August is a great time for an outdoor concert, but what better place than the grounds of Cardigan Castle! In Wales, the next best thing is to see and hear the rich harmonies of Welsh Male Vocal Ensemble (their words) of Only Men Aloud.
Whatever your age or musical interests, you will find their repertoire exhilarating, especially the sensational opening rendition of Men of Harlech in Welsh. They did apologise for it being related to Harlech Castle rather than Cardigan Castle, but we forgave them.
There is a fantastic range across the 8 voices and ages of the group, all of the men beautifully turned out – must say I didn’t realise young men could look so good in skinny jeans, none of this “waistband round the knees” rubbish! Great voices, great songs, and polished performances from them all. The open-air venue was perfect, the packed audience muffled from the cold evening air by the end but happy to stand and join in with the final song. The organisers made sure that their was assistance for anyone with mobility needs and there were plenty of volunteers on hand to help as the long queue of people filed into the castle grounds.
I would definitely see them again. Cost £22 each, take your own chairs, blankets and mosi spray, but no tables or picnics at this event as they had drinks and food available on site (and it would have been too much of a crush to get enough people in to see them). More information about their tours can be found via their fanzine site: omaniacs_@hotmail.co.uk
