Review by : Dierdre Harrison
Fresh from their return from Spain and the Benicassim festival Delorentos took to the stage ready to entertain the masses with their usual high energy performance as part of the Bulmers Live series at Leopardstown. Opening with “Do You Realise” to a rather subdued crowd, the band welcomed everyone with a cheery, “Good evening horse people!” The first of many horse mentions to come. The catchy pop hook number failed to really move the crowd, with the exception of a two sections of die-hard fans in the front row and to the right.
From the offset it was quite obvious there were three groups of people in attendance; those there just to see the band, casual music fans there for an interesting night out and of course, the horse people. It was clear Delos were playing to an audience very different to their usual young fan base, unfazed by this they tried their hardest to reach the crowd. Armed with a set
which included tracks from their debut “In Love With Detail” and sophomore effort “You Can Make Sound”, it was the more relaxed “You Say You’ll Never Love Her” which showed the first stirrings from the slightly older crowd of business people.
The band treated us to two new tracks, “Say It Now” and “Going Down”. (Yes it really is called that) Both tracks have a more mature sound but just seem to lack something.
I have seen many unusual things at gigs over the years ,for example a toilet being smashed with sledgehammer, but never before have I seen a man dedicate a song to a horse. At this point I would like to take a moment to give a personal thank you to Mr Ró Yourell for giving me what is likely to be my favourite gig moment of all time. Choosing what was probably the most inappropriate song in the set, “Leave Me Alone”; usually a tender song of heartache, co-frontman Ró announced to the distracted crowd it was dedicated to the horses and that we should all imagine him singing it to a horse. With that bizarre image in the more attentive crowd members’ minds, Yourell proceeded to add in some extra lyrics to bring the inappropriateness to a whole new level. After their many attempts to connect with the crowd, this ode to a fine filly seemed to finally do the trick.
Following on from “My Lovely Horse”, I mean “Leave Me Alone”; the crowd seemed livelier for the following “Waiting”. The best reaction of the night seems to have gone to “Sanctuary” with dancing provided by men in suits and teens in skinny jeans alike. It’s not until the encore beginning with “Secret” (again dedicated to the horses) that this starts to feel like a real Delorentos gig. Finally energy in the crowd seems to equal that of the band.
Despite the best efforts of the band throughout the gig, the atmosphere just was not right. The sound was surprisingly good, the layout of the stage area also; but for the majority of the gig most of the crowd seemed unaware there was even a band on stage. It just appears the typical gig going crowd and the typical races crowd do not seem to mix. Those of us who watched the gig left with much lighter pockets than we entered with, but with a smile on our faces after a great performance.
Oh and Ró, I hope it all works out well for you and the horse.
Setlist
Do You Realise,
Basis of Everything,
You Say You’ll Never Love Her,
Leave It On,
Body Cold,
Say It Now,
Going Down,
Editorial,
Any Other Way,
The Rules,
Leave Me Alone,
Waiting,
Hallucinations,
Sanctuary,
Eustace St,
***********
Secret,
Stop,
Idle Conversation.