Review by: Joey Kavanagh
Photos by: Abe Tarrush
Wallis Bird @ The Academy Dublin – October 8th 2010
The first time I saw Wallis Bird play live was a little under two years ago at The Button Factory in Dublin. The gig was one of her first big Irish headliners and, visibly excited by this, Wallis bounded around the stage giddily, gushing at the audience at every opportunity and waving hello to the members of her extended family in attendance.
While such enthusiasm is endearing, and certainly refreshing in this era of posturing pop stars, there comes a point where it borders on exhausting and, after one call and response session too many, I left the gig feeling enamoured but a little jaded.
And so, arriving at The Academy to see her play the Dublin leg of her current tour, I’m bracing myself for another workout. The Wexford-woman arrives on-stage in a demure green dress but, before I get any ideas of this being a more sedate affair, she asserts “Just because I’m wearing this dress, it doesn’t make me a lady!”
She tells us that she’s been suffering from a sore throat but, when she launches into opening number, ‘Berlin’, she certainly sounds in full voice. ‘Meal of Convenience’, ‘LaLaLand’ and ‘Wandering Bird’ from her most recent album ‘New Boots’ follow and Wallis serves up healthy dollops of self-deprecating humour and wisecracks in between each song.
Wallis’s unbridled positive energy is infectious and, with such a forceful personality, it’s not surprising she attracts a particularly ardent brand of supporters. Many of those present tonight are already familiar with the sing along ad-libs that the singer has
worked into her set whilst touring.
One of these comes into play when she delivers a rousing performance of her breakthrough hit ‘Blossoms In The Street’ before switching up the town of the evening and playing a couple of more downbeat tracks, hinting that Wallis is not always as cheerful as her sunny demeanour suggests. A beautiful moment comes when she steps away from the microphone to belt out the closing lines of ‘Measuring Cities’ acapella.
The sombre mood is gently lifted when she strums the opening bars of ‘The Circle’, explaining that the song was inspired by The Mezz in Temple Bar, and the audience given another opportunity to exercise our vocal chords and provide some backing. A boisterous rendition of show-stopper ‘To My Bones’ follows and Wallis allows her drummer take centre-stage to perform a lengthy drum solo that incorporates beat-boxing and sees Wallis and her band mates joining in on backing vocals.
After ‘An Idea About Mary’, Wallis briefly exits the stage before returning with just an acoustic guitar to play a new song that she hints is likely to make an appearance on her forthcoming third album before wrapping up the night with a heartfelt performance of ballad ‘All For You’.
There are few singer-songwriters on the touring circuit capable of investing as much energy into their live performances and, thankfully, it seems she has learned to rein in her excitable nature to a point where her audiences return home cloaked in a blanket of good humour but not so worn out that they’ll struggle to get up for work the next day.
