BRIGHTON GAY MEN’S CHORUS: EURO PARTY

2025 sees the 20th anniversary of the BGMC, a milestone event for one on the most highly respected queer choirs not only in the UK but beyond. And to mark the occasion the chorus have planned 20 special events with this, no doubt, one of the highlights. So what could be more celebratory and special than inviting three European choirs to share the stage with them – an evening of vocal fun and much more beyond.

And what a stage, the spanking new Cairns Theatre in the grounds of Brighton College, a staggeringly beautiful new performance space that I for one was totally unaware of. How lucky the students at that school are and, it would seem, so are we if the general community of the city will have access as we did last night to this architectural gem.

The evening started with the Dublin Gay Men’s Chorus. This a very fine choir indeed, precise in their delivery of each song with a fine sense of dynamics. There was a balanced gentility to the sound they produced, sotto voce accuracy balanced by a full throttle gusto but never erring on the side of shouting. Seasons of Love, a choral favourite from the musical Rent was sung so beautifully, Tell My Father was genuinely moving and I Am What I Am, another queer classic added a level of humour with a very good soloist. I’m no fan of the musical Wicked but they performed Defying Gravity with class and finished their set with a solid performance of Come What May. An impressive start to the evening from a quality ensemble who set the bar very high.

And with that bar so high what could follow? Well what came next was an explosion of joyously camp energy. The Barcelona Gay Men’s Chorus stormed the stage bedecked in an outrageous pink and black outfits, the looks, too many to list, ranged from silly to salacious and everything in between… and that was just how they were dressesd.

Now over the years we have come to expect some armography, the waist up waving of limbs, and even a little static choreography, with some toe tapping maybe. But this… well this was like a queer explosion on a Las Vegas show stage, cowboy hats and all. And it was delivered with pace and precision. They romped through their set from a poignant Man I Feel Like A Woman, through Larger Than Life, You Raise Me Up and it’s Raining Men finally delivering a Ru Paul medley. They can sing for sure, perhaps a little less precise that the boys from Dublin, but who cared, this was full on spectacle and truly spectacular. The energy and joy on that stage was palpable, and they were clearly having as good a time doing it as we were watching. I for one cannot wait to see them if they return in a few years time when Brighton hosts the international Various Voices festival, a celebration of queer choirs from around the globe.

After the interval, a point at which I had a moan at some of the VIP guests sat nearby, for talking throughout the first half. Not only disrespectful of the choirs but also of the audience. We had come there to enjoy the music and not their prattling and giggles. Moan over!

The second half saw the Philhomoniker Schwuler Chor München take to the stage in a pink and black soccer strip. A smaller choir but with no less heart and plenty of humour. They started with Let Me Entertain You, and went on to do just that with solid performances of Viva La Vida, Uprising and You’ll Never Walk Alone. But the highlight of their set was Radiohead’s Creep which they sang with drama and feeling. It’s a great song but one that requires not only some fine singing but also a sense of theatre, and they really pulled it off. They also pulled off a very funny bending over in the shower to pick up the soap gag which had us chortling for sure.

Inevitably the evening culminated with the massed voices of the Brighton Gay Men‘ds Chorus, the biggest queer male ensemble outside of London. Dressed in simple black with red braces they made an impressive sight as they sidled into a great arrangement of the Sugababes classic Push The Button. This choir have a reputation for taking pure pop and investing it with choral finesse and this worked so well. Onward they went with a massive rendering of Bowie’s Life On Mars followed by Only If and Angel Of My Dreams.

My highlight from their set has to be the brilliant Divine Comedy number Our Mutual Friend which they pulled off with real style. It’s not an easy sing and could so easily go wrong with Neil Hannon’s complex lyrical phrasing and testing rhythms.

A normal BGMC set would include several solos but on this occasion we had only one, and one as part of a full choral arrangement of What I Was Made For. David Purdue’s voice rang out with clarity and class, a very beautiful moment in the evening.

The final number Love On The Top was great, but was simply eclipsed when all four choirs packed the stage and under the baton of BGMC’s musical director Joe Paxton accompanied by Tim Nail and Josh Mills they belted out Britney’s Toxic. Thunderous, and to my mind far better than the miming pop pixies original, it was a great way to sum up an evening of inclusive joy with all four choirs clearly having a ball. And then, as if they had not given us enough, we get Proud Mary, big, bold and rocking, Tina would be proud for sure!