Lisa Hannigan at Whelans on June 8th 2011
Review by Kevin Donnellan
Photos: Kate Turner
Singer John Smith is performing solo before the main event. The place is packed and he can barely be heard. He mentions it between songs. He’s either having a go at the audience or just joking. Can’t tell above the noise. People are here for one reason only. From what I can hear it would be worth give Smith another chance at a solo show.
Anyway Lisa comes on stage with her five strong support band at ten to ten. A venue that was packed an hour ago is now wedged (in this particular description ‘wedged’ is a step up from ‘packed’). A quick hello and it’s straight into proceedings. If going just on the album (as I was) the show is far more energetic than expected. There are plenty of instruments to play (xylophone, melodica, ukelele…) and not a lot of time to play them. Ever song is launched into without much ceremony. All a good thing.
Lisa’s voice is a marvel. There are no showboating high notes. No everyone-be-quiet-I’m-singing parts. But her voice is able to wrap itself around every song. From blues to bluegrass to country to folk. All vocals distinctively Lisa Hannigan but all nodding to the conventions of particular styles. When the lyrics are done with there are guitars and piano and, gloriously, a trumpet to keep the audience transfixed.
Two songs in we get to the forthcoming new album ‘Passenger’. It’s always a challenge playing a new album – the audience are interested but don’t know how, and where, to react. But it goes down well. Lisa sings of a “Hollow place on the edge of Dublin”. The band continues the fine work they did on the Sea Saw tracks. The place is sweltering hot now. A woman up the front is dragged from the audience, presumably after fainting. Not a regular occurrence at a Lisa Hannigan gig you’d imagine.
As the show continues Lisa Hannigan confirms that we were all correct in assuming she’s lovely. I mean she doesn’t say “Yes you’re right, I’m lovely”. She just is consistently nice. She has a cup of tea on stage. She does a goofy ‘windmill’ after producing her electric guitar. A promised mandolin ‘solo’ seems to suffer a technical failure – but she informs us deadpan that this was merely due to Health and Safety’s concerns over “melted faces”. Of course you don’t have to like an artist to appreciate them but it’s helps to be nice – particularly with a solo artist where an connection with the audience is arguably more important.
The show ends with an encore that includes that aborted madolin solo, a cover of Dylan’s ‘Meet Me in the Morning’ and her signature cover of ‘Personal Jesus’ by Depeche Mode. Everyone is sweating – actually I can’t verify that – I’m sweating. But an hour and half after stepping onto the stage Lisa and her band step off with a humble ‘thank you’. A very good gig.