The second day of Lovely Days – the title of the festival spanning the three rainiest days we’ve had all month – opened in the Guinness Storehouse courtyard on Saturday, May 24th. The constant light drizzle was however no match for fans of CMAT, Morgana and BIIRD, who gathered in their droves, cowboy boots, lacy skirts and rain jackets adorning all.
The first support of two came in the form of BIIRD, who took to the stage at 6pm in advance of their sold out headline show in Vicar Street later in the evening. A feat in itself to move eleven singers, instrumentalists and dancers between Liberties venues, the ensemble brought a mix of Sean Nós with a modern twist to the Storehouse grounds.
Sporting three harps, four fiddles, a guitar, drums, a concertina, a music box, a wooden flute and trad synth (?!), the eleven piece brought a fiery, Celtic energy to the hallowed square. Only a year old as a band, BIIRD are some of Ireland’s finest “singers, dancers, lilters, lunatics showcasing a new, contemporary, modern version of Ireland,” composed of renowned musicians including Lisa Canny, Zoran Donohoe and Claire Loughran. They’re on a self-proclaimed “eleven person mission to change the narrative of Ireland across the world.” A couple of diddly eyes in tow, there is nothing cliche or twee about BIIRD, who combine these traditional tones with fiery iterations of contemporary tunes.
Biird at Lovely Days Live at the Home of Guinness. Photo by Owen Humphreys www.owen.ie
A distorted version of ‘It’s My Party, I’ll Cry if I Want To’ aptly introduces Morgana. ‘Prepared to party, ready to cry’ says her tagline, her merch and the key phrase of her tune ‘Power Cuts’.
Morgana, formerly of Saint Sister has been carving her own way as a solo artist over the last number of years. Having supported CMAT at the beginning of her solo venture, the pair make ideal bedfellows. On the cusp of releasing her debut EP on June 11th, she arrives on stage ready to party, not so prepared to cry, the crowd singing along equally to tracks released and unreleased.
“I only have three songs out in the world, and the next one is one of them” she announces. A track she released yesterday, ‘Nothing Kills a Party Like a Song’ emanates from the stage. The singer is on a self-proclaimed journey to enjoy drinking Guinness, so she takes a sip from her pint “as a main” followed by a drink of vino blanco “for dessert”.
“No one’s gonna fix your heart for free” her lyrics follow. A downpour of rain couldn’t stop an outpouring of a singalong to ‘I’ll Cry When I’m Dead’.
Morgana at Lovely Days Live at the Home of Guinness. Photo by Owen Humphreys www.owen.ie
CMAT, Ciara, princess of Dunboyne took to the stage as the main act of the night. Landing in Dublin following a performance in London at Wide Awake festival with Kneecap, English Teacher and Sprints amongst its line up the day before. With her singing, dancing, multi-instrumental band on stage, she opens with hard-hitting ‘Have Fun!’. The rising star is at the top of her game as she launches into ’2 Wrecked 2 Care’.
‘Whatever’s Incovenient’ follows. “Why do I fall in love and out of love again? / A needle underneath my skin / Fall in love and out of love again / Whatever’s inconvenient,” her lyrics ring around the Guinness Storehouse with the crowd chanting “Fall in love and out of love again,” back to her like an affirmation.
“You deliver my mam’s post?” says CMAT pausing to point out a woman in the audience. We soon learn CMAT’s mother is in the bathroom. “Anne flashed up a sign that was like: ‘I’m your mam’s postie’” she explains to the crowd. before the opening tones of ‘I Don’t Really Care for You’.
When her mother returns from the bathroom CMAT exclaims “Mam, your postie is here. She’s got a fantastic haircut,” she says. “She’ll find you after,” she concludes. It wouldn’t be a CMAT show without an interaction like this.
Shooting to success after nine years of playing every pub and open mic night in Dublin, her latest track ‘Take a Sexy Picture of Me’, explores the phenomenon she experienced of videos of her performing being uploaded to big media and negative comments on her appearance in reaction.
“I am in fact, very sexy,” she proclaims. The tune is clearly resonant, clearly a hit, the audience explodes in response, almost every word coming from every mouth. “That’s so crazy, that song has been out for like three weeks or something. I’m so glad we’ve all had the exact same life experience,” CMAT says after a rapturous applause.
CMAT at Lovely Days Live at the Home of Guinness. Photo by Owen Humphreys www.owen.ie
A new song next, and it’s a meditation about hatred and how it does not benefit anyone at any time. “What we need is community,” CMAT says. But it also reads as a diss track “towards famous TV chef Jamie Oliver” she says. The yet unreleased track has a ring of ABBA’s ‘Does Your Mother Know’ – A guaranteed hit to be.
CMAT has a penchant for being herself. The audience tries to interact, she engages, regardless of what their intention is. She talks about her new album Euro Country briefly. It’s about Dublin and the scars it has left on her heart. ‘Running / Planning’ follows with a rapturous singalong.
Another new song from Euro Country explores complex feelings, reflecting on a time where CMAT lived in Manchester, with her window facing the back of the Coronation Street set. It was weird for her to see a street that didn’t really exist at a time in her life where she also didn’t really feel like she existed. If tonight, and the previews of new Euro Country songs are anything to judge by, it’s going to be a sad album, but one wrought with truth, life experience and light at the end of the tunnel.
“This next song has a bit of a tradition,” she says, as she introduces what she calls “the Dunboyne, Co. Meath two step” leading into ‘I Wanna be a Cowboy Baby’.
“Nobody would listen to me or my music for a very long time,” she says. Nothing happened for 9 years, and now she’s here. There’s a euphoric chant of ‘CMAT, CMAT, CMAT,’ before she launches into the closing track, ‘Stay for Something’. A rainy day couldn’t take away from the Lovely Days vibe, and if one thing is clear, Irish women are taking over the world.
