Katie & The Carnival hit the stage to play a few numbers and explain what the evening is all about, a coming together of great minds. Tonight, besides all the carnival, Katie will also be joined by VerseChorusVerse and Sons of Caliber, essentially doing their own modest version of The Band’s classic film, The Last Waltz. The musical highlights are definitely a rousing rendition of ‘Big Red Van’ from Verse Chorus Verse, with all the Carnival weighing in and giving it the stomper feel it deserves. It’s not long before Katie introduces Andrew from Sons of Caliber who is very much The Real Deal, a less scary version of French rugby star Sebastien Chabal, with an honest voice that most would love to be in possession of.



However, it’s an early gig, and it never really reaches a climax, people coming and going from the stage, and the proceedings never really gaining the kind of momentum that we hoped for. It’s no-one’s fault, and Katie and The Carnival do a great job of jumping between being the house band and being the hosts. Her charisma makes her the perfect hostess for the evening, and you can tell she’s delighted at being involved in this venture. She’s giddy between songs, but still manages to plug the single release of ‘Dinosaurs’ on the 18th of June.



The evening isn’t really about the concert though, it’s about the event as a whole, which was a success. Katie and The Carnival are the perfect band to go for this kind of project, the tents looked homely and inviting, and the footage being played inside each was super, showing that Belfast can do an art/music event just as well as our sophisticated European cousins in Berlin or Paris. Hats off to Katie and Bandwidth, much more of this please.

Eamonn Murray