Trinity Orchestra and Hozier honour David Bowie with mind-blowing EP performance

Despite the gloomy weather, hundreds of fans alighted upon EP's main arena to support Trinity Orchestra. The symphonic orchestra is the only student run orchestra in Ireland and never fails to impress its growing fanbase with its eclectic range and consistently perfect symphonies.

This year they were honouring David Bowie, and what a tribute it was. The audience was spoiled with a sleu of unforgettable moments.

An interesting touch was to perform almost all the songs as duets which resulted in a gorgeously layered harmony between sopranos and velvety bass vibratos. Opening with 'Space Oddity', the orchestra proved time and again that they were a well oiled machine. What a reaction the iconic verse "ground control to Major Tom" received. The male duo performing the song nailed its emotional reverence, leaving tears in the eyes of several audience members.

The entire orchestra was exceptional, but the strings steered the emotional heart beat of the set with their searing arpeggio and staccato notes forming the wonderful sense of atmosphere Bowie was infamous for creating.

One cannot say enough about the exceptionally talented singers. To say they could give listeners goosebumps is an understatement. Not to use a cliche, but there were numerous occasions where you could close your eyes and believe that the real David Bowie had descended on Electric Picnic for a final performance. From now on, they should be known as Bowie's disciples.

A solo female singer's ethereally beautiful rendition of 'Life in Mars' was vintage Bowie and she managed to slay the impossible notes only considered attainable by the legend. Accompanied by tinkling discordant piano, and string arpeggios it was one of the stand out moments of the gig. 'Lazarus' was exceptional with its eerie strings, off beat drums, discordant bass accompaniment and its amazing female vocalist bringing a bluesy feel, while highlighting the tragic fragility and fatalism of the song and its creator.

'Fashion', 'Underpressure' and 'Rebel' had the entire crowd dancing with its flamboyant flutes and trombones signalling a clear throwback to old-school Bowie pop.

As if we needed more reasons to love this gig, Hozier made a surprise appearance on stage to lead the band in a powerful and touching rendition of 'Heroes'. If you saw nothing else at Electric Picnic, you should be content that you saw this performance.

The big finale of 'Lets Dance' allowed the incredible singers to make their final tribute to Bowie, before bringing what will go down as one of the most significant moments at EP to an end.

An epic tribute to celebrate an epic performer.

If you enjoyed this gig, make your way down to the Hot Press chat room at 4pm to see us continue to honour David Bowie at our David Bowie Symposium.