Review of Ceol at Vicar Street – 16th March 2011
Review by Oisin Tormey
Photos by Abraham Tarrush
Ceol 2011, 16th March 2011
A trip to Vicar Street on Paddy’s Day eve had me in attendance for the 2011 Ceól gig, with a stellar lineup of Irish performers taking to the stage to support Seachtain na Gaeilge and Barnardos also. Opening the night were the Dublin Gospel Choir along with a backing band and string instrumentalists, who played with every group for the whole night. Not knowing what to expect from the choir, I was pleasantly surprised when they opened with a great cover of Mumford and Sons’ ‘The Cave’ in Irish. It was a great way of beginning the night, and really showed off how the choir could make a hit record sound completely as if it was their own. Continuing on with ‘Ain’t No Mountain’ and ‘Liberty Bell’ it was a feel-good, but short set which was well received by the crowd.
Next on the stage was Luan Parle, who’s musical stylings I was unfamiliar with. She played a great 3-song set with her song ‘Taibhse’ making Vicar Street seem even more intimate than it already is, and her duet with Aine Hasson from ‘The All-Ireland Talent Show’ a real treat to listen to. It’s good to see someone come off a show like that with actual talent, and it was clear to see she has the ability to stick around Irish music in the years to come. Following on from this was Lumiere, who began with a high-tempo number which got the crowd interested, but failed to build on this by finishing off with two slow songs which were talked over throughout, and seen more as background music than a group on stage. If they had possibly altered the set to finish with an exciting Irish number it could have helped greatly.
A slight delay before Heathers came on left Bernard Dunne to MC the crowd for a few minutes. Despite coming across as uncomfortable with talking to so many people, he settled into the role and when someone asked him to sing a tune, comically said he’d fight them instead. With all technical aspects fixed, the MacNamara twins began with an Irish version of their song ‘Margie’. The song, like many of the others, was sang so well in Irish it was hard to think there was an alternative version in another language. ‘Remember When’ from the Irish tourism ads was up next, and with the string instruments and backing band the song was made to sound better than the version everyone is familiar with. The girls’ harmonies are great throughout, and keep the crowd’s attention much more than the previous group. Completing a four-song set, the group leave to loud, well-deserved applause.
Up next were Lir, a band around since the late 80’s, and who fell flat among the crowd. Some impressive guitar playing toward the end of the set was not enough to redeem themselves, and they were probably the most forgetful part of the night. After a ten-minute interlude, Fiach took to the stage. With the lack of interest shown in some of the lesser known acts, I feared the worst as he came on just with himself and an acoustic guitar. Instead, Fiach’s powerful acoustic songs were the best part of the night. Unlike many of the bands, he made the effort of having banter between tracks, describing himself as a small Chuck Norris in an Aer Lingus outfit. Finishing off his impressive set with ‘Stop’, he really caught my attention. His strumming towards the end of the song would have left many with bloody fingers, but he gave it his all and definitely left the crowd wanting to see more of him in the future.
Monaghan/Dundalk band ‘The Flaws’ were up next, in a stripped-down capacity. The band seemed to have a following in the venue, as small trickles of the audience on each side were dancing and swaying to their songs. Despite saying that they were nervous to be up on the stage, they gave a very confident performance with songs that despite not hearing before, sounded extremely familiar to me which the crowd seemed to love too.
Delorentos were next, and were the band I was most looking forward to seeing in this capacity. Like The Flaws, they came out with their two front men only backed by the house band and strings for the night. They didn’t use guitars but this didn’t hinder them as the band played their songs as well as the lads could have hoped. A mention has to be made for the backing band and string instruments. As hard as it must be for the bands to strip down their number and play along with them, for the backing ensemble to be able to cohesively work with so many different groups is a testament to the talent which was on show.
They got some of the crowd up and moving for the first time of the night, combined two Irish-sang songs with two English to really show off their talent. For the final two songs of their set, there were times where each one of the singers was in a Bez position of simply looking on as the other performed. This was nothing to worry about though, and finishing off with the Irish version of ‘Sanctuary’ they left as one of the better bands on the night.
Republic Of Loose finished off what was an impressive night of showcasing talented Irish musicians. Unfortunately, their set was not one of the more memorable with people seeming more bemused by their performance than impressed. I have seen them a few times live, and I’ve never been fully convinced of the show they put on. There were parts of their set which were really good, but overall it was a bit of a mess. The bass seemed to be up too loud which undermined the backing band’s overall performance of their tracks. Despite this, I left with the feeling that there are more Irish bands and artists to look at than the small minority many are aware of. And with all the money raised going to Barnardos, it’s difficult to be hard on anyone who gives up their time for such a cause. A different sort of gig to spend my night at, but one which surprised me and was a good advertisement to the healthy amount of good groups in Ireland at the minute.
