After spending literally years on our bucket list, we finally went to see a Candlelight Concert in Sydney. We’re big on gigs, and the idea of these seemed just lovely; music by artists we like, reimagined by a string quartet surrounded by candles.

There’s a few of them to choose from, but having grown up on The Beatles’ music, going to see the Tribute to the Beatles was a no-brainer.

But we’re pretty certain we’ll go back and hear some of the others now, too.

The 60-ish minute show featured plenty of Beatles hits played on two violins, a viola and a cello that surprisingly didn’t have us missing the drum beat at all. There’s no singer, but one of the instruments usually does play along as a “vocalist” for each song.

Expectations vs reality

Of course, nothing is exactly as it seems on Instagram, but the candlelight concert experience was pretty close. However, there were a few things that weren’t quite what we expected, but by no means ruined the experience.

We expected the room to be wonderfully aglow with natural candlelight. When we walked in, it was very obvious they were just LED lights made to mimic candlelight.

We expected people to be singing along, but, fortunately no one was until the final song when they were prompted to.

We expected little talking from the group, but the lead violinist was actually quite chatty. He introduced most songs and often told a little story about the song or about the group, the Phoenix Collective, to liven things up.

Location & ambience

Candlelight concerts in Sydney take place in two venues, either the Grand Lodge at Sydney Masonic Centre or St Stephens Uniting Church.. The show we saw was at the Grand Lodge, a space we didn’t even know existed prior to getting these tickets.

With all the lights aglow (even if they weren’t real candles), it did create a lovely, warm setting. Candles lined the aisles and covered the stage, except for a section where the performers stood.

Admittedly, we did get the cheap seats, which meant we were on the mezzanine. With the way the stage was set up (in front of the actual stage), two of the three rows on the mezzanine seats were really poor in terms of visibility. There was a metal railing that happened to block the view of the performers.

While we’re not the tallest people, it did seem to affect most people sitting up there as the front row (which had the worst views for us) were pretty empty until the place filled up and it became the only places to sit.

Playlist for Tribute to The Beatles candlelight concert

The group crammed a lot of songs into the set. While it may change from time to time, here’s what they play:

• Here Comes The Sun
• I Want To Hold Your Hand
• Help!
• Michelle
• Penny Lane
• Come Together
• We Can Work It Out
• While My Guitar Gently Weeps
• Lady Madonna
• Blackbird
• Here, There, and Everywhere
• Eleanor Rigby
• Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
• Yesterday
• With A Little Help From My Friends
• Hey Jude

Does it do the songs justice?

Yes! We saw the Tribute to The Beatles and found all the songs sounded wonderful. Of course, it’s not going to be exact as there’s no drums, electric guitars, pianos or other inventive instruments the Fab Four used.

Overall, is it worth it?

Definitely! The musicians are incredibly talented and the songs sounded great. Tickets to these shows tend to be pretty affordable, starting at just $40. We’re already keen to see some more of them, including Fleetwood Mac and Queen.

Where to go next…