Review of the MixTape New Years Eve party at Vicar Street
Review: Nicola Byrne
Photos: Owen Humphreys
New Years Eve is notoriously a continuous letdown. It’s impossible to feel content with staying in, but heading out always ends in a two hour wait for a taxi, or looking after an ailing friend that had obviously had a lot more fun than you.
It was with minimal expectation that I headed along to Turning Pirate’s New Year’s Eve Mix Tape party at Vicar Street. Among the musicians collaborating, were James Vincent McMorrow, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Lisa Hannigan, John Smith, Rhob Cunningham, Jerry Fish, Gavin Glass, Tucan and Their Brass String Ensemble, Fred, Foy Vance and Wallis Bird. A motley crew of Irish talent—the ultimate NYE super group.
The mood was electric from the moment I walked in to the packed venue with ‘My Sweet Lord’ by George Harrison as my soundtrack, and not just because we were about to enter a new year. An assortment of the aforementioned musicians were on stage, which was treated as a sort of open-mic throughout the night, with faces popping on and off as they pleased.
The enthusiasm among them was infectious, leaving me almost wishing to be on stage with them. It was as if they were having an outrageously polished jam-session at a familiar house party. A theatrical house party, complete with flat caps, frilly dresses, whiplash-inducing head bangs, and swaying maracas. Covers were the running theme of the night, with only the likes of Lisa Hannigan performing her own recognizable material, such as ‘Knots’.
John Smith covered Queen’s of the Stone-age’s ‘No One Knows’, and Peter Green’s ‘Need Your Love So Bad’, while James Vincent McMorrow took on a motown demeanour. He had us bopping to D’Angelo’s ‘Brown Sugar’, ‘Reach Out and I’ll Be There’ by the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye’s ‘Ain’t No Mountain’, and “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” of Jackie Wilson fame. The man’s got soul, so much so that he couldn’t resist knocking out a few questionable dance moves. The crowd were lapping it up, with every opening note saluted with a nearby, “I love this song!”
Lisa Hannigan, welcomed ‘Eye of the Tiger’ with a kiss of her biceps, running into ‘Manic Monday’, as everyone around her picked up instruments at a seemingly random ease, adapting with the comfort that pure talent can only bring.
Jerry Fish really got Vicar Street going, shaking maracas into a crowd answering back his ape-like calls of ‘hoo, ha’, or starting an impromptu Mexican wave among the excitable lot. Next, he was into Talking Heads’ ‘Psycho Killer’ with Wallis Bird—dwarfed by the ensemble, but can certainly keep up with them vocally.
The super group briefly reformed to take a role in ‘Perfect Day’, from which they brought in the New Year with champagne and hugs. Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’ was the first song of 2012, which was perfectly fine by me. Maria Doyle Kennedy was sounding and looking dazzling, with a do that would put Sideshow Bob to shame and a shimmering dress that’d take your eye out.
Jerry Fish’s heartfelt rendition of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ almost brought up cringing memories of NYEs past, but were quickly forgotten once our cast launched into Fish’s ‘Celebrate’—a saddening declaration of the fact that the party was over.
However, there was still enough time for ‘Heroes’ to inspire us before the crew left the stage. It was 1am on the 1/1/12, and it was all over too early for my liking. But, I’ve finally had a New Year’s Eve worth taking about, and Ireland certainly has an abundance of talent worth paying attention to.
