OPINION: Happy kids equal happy parents

IT WAS disappointing to see some negative comments following the Mayor's Carols, especially when you see how much it costs to stage the event.

IT WAS disappointing to see some negative comments following the Mayor's Carols, especially when you see how much it costs to stage the event.

Mind you, I understand why some parents were a bit bewildered by the lack of Christmas carols.

It has been 27 years since I willingly attended a Christmas Carols event, and back then they were doing the usual - a dodgy PA system and some bloke with a guitar playing Silent Night, Good King Wenceslas and the Little Drummer Boy. Throw in a fat bloke in a Santa suit and it probably cost $100 to put on.

Things are different now. I first encountered this adaptation in the classic take on the family Christmas Carols a couple of years ago, when I was down in Kingscliff.

They were setting up for the big family Christmas do and, lo and behold, Dave Faulkner from the Hoodoo Gurus rocks up and starts doing a sound check.

"This is awesome, but strange," I thought, "Is Dave going to be bashing out a few festive season tunes later this evening?"

Turns out Dave was just there for a cameo. He played a Hoodoo Gurus song and joined in with some other ditty before disappearing.

I can imagine that like me, the mums and dads would have been impressed, but the kids would have been thinking, "who is this old man playing songs from 25 years ago that have no resemblance to a Christmas carol?"