The capacity here is 900 and she's full up for tonight's performance by Lisa Hannigan & Friends. Yes that's right I'm seeing another Irish singer/songwriter and yes I know I am making somewhat of a habit of that, but when there is good Irish talent around you definitely want to be in the room partaking.
The opener tonight is John Smith who comments that he needs all the help he can get given his'common' moniker. John gives us some fairly pleasant acoustic tunes on his 'gheetar'. The most amusing part is when he tells us about his fear of breaking a string while he is de-tuning and sending said string into his arm. Sure enough a couple of songs from the end of his set he does just that (although thankfully without the arm injury).
Lisa is on around 8.15pm and when she says 'friends' she means it! I count seven people onstage with various instruments - piano/banjo, violin, double bass, trumpet, guitar (in the form of opener John Smith), drums and Lisa (on guitar, mandolin, percussion and piano accordion). In other words it's a full on Irish festival of sound - giddy up!
This is the last night of the band's European tour but there's no mucking around - we are off instantly and straight into Little Bird. I've not managed to see Lisa live before as a solo artist and it's great to hear her voice echo through the hall. I find that her voice has a delicious raspiness to it which makes it unique, and it's something that attracts me to her work.
Another aspect of Lisa's work that I enjoy is her penchant for tunes with gorgeous and subtle melodies and one is offered up immediately in the form of Pistachio.
I said damn this band are a multi-talented lot! We've got a myriad of instruments being whipped out, and for the next number Ocean and a Rock there is some glockenspiel and accordion action - tidy work!
One thing about Lisa is that she always seems to be to be fully invested in her music. It's as if her own songs captivate her, and that's what I want to see. If music is your passion in life and you are lucky enough to be making a living out of that passion then there is no reason why you shouldn't be leaving everything you've got on the stage every night. You cannot ask anything more than that from any performer. If you leave your heart and soul on the stage then you've done justice to your art - if the audience doesn't get it, then that's their issue. That being said, there's no such issue tonight because the audience are attentive and appreciative at every stage.
Lisa then takes a new mandolin on 'her maiden voyage' with Venn Diagram which is sweet, as is her duet with John Smith which follows (O Sleep).
A slight technical issue (a guitar not tuned to Lisa's liking) has the band changing around the set list slightly and the nest tune - O Sail - eventually has the whole band involved and it sounds wonderful.
One of my favourite Lisa tunes is next - Flowers- there's some great direct lyrics here:
"I don't know the rules of this game,
And I don't think I want to play"
Lisa's moving around the stage like she's been possessed here - her whole body is involved in this process and there's something slightly hypnotic about it.
Paper Hats from Lisa's latest album Passenger is next, followed by Nowhere to Go (which sports a gorgeous violin solo) and then Lisa decides to pull out yet another instrument (this time a melodica) for Teeth- ok c'mon how many instruments does she play?This is making us non-musical plebs feel even more inadequate!
Home, Lille (with great glockenspiel) and Safe Travels (Don't Die) are a lovely threesome with the last tune being dedicated to the band's good fortune at escaping death throughout the tour. I Don't Know and What'll I Do round off the main set. Darn - are we near the end already?
There is a very short encore break and then the band come back on for what, in my view, is the highlight of the night - a musical tribute to Levon Helm in the form of an inspiring version of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. It's the band singing all together with only a guitar accompanying them. It's a pretty perfect way to honour Levon and I'm pretty sure this performance wouldn't have been out of place at any of his infamous rambles.
Lisa ends the night with Knots - which is a fantastic ukulele driven track. We are left bopping in our seats on a high and positive note. This has been a very enjoyable night and something which I certainly hope to repeat at some time in the future. Ta muchly to Lisa and her extremely talented band!
Setlist:
Little Bird
Pistachio
Passenger
Ocean and a Rock
Venn Diagram
O Sleep
A Sail
Flowers
Paper House
Nowhere To Go
Teeth
Home
Lille
Safe Travels (Don't Die)
I Don't Know
What'll I Do
Encore:
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Knots
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