did not hear about a show the previous night in the Strand Arts Centre or we would have been there too!

Just a little tribute to my long time flamenco friend Phil Brown who passed away on 22nd september.

La Paloma First take