2024 - a bit of a whirlwind year, Dolores Delargo Towers style

We breathed a sigh of relief in 2022, the first year that our social events really resumed after the nightmare "coronavirus years". We ramped-up the ante in 2023, with quite a few theatre trips and holidays. 2024, however - this was a year when we went into overdrive! Just about every month brought something new to see and do, and heavens, we saw and did a lot...

The whole thing kicked off with a bang in January, with the Cinderella panto starring Craig Revel Horwood, closely followed by Madam Arcati and I at Menier Chocolate Factory for Sondheim's Pacific Overtures, and John-John and I in Heaven for (what would turn out to be our only visit to what used to be a monthly treat) Polari headlined by David McAlmont and HiFi Sean. February saw us make our annual pilgrimage to Benalmadena - en masse, as it was The Madam's 65th birthday - but before we went, we found the time to go to Wilton's Music Hall for a one-woman tribute to Gertrude Lawrence...

As Spring began, in March we two were off to the Cadogan Hall for the first of three choral concerts during 2024, Faure's Requiem. In April, the "clans" gathered for a [return, for me] visit to the V&A for its splendid DIVA exhibition. May began with a real treat, as we were off to the London Palladium for an unforgettable live concert by "house band" Postmodern Jukebox, and the following weekend it was "The Gay World Cup", our Eurovision Song Contest party.

With barely time to recover from our hangovers, however, The Madam and I were off to Spain again - for our "Andalusian adventure", taking in the delights of Seville, Cadiz and Jerez, before another week of hedonism back in Benalmadena. June brought us more joys, with Jerry's Girls at the Menier, and by complete contrast, the magnificent Verdi Requiem at Cadogan Hall. Of course, the end of the month saw the event around which everything else just pivots, [our red-and-gold-themed] Gay Pride!

July saw us complete our "choral triptych" with another trip to Cadogan Hall for Walton's Belshazzar's Feast - and, as we are definitely not averse to "mixing-up the genres", John-John and I went to see [in its opening weekend] Deadpool and Wolverine.

Onward and upward, and August was hectic! We were back to the Palladium for Hello Dolly! starring Imelda Staunton, and A Chorus Line at Sadler's Wells a few days later - well, it was mine and my sister's birthday fortnight [ours are a week apart, although there's three years between us] - and then The Madam and I were once again at "The World's Leading Variety Theatre" for a once-in-a-lifetime experience: Bernadette Peters in Concert. With barely time to draw our breath after all those shows, we were off to our [second, after London] favourite city Amsterdam for the annual pilgrimage! To end the month, we took advantage of a rare bit of sunshine in what was an up-and-down "summer" (again) for our first outdoor "Grand Picnic" in two years.

After a relatively quiet September, we were off again in October [for our first ever visit] to Alexandra Palace Theatre for the revue Sondheim on Sondheim and then, in a matter of days, another once-in-a-lifetime event - Dame Joan Collins: One Night Only at the Adelphi Theatre! In a final flourish, we went to see the triumphal return of Rick Skye and Steven Brinberg's Barbra & Liza Live! at Charing Cross Theatre, and Sacha Regan's all-male Pirates of Penzance at Wilton's Music Hall in November. Oh, and Our Sal's 25th anniversary at the "Lady Shaston" Arms, of course. And then there was her birthday party in December, and our New Year's Eve Party as a fitting finale..!

Whew.

However, if this is to be a "review of the year" - was there any music that could in any way be considered in the running for a "song of the year"? Hmmm...

This one was fucking everywhere last "summer" - despite me describing it back in June as sounding "like something Kylie might have thrown out during her time with Roc Nation" - but, if social media wasn't around, would it really have been that big..? Maybe:

Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso

This one is a real "left-fielder" - we loved it, and I'm sure it was a club hit. Bizarrely it seemed to disappear from what laughingly passes for "the charts" without a trace:

Zerb and Sofiya Nzau - Mwaki

This sublime cover from November is a contender - just pure class, as one might expect - and it was indeed on heavy rotation for a long time on the Radio 2 playlist:

Pet Shop Boys - All The Young Dudes

However, it was this one that really was the "Discovery of the Year" [despite being released in 2023] - so it may as well be crowned the "Dolores Delargo Towers Song of the Year"!

Ashley McBryde, Caylee Hammack, Pillbox Patti - Brenda Put Your Bra On

Utterly brilliant!

Let's see what 2025 brings us, shall we..?