Delorentos at The Pavilion Theatre on July 28th 2012

Review: Sean Noone
Photo: James Goulden 

The rain lashes down in Dun Laoghaire as punters enter The Pavilion Theatre for the last in three night run of gigs. There is a strange atmosphere in the air as the Delorentos fans don’t know how to deal with the theatre staff and the theatre staff don’t know how to deal with the Delorentos fans. It’s not that either is particularly bothersome, it’s just that the two groups usually inhabit different worlds.

It shows straight away as those wishing to enter after Luke Slott – a very talented musician and singer who needs to work on his song-writing – has started and are told that they must wait until the current song ends to enter the auditorium and are to find their seats when during the interval. Indeed patrons are asked to neither take photos nor use their phones – something that can prove problematic for a reviewer who usually uses his phone for his note-taking.

None of the above negatively affects the mood and, as the Delorentos enter the stage, they are met with warm cheer from the audience. But the audience’s mood becomes strange as the gig goes on. They never decide whether they want to get involved with the music or wish to sit back and just take it in. The result is that there are muttering of conversation from parts of the audience met by angry stare from other parts.

The performance on show, on the other hand, is going fairly impressive. While some songs – like the early-played Leave it On and Hunting – don’t really lend themselves to an acoustic treatment, Delorentos merely play these songs in a ‘less plugged in’ manner. Others like the excellent Waited for You So Long – where the focus is already on the emotive lyrics – are perfectly suited to an acoustic adaptation.

The third group of song in their setlist was probably the best though. The likes of Hallucinations, which had a Pacific Island feel, and You Say You’ll Never Love Her, which brought a tear of two to parts of the audience and calms the unsettled parts of the crowd, were substantially yet perfectly adapted from their album counterparts to suit an acoustic show. They also allowed the band opportunity to prove their abilities on a huge range of instruments, each one accompanied by a happy introduction from a band member.

Each new instrument was played with aplomb and the band spent the evening in jovial spirits. It is a shame then that the audience wasn’t in the same mood. Voices were only unified when it came to singing happy birthday to lead singer Ronan Yourell and for the last three songs; Care For, S.E.C.R.E.T. and Bullet In a Gun.  This reasonably raucous end to the show is well met by those in attendance. It’s just a shame that some of the more sensitive moments of the evening were not so appreciated.