Review of The Commitments at The O2, Dublin on March 19th 2011
Review by Aidan Cuffe
Photos by Abraham Tarrush
Twenty years….. I was five years old when The Commitments came out and still this small fact makes me feel old. That movie was one of the cornerstones of a generation growing up and still today is as popular as a new generation of fans pick up one of my favourite movies which was made in my hometown of Dublin. There’s always something extra special about the home grown stuff.
Saturday night in The O2 the older generation showed their love for the film has not waned in twenty years with possibly the oldest crowd I’ve seen in The O2 in recent times. It was a brilliant sight to see a crowd that spanned the entire age spectrum.
The show lights dipped and the standing crowd pushed up to get a better view of the show as anticipation of the arrival of the band ramped up. The screens focused on the “save a soul mission” floor tom perched proudly in the middle of the stage. The band come to the stage greeted by a massive cheers led by Andrew Strong with the gorgeous and ageing amazingly Angeline Ball and Bronagh Gallagher. Glen Hansard tucked himself off to the side near the keys.
Opening with Treat Her Right and Midnight Hour set the tone for the show as it started with an energy and pace and Andrew showing his voice is still as strong as ever. As they rattled through their set with little need for much crowd interaction blasting out some of the favourites like Mister Pitiful, Hard To Handle and Chain of Fools we got glimpses of the vocal quality from the two girls Bronagh and Angeline who really had lost nothing of the sparkle in all these years, if anything they have improved and refined with age.
The pace dropped down in the middle of the show with ballads like Do Right Woman Do Right Man, Show Me and Dark End Of The Street which a lot of the crowd used for quick trips to the bar not wanting to miss too much of this very special event. This small lull didnt last long as Andrew Strong took absolute control of the crowd as they got the crowd into top voice for Land Of Thousand Dances which everyone sang back the Naaa Nanananaaa Nanananaaa Nananaaa Nananaaa took him then asking for just the balcony and then just the standing comparing who was louder and not one person near me could help but sing along, aversions to public singing and dancing were long forgotten at this stage as everyone immersed themselves in soul heaven.
Next up we were treated to something a little special, Glen Hansard who for large parts of this show had kept himself quiet, not wanting to steal the spotlight probably knowing he was the most well known and maybe feared stealing the spotlight and came across like a man filled with humility and reverence for the other performers. However he was about to steal the show with a beautiful and understated version of Phil Lynotts Old Town where he asked the crowd to click for him to which the sold out 14,000 strong O2 obliged and sang the lyrics with him word for word, literally gave me goosebumps.
They were on the home run now as they rattle off four or five more songs including I Thank You and the expected hit of the show Mustang Sally which really got the crowd back in good voice and knowing his crowd Andrew Strong dragged out a few more renditions of the chorus for a crowd who were lapping it up. At this point your wondering where he is getting the stamina from as he leg kicks his way across the stage numerous times giving the show absolutely everything he had. They finished up with Take Me To The River and said their false goodbyes but of course they were always coming back, this is the 20th anniversary. You don’t call it a night early on a milestone evening.
They returned to a massive ovation and played Try A Little Tenderness with everyone nodding their heads in approval as the list of songs you wanted to hear nears completion. They play a superb version of Gimme Some Lovin by the Spencer Davis Group as a fantastically energetic finish and then took their bow, as the remainder of the band left the stage Angeline and Glen had other ideas and both headed to the one mic to belt out a bit of Destination Anywhere which got the crowd singing again before Glen and Bronagh took their final bow and left the stage.
defying age and modern music, the stars of The Commitments took to the stage and brought soul back to Dublin. The show was absolutely brilliant as time casts a favourable light on the choice of songs in the film and most of the band who looked fantastic. The energy, charisma and unity of the band is still there, you can feel the genuine love and connection between them all which makes the performance that little bit more special.
If you weren’t in one of the venues to catch The Commitments in the last week I can only hope for your sake that this isn’t the final hurrah of the band and that you get another chance to see them again. It truly is a show worth seeing just as the film is worth passing on to friends and family.
