BBC Arena - Amy Winehouse The Day She Came to Dingle (2012)
Arena tells the story of the day Amy Winehouse recorded a stunning acoustic performance in a church in the small Irish fishing village of Dingle.
Back in 2006, on a stormy December night, Amy Winehouse flew to a remote corner in the south-west of Ireland to perform for Other Voices, a highly acclaimed Irish TV music series filmed in Dingle every winter. Amy took to the stage of Saint James's church (capacity 85) and performed for a little over 20 minutes.
She absolutely wowed the small, packed crowd, singing six songs from Back to Black accompanied for that one night only by guitar and bass. With that unique, stripped down formation and in that close setting, Amy Winehouse delivered a searing, wonderful set that will never be forgotten by anyone who was lucky enough to be there. Amy Winehouse was a star and that night in Dingle she was shining at her very brightest.
Immediately after she left the stage, a relaxed and happy Amy Winehouse crossed the road to Benner's Hotel, where she spoke about her music and her influences Mahalia Jackson, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles and the Shangri-las to name a few. Then she ate a plate of oysters and visited a couple of the more famous Dingle haunts before climbing into a taxi and driving to Cork. All in all she was in Dingle for about six hours. A fleeting visit but a lasting impression.
Arena joined forces with Other Voices and went to Dingle to catch up with some of the people that Amy met on that day, including Paddy Kennedy, the taxi driver who collected her from the airport; Aoife Woodlock, the musical director who booked Amy in the first place; Dale Davis, her bass player, and Rev Mairt Hanley of the Other Voices church.
Arena showcases not only Amy, but the musical geniuses who inspired her to forge her own jazz pop style.
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