Lissie at The Academy, Dublin – December 7th
Review by James Hendicott
Photos by Abraham Tarrush
Plucked from obscurity by Lenny Kravitz and let loose on a whirlwind arena-scale tour of America, Lissie could be forgiven for finding The Academy a bit of a comedown. The celebrity backing that accompanied debut album ‘Catching A Tiger’ saw the Illinois native hyped by musicians as diverse as Courtney Love and Ellie Goulding, yet her progress in Dublin has been restricted to the relatively meagre move from The Academy’s notoriously dreadful basement (a couple of months back) to the half-full but far sweeter sounding main room.
Still, fresh from playing RTE’s Other Voices and high on Irish culture, Lissie isn’t the type to rest on her laurels. Tonight’s set is short and sweet, but crammed full of the brand of accessible country-rock that’s had the celebs fawning. Her voice is dazzling; a soaring, note-perfect instrument that kicks the set up a level, at times dominating the backing instrumentation with its sheer muscle. There’s no doubting Lissie’s passion for her music: she bounces her way through her songs, gesturing to the crowd, smiling infectiously and taking the time to scrawl on one over enthusiastic fan’s album cover during a quick lull in proceedings.
Musically, things are tight and well produced. Intensely personal, tracks like ‘Stranger’, ‘Bully’ and ‘When I’m Alone’ speak straight to the heart, and cover topics from teenage alienation and self-doubt, all the way to highly personalized moments of happiness and adulation. Despite the folk background, Stones-influenced chords and some playful pop ditties sneak into the live show, evidence of a wider musical palette, and fuel for the show’s impressive momentum. If there’s one fault with the stage show, it’s in Lissie’s almost excessively positive persona: it’s all very well being appreciative, but a relentless thanking of the audience makes up the vast majority of her crowd interaction. We get it, Lissie, you love us. Give us something different!
The talent, though, is undeniable, but for us Lissie is still a track or two short of a real chart-megastar breakthrough. For now, Kid Cudi’s ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ is playing the ‘big hitter’ role, stepping in for her other big cover (Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’) in a set list change that she seems to indulge in every time she comes to Ireland. A great cover it is, too: bouncy, lively and vocally richer than the original, but if Lissie’s going to storm the mainstream in the way half the world seem to be anticipating, she needs to take that half-step from ‘strong songs, unforgettable voice’ to writing something almost contagiously memorable. She’s not quite managed it yet, but we can’t help feeling that the song she needs is just around the corner.
