It was a beautiful summer’s afternoon in The Pleasure Garden, as we waited outside The Hat Trick to see ‘INSOMNIA: Songs for Lonely Nights’ by Providence Gospel Choir. I hadn’t seen the choir perform before and had invited a friend to join me for an afternoon at FRINGE WORLD Festival. Having seen many international shows this Fringe, I was excited to see a show from homegrown talent.

The crowd were relaxed and happy as we entered the venue, with many patrons waving to choir members. The choir were on the stage and ready to go, along with their four-piece band. The choir director introduced the show by acknowledging the history of gospel music and the fact that it was born out of oppression. She then spoke about the theme of insomnia and how they’d mapped the songs of the show to follow the night and into the dawn—a beautiful concept.

When the first soloist took to the stage, I was blown away. Her tone and control added even more joy to an already wonderful performance. Some of the songs were older gospel classics and some were more modern. The arrangements were excellent and the band absolutely brilliant. I especially loved that ‘Brighter Day’ gave space for the band members to perform solos. The keyboard player delivered an incredible vocal solo earlier in the set too.

It was such a perfect way to spend an afternoon at Fringe. I highly recommend getting out to see Providence Gospel Choir perform. My friend and I left feeling uplifted and grateful.