June 4, 2012

Jubilee: The Concert

It took me a little while to find a live stream of the Jubilee Concert, but I am glad I persevered and was able to watch it. It was very well done, and made even better by following along with @Queen_UK’s tweets, which were hysterical. concert2

I arrived at the Concert at the same time as Annie Lennox, who was wearing a pair of wings. As usual, she sang like an angel.concert1

Next up, Sir Tom Jones of Pontypridd, Wales who sang Mama Told Me Not to Come and then Delilah, a rollicking song sung at every rugby match I attended in Wales.concert6

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HM arrived about half way through the concert. Prince Phillip had been taken to hospital earlier in the day, and I imagine the Queen is exhausted. She was wearing one of her gorgeous cloaks, which was perfect for the chilly evening.concert8

And the day dimmed, Buckingham Palace began to light up with coloured lights as well as graphics. concert10

Dame Shirley Bassey of Tiger Bay, Cardiff, Wales, sang Diamonds are Forever, a thoroughly appropriate tune.concert11

The beautiful opera singer, Renee Fleming, sang a duet from a balcony on Buckingham Palace. concert13

imageEr, perhaps one means snipers.

Sir Elton John was next up, and he sang “I’m Still Standing” which may have been a good choice, concert15and then “Crocodile Rock” imagewhich had the Royals, including Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, and their cousin Zara Phillips Tindall, singing along. concert16

The group “Madness” sang their one hit “Our House” from the roof of Buckingham Palace, while graphics projected onto the façade showed the front of the Palace peeling back,concert21looking like our house in the middle of the block… is a very very fine houseconcert22and even an old warehouse.concert23

imageStevie Wonder sang Isn’t She Lovely, and then very inexplicably, his Happy Birthday Song. concert28

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Sir Paul McCartney, who looks younger every day, concert27sang some old Beatles songs,image and then concluded with Live and Let Die with its natural fireworks finale.concert30

imageThen HM arrived on stage to mingle with the artists who had performed, concert33and then place a giant crystal in a holder which would light the final beacon of the evening. concert36

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Of course, I couldn’t let the event go by without lighting my own beacons. Naturally, at 5:30 p.m. they don’t quite have the punch as later in the evening when it’s dark. So we tried it again at duskand lit the chandelier’s eight candles and the two beacons and now it’s…

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All in all, a wonderful event.

22 comments:

  1. Meg, this is hilarious! Thanks for sharing such an amusing evening! Love the tweets.

    As always the Queen looked great but I could not agree with you more...I am sure she is tired of the nonstop activity for the last three days, on more to go tomorrow and now her husband in the hospital.

    Have a great day, Elizabeth

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    1. She's still got the service of thanksgiving today and then a long slow drive back to buckingham palace from westminster.

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  2. Maybe the irreverant twitterer did mean snippers - as in corgis?

    Diamonds are forever...

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    1. Ha! maybe. i didn't think of that. but are they nippers?

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  3. Love it! What a hoot - thanks for that!

    I watched the concert, enjoyed most of it (don't like the BBC sound-mix much - vocals not always loud enough) and snivelled through the end. I love living in France, but there is nothing like a super-dooper patriotic British pageant that make me long for home.

    Carol x

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    1. i watched the bbc feed but with no commentary (thank god).

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  4. One thinks all these festivities are a plot by PoW to place one in hospital with DoE so that PoW can assume one's crown..OVER ONE's DEAD BODY! Er

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    1. Haha! PoW did give a lovely speech where he referred to her as Mummy to the roar of the crowd.

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  5. This post is adorable, Meg, you have such a wonderful sense of humor and fun! Thank you especially for all the pictures of the "Our House" graphics over Buckingham Palace! With good thoughts for the health of the Queen and Prince Philip,

    Francie

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    1. I wasn't able to get screen grabs of the front of the house "peeling" off, or flapping open. It was brilliant!

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  6. I tried to watch the concert live on the BBC (via satellite in Rwanda) and was surprised by how awful the sound quality was. You really couldn't hear the singers. Your live feed was probably better. The tweets are wonderful!

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    1. I watched the BBC One feed, but on some pirate site.

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  7. Thanks for keeping us updated! You are better than the BBC. How's Connor? We all need an update. Ann

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    1. I always hesitate to say that Connor's fine for fear of jinxing things!

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  8. This has me dying in my cubicle! Thank you!

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  9. Meg, these are sooo funny + delightful. Thank you xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

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  10. Brilliant post!! LOL I love the tweets about Stevie Wonder lol!!!!

    I didn't get to see any of this so thank you for bringing it to my laptop!

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    1. I ended up watching the ABC special on the concert and was very disappointed by it. They cut about half of the preformers, and a lot of the songs. It was like a totally different event. Ugh.

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  11. I was very disappointed by the ABC version. I wish I'd found the live stream. They had several Kylie Minogue songs, and no Annie Lennox?? Weird

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    1. Linda... it was horrible, wasn't it. Such a shame because the original was lots of fun.

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