FMC Tour at The Spirit Store, Dundalk on June 9th 2011
Review by David Dooley
Photos by Sean Smyth
This early summer Thursday marked the second time First Music Contact have showcased the latest in great Irish talent in Dundalk’s beautiful Spirit Store. Tonight’s line up being a diverse bunch consisting of O Emperor, Heathers and Adebisi Shank.
First up of the touring trio of acts are Waterford natives O Emperor. The tightness and musicianship on display from this quintet is testament to their hard work over the good part of a decade that they’ve been together. The substantial chunk missing from their hollow bodied Telecaster only goes to show that these guys have put in the hard graft on the gigging circuit and deserve their spot on the tour.
The first half of O Emperor’s consisted of their more melodic, folk based songs with one of the highlights being an extended piano outro that meandered into all five band members singing ‘Because’ by the Beatles complete with pitch perfect five part harmonies. Coupled with the Store’s intimate candlelight it was a delight to behold.
Their textural stylings and restrained build ups mean that as the songs build and build they soar once the crescendo is reached, taking the set to heights that far surpass the Store’s first floor.
Initially I was hesitant at the appearance of a MicroKorg on stage, a tool perhaps more suited to Fight Like Apes but thankfully it was used with some well placed restraint by singer Paul Savage to add some haunting violin like volume swells.
The band play with sounds that are so delicate at times that none of tonight’s Louth crowd dare move for fear of disrupting the proceedings. Even the venue staff were the same as later on in the set the barmaid closed the till with the gentlest of pushes so not to disrupt the allure. With such a well crafted sound it’s a complete shame that O Emperor only have the attention of a half full venue.
Things kick into a different gear as the band break into the rolling shuffle of ‘Don Quixote’ followed shortly thereafter by ‘The Fat Lady Sings’, a perfectly apt named song to end the set on.
Next up tonight are twin sisters Ellie and Louise, better known as acoustic duo Heathers, or even more well known as them girls that did the Fáilte Ireland song. Swiftly kicking off the proceedings with the unusual move of opening with their most popular song ‘Remember When’. The duo have enlisted some extra help for tonight’s performance in the form of a cello player, guitar played and a drummer. All three of which stand awkwardly on stage for the duration of the opener on which none of them play, perhaps they should have watched the girls open the show on their own from the sidelines.
The between song banter is quite quirky when we’re explained that an entire song was spent thinking how much the Spirit Store’s curtains looked like the twins old school uniforms.
Unfortunately mid way through the set the songs do begin to sound a bit samey, something they seem to be aware of with the addition of a few covers, most interestingly Beyonce’s ‘Halo’. Hopefully the extra instrumentation on show tonight is taken on board by Heathers so they don’t suffer from second album syndrome.
Last up, and by no means least are Adebisi Shank who were about to play, as they acknowledged themselves both their first gig in Louth and far more meaningful: their first gig by candlelight, now who says romance is dead.
For anyone who hasn’t seen this trio live before be warned, they’re loud, really loud. If O Emperor’s aim tonight was to break free and soar above this 120 capacity venue then Adebisi Shank’s intentions were clearly to blow the walls off it. The sheer volume of sound this three piece can muster more than make up for the tenderness of the previous two acts.
The energy and force that they play with does nothing to take away from their technical abilities as they multi-task gliding up and down guitar necks in all manner of scales with the lightest of touches and heaviest of deliveries, all the while throwing every ounce of physicality they can into a stage performance.
Given the energy put into their live performance they still make time for some old fashioned on-stage politeness taking the time out to thank the crowd for coming out to their Louth debut. By this stage it’s nice to see the crowd have grown substantially since tonight’s earlier O Emperor performance and is bordering on sold out.
With the bass ending up in the crowd for Adebisi Shank’s final song it brings this incarnation of the FMC tour to a close but one that I hope makes another north-east stop very soon to treat us to some more homegrown talent.