Death, Taxes and Cast doing a gig at The Limelight. Except, it wasn’t Cast, it was John Power on his own, and it was at Mandela Hall.
For me, it would be my first visit to the newly rebuilt Mandela Hall, although I already had a nosey about the Student Union Complex in early October. This would be my first concert there.
My last concert at the old Mandela Hall, I think, was OMD in October 2017.
It was different. For a start, the venue is at ground level, you don’t have to go down another level to it.
The legendary sticky floor isn’t there. Yet.
It won’t be long until that makes a reappearance, judging by the amount of spilt beer during this gig.
The reason that John Power was in town for a solo show, was to support an event called Foodstock.
Foodstock is a charity in Belfast which provides food for those that need it.
The admission fee for this event was free, but you were asked to make a donation of food in lieu of paying for a ticket.
No pressure on John Power, but he had to put in a performance that was worth two tins of beans and two tins of soup.
I actually have the Facebook Algorithm to thank for this, popping up in my timeline.
Doing it’s job for once, instead of telling me to get down to The Oval to cheer on Mick’s Boys.
Yes, it actually puts that in my timeline.
Power was one of a number of acts appearing at this event.
Just after I arrived, a band called Boss Sound Manifesto appeared on stage.
I’d never heard of them before but they were rather good. Can’t beat a bit of Ska.
They were followed by The Vals.
I’d actually seen them before, in 2010 when they supported Ocean Colour Scene, funnily enough at Mandela Hall.
I can’t actually remember much about their performance, if they good or bad or somewhere inbeteeen.
If I needed refreshing, they were very good.
Turns out, they were also organising the event, with their singer Paul Doherty being the brains behind Foodstock.
They arrived on stage in branded bibs that staff were wearing, no time to change.
As fans waited for John Power, an automated playlist of 90s classics played out over the speaker.
The song that was being played as John Power entered the stage was Walking On The Milky Way by OMD. Quite ironic as they were the last band I saw play at Mandela Hall.
Power entered the stage sipping on a glass of wine, preparing to sing songs that have aged like a fine wine.
As he was in a Student Union Bar, I have my doubts that he was sipping on a fine wine.
His involvement in this was simple, he was asked.
Literally, just asked if he fancied coming along and he said yes.
Power praised the spirit of the festival, and wants to do his own version.
Straight to the point, playing the hits of Cast, songs such as Finetime, Alright, Walkaway and Flying.
At the end, he threw his setlist into the crowd, being caught by someone celebrating her birthday.
The big sash saying “Birthday Girl” on it was a bit of a giveaway.
It was certainly a weekend to remember for her.
Cast live at The Limelight 2018
John Power live at The Limelight 2018
Cast live at The Limelight 2016
Cast live at The Limelight 2015
Analogue Boy In A Digital World 