Review by Ros Madigan
Photos by Vincent McDonnell

A mere 16 days, which in other words is 1,382,400 seconds, after he had performed on the Body and Soul area in Electric Picnic (Friday, 3rd of September), Johnny Flynn was back to tickle our folk craving ear buds once more. This time in Dublin’s favourite musical basement, the Academy 2. Hot off the heels from a storming set which saw Johnny and his band entertain a full body and soul arena, he returned with a different approach and a different reaction.

I made my way into The Academy and nearly by force of habit found myself wandering upstairs to the main room at which point I had to reconsider my route and head downstairs to my supposed destination. It had been quite some time, maybe two years, since I had ventured to the depths of the Academy on Middle Abbey Street. Upon entering the dark and sweaty venue, one of the first faces to greet you was that of Johnny Flynn himself, selling his merch’ at a table adjacent to the bar. Naturally I approached the table and greeted him, all in accordance with the review of course, to bring you the most accurate and precise of reviews and not by any means to give into my celebrity cravings*. Very pleasant and personable chap he was too. Already at this point, Fiona Maria Fitzpatrick was on stage serving as the support act. At first she didn’t immediately catch my attention but after maybe one or two stumbling songs she came out with ‘Falling Away’ (http://lnk.ms/CCdLQ), which was to prove to be a lovely little track that I thoroughly enjoyed. After this I began to listen quite a lot more to the tenderness and quirky parts to her voice. Her folk charm and simple but tuneful guitar playing left me wanting to see a little more. I will certainly be looking for her next dates on the Dublin music scene.

Shortly after, Johnny Flynn set to the stage alone, equipped with nothing but his guitar. He began with ‘Lost and Found’, which can be found on Flynn’s newest album ‘Been Listening’. The absence of his band was not noticed what so ever on this track as it is very simple even when recorded for the album. What struck me even from just a few minutes into his song, is that his voice is effortlessly similar to that of its recording. His voice went from powerful to soft throughout this song merging between both with relative ease. He then sang ‘The Box’, a track from ‘A Larum’, released in 2008. The crowd immediately reacts and the chorus of ‘Sweep my mess away, leave my body, leave my bones, leave me whole and leave my soul’ ring around the venue. Johnny then begins to interact with the crowd and comments on the forthcoming Arthur’s Day by saying “I’m on a dangerous road drinking Guinness”, then “Hi my name is Johnny Flynn and I have been drinking Guinness for two days now”. Clear bit of comedy with the crowd even if he seems a little uncomfortable with the interaction. He then kicked into ‘Churlish Helen’, which really showed off his varying range. Next up was ‘Brown Trout Blues’ which was followed with the up and coming single ‘The Water’. This is a beautifully melodic song that is performed as a duet. Laura Marling accompanies him on the album version, but on this occasion Flynn welcomed back Fiona Maria Fitzpatrick to the stage.

They filled the crowd in by telling us that they had only ever played this together once before earlier on in the day. She does a great job filling in for the twice mercury prize nominated artist, Marling. Although I can’t help but feel that she is speeding him up-tempo wise. The song ends and the crowd give Fitzpatrick a rousing reception. Between songs Flynn appears nervous, jittery even but pulls it off with a subtle confidence and sense of charisma. ‘Wrote and the Writ’ is the next song and once again the crowd join in with full volume. If even for the awful clappers in the crowd who clearly have never kept rhythm in their lives, nonetheless the song goes down very well and really shows off Flynn’s mature lyrics for his tender age. After a few more tunes Flynn decides to perform a song he said that is slightly “punk rock” called ‘Sally’ and explains that “this is an excuse for what is going to happen next”. Those words are not needed as everyone inside the Academy 2 is in full voice as they sing along with him, word for word. Upon finishing the song he remarks ‘We got through it’. ‘Been Listening’, a song from the new album of the same name provides us all with a lovely gentle hum of the crowd singing along with Flynn as the song effortlessly passes by. Next is a song ‘Tickle Me Pink’, that once again provided probably the best sing-song of the night with the lyrics ‘Pray for the people inside your head, cos’ they wont be there when your dead’. Flynn then parts with his guitar as if to finish his set but then realises due to a small and jammed Academy 2 he cant even make his way off stage, not to mention the whole crowd willing him to continue. He then says what everyone was thinking ‘there wasn’t anywhere to go, it would have just been awkward’. He then finished on the oddly named ‘Wayne Rooney’ where he uses the technique of slide guitar; this was great to see Flynn’s versatility.

The gig had ended and we all made our way out of the sweat filled container the Academy had turned itself into. A great intimate solo gig was had on the night. On my way out I could not but help listen to other punters remark on songs that he had and had not played. A noticeable absentee was the first and second singles from his latest album, ‘Kentucky Pill’ and ‘Barnacled Warship’. This was simply down to the fact that he had not had his band accompanying him on stage and therefore could not play the song to its fullest capacity by himself. This also meant that some other strong songs from the latest album were left not played. For gig attendees on the night who might have been enthusiasts for his first album ‘A Larum’, this was yet another great chance to hear all the old favourites. In my opinion, I would have loved to have heard the new album a bit more; after all I was there on the strengths of his new catalogue. Electric Picnic had come and gone but having heard the two sets and compared set lists, Electric Picnic had come up trumps. On the bright side, his parting words went ‘Next time I’m coming back I’m bringing the band’. In that case, When? Where? What time?