Bof.

Usually I have a look on Youtube before booking for a concert by unknown musicians. I don't know why I didn't this time, except I'm a sucker for anything Basque. Twelve chunky Basque guys in berets, and Anne Etchegoyen, a singer described as "the leading classical Basque singer", who was awarded "Best world music album of the year".  What could possibly go wrong?

Well, the guy on the left of the photo sums up our reaction. The male voice choir was fine, but at the end I said to S that Anne's performance was  what you'd expect at a fête de village. OK, that was unkind -- she can sing in tune -- but she had no charisma and  an awful lot of the lyrics consisted of the typically Basque words la-la-la. Middle of the road songs sung in a middle of the road way with a number of vain attempts at audience participation. The concert was sold out, and some people gave them a standing ovation at the end, but most people around us seemed to have the same indifferent reaction that we did.

Oh go on, here's a sample so you can judge for  yourself.