Review:
'RYAN, GAVIN'
'Clonakilty, De Barra's Folk Club, 24th March 2007'
- Genre: 'Rock'
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Our Rating:
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Serendipity can sometimes be an important ingredient where rock'n'roll's tastiest dishes are concerned. On his birthday last year, for example (don't you dare ask me what age it was) your reviewer popped along to catch Cork's tremendous Stanley Super 800 play at this very venue. As it turned out, the support was one GAVIN RYAN: a young Dubliner with a voice capable of eating Nick Cave for breakfast and an affinity with the blues seemingly unfeasible for such an apparently unassuming young man.
Ryan and his talented backing group then proceeded to knock this writer's socks off with an all-too-brief 45-minute support slot and your suitably wide-eyed reviewer later departed with a CD copy of Gav's debut album 'Broken Blues' under his arm. Unsurprisingly, the album - recorded with the cream of Dublin's sessioneers such as guitarist Bill Shanley and bassist Nick Scott - didn't disappoint and within a few days W&H was carrying a lengthy appraisal and its' reviews editor had earmarked Ryan as an artist he must catch when he ventured this way again.
In the end, it took eight months for Gavin and his talented trio to make their way back down to Clonakilty and from the outset it was clear it was going to be a strange night, not least because De Barra's - outwardly famous as the West Cork venue frequented by the late Noel Redding for many years - appears to be inadvertently re-inventing itself as THE Hen Party meeting point of choice. Tonight alone there are three Hen do's, two stag parties and a 21st vying for attention with the band. To say the audience is 'colourful' is something of an understatement and your reviewer is singularly unsurprised when he gets assailed by a bloke with a ball and chain around his leg and Batman comes up to shake hands before the band come onstage. Curiously, he seems rather pissed-off when I ask where Robin is. Huh. Clearly, superheroes ain't what they used to be anymore, eh?
So it's just as well that there are still a few performers out there we can rely upon to be brilliant - even when they're confronted by a largely pissed-up bunch of punters out to attain nirvana/ oblivion (delete as waywardly applicable) in any way they can get it providing it involves copious amounts of alcohol. And, despite everything negative surrounding them tonight, Gavin Ryan and band surely fall into this category.
Wisely choosing to limber up with a few choice Rn'B covers (I'm talking rhythm'n'blues here, not Missy Elliott for the uninitiated), Ryan and co. find their feet quickly and get a sizeable portion of the crowd on their side, even if security do end us escorting Manacle Man away from his centre-stage position and Batman's chat-up lines appear to be failing dismally. They then dig into their set proper with an adrenalised version of album opener 'On The Line' and - after Gav disappears to re-string his guitar and the band have skilfully busked some Nina Simone - a double whammy involving the intricate and truly lovely 'Sweetest Thing' and a potent new tune called 'When The Heart's On Fire.'
Charismatic from the outside, Ryan's stage presence and confidence has come along in leaps and bounds over the past few months and he's comfortable enough to lose his guitar for the swoony late night blues of 'Sad Brown Eyes' early on in the set. It's a great showcase for his fantastic, resonant voice and shows he can embrace tenderness and delicacy just as effectively as he can cast a bucket down the Tom Waits-ian blues well to divine gutbucket vocal takes on tunes like the exciting back-to-back newies 'Roadhouse Blues' and 'Midnight Blues'. And no, you're not seeing things: the first one IS called 'Roadhouse Blues' and it's nothing to do with The Doors. With its' tom-heavy backbeat, it's equally terrific, though.
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Ryan's band, meanwhile, are inspired all night. Although his rhythm section tonight are technically only on loan while his regular pairing are occupied elsewhere, they play like they've lived these songs for years. Keyboard player Kieran Quinn, though, is surely the lynchpin, and songs like 'On The Line', the gloriously sad and resigned 'Before The Money Runs Out' and a sublime Dylan-with-The-Band-style 'Carolina' are all imbued with the notable grace and danger of his piano. The flexibility the trio bring to the table also ensures Ryan can let loose and make the stage his own, not least when he tackles songs like 'Sad Brown Eyes' or 'Carolina' where he shows he knows a thing or thirteen about blues harmonica playing.
The set is generously stuffed with hugely-impressive new material. 'Sad Brown Eyes' and the powerhouse pairing of 'Roadhouse Blues'/ 'Midnight Blues' aside, there's also room for the gorgeously inviting Burritos-style country canter of 'Sweet Santa Cruz' (hit single in reserve! - ed), the Wordsworth-via-John Lee Hooker blast of 'Lonesome As A Cloud' and a couple more I can't recall the titles of. They're already settling beautifully in, though, and becoming great friends with the full-tilt forearm smash of 'Broken Blues' which is steroid-ed up and features a solo from Quinn which has to be heard to be believed.
By the time they're finally winding down, most of the revellers are beginning to depart, but Gav and co. mop up beautifully with a superbly-weighted Ray Charles cover and a suitably brittle and lovely 'Eskerrik-Asko' which both completes the album and performs a similar task tonight. It proves a suitably emotional ending to an evening where anyone caring about artistic excellence went away hugely satisfied against steep aesthetic odds. Beaming, W&H depart to discover that someone's let Batman's tyres down and he's being forced to queue for a nightclub down the street. Huh. Like I said: superheroes clearly ain't what they used to be. Just as well we can rely on saviours in other areas, isn't it?
(www.gavinryan.com)
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author: Tim Peacock / Caped crusaders: Kate Fox
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READERS COMMENTS
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Tim, I'd swear that you are just a hen party groupie, except for the madness of the live scene, and life generally in the republic.
This sounded like a belting nite - really top review, and ace pics!! :-)
------------- Author: Mabs
29 March 2007
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GAVIN RYAN
GAVIN RYAN
Do you come here often?
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