Having missed the launch party for NIALL CONNOLLY'S second album, "As Tomorrow Creeps From The East" at Cork's Half Moon Theatre through a combination of prior commitments and that well-known affliction known in Latin as Liverus Copoutus, W&H instead opted to catch him at this famous little haunt thirty miles west of the city, which - until his recent sad demise - was Noel Redding's local and favourite gigging venue rolled into one.
Genius move, then? Yeah, absolutely, though certain circumstances conspire, such as the fact the Clonakilty football team triumph that same afternoon has thinned the punters out a little and as Niall says, on taking the stage: "We're really tired after all the touring....but we're gonna give it our best for you!"
And, as the assured opening duo of "The Long Weekend" and the pretty loneliness of "The Circus Clown" attest, he's not joking, either. The road weariness has only served to toughen up his Token Mellow Band as well, with bassist Ger Harrington and drummer Billy Marnane hitting the harmonies dead on and multi-instrumentalist Karl Nesbit as impressive as ever on a variety of flutes, low whistles and bouzouki/ mandolin combinations.
New material gets introduced early on via "Callin' Up The Rain" (I think this is the title), which finds Karl sitting down with the bodhran and facing off with Billy's shakers, while the two of them again go head to head when the folky mystic shapes of "Lullaby" are vividly thrown.
Initially, proceedings move along seamlessly, with Aisling Fitzpatrick's evocative cello starring during the smouldering passion of "Last Page Of Winter" and Niall hitting the inchoate rage of "You Know Best" straight from the gut. The way he leans into that great "fuck it, we're fighting again!" line is arguably the night's best individual moment, actually.
The plot gets temporarily mislaid during Niall's solo acoustic slot, which does feature the excellent "Old Post Office Lane" - an all-too visceral ode to Cork's very real piss and puke night-time alley - but also suffers from interminable strummers like "When The Sun Is On Your Back" and Niall just about getting away with messing up "I Will Make A King Out Of You". They also stumble a little when the band comes back on to take on "What Are You Thinking?", which doesn't fare much better than its' recorded counterpart.
|
These blips soon vanish, though, when they hit the evening's second new song "How Could You Be Surprised?" (again, I humbly apologise if I've misheard the title) - dedicated to George W.Bush and featuring the killer line: "with God on your side, you'd think together you could get it right" - and then power into a superb final section also taking in the fierce "Peeling Back The Sky", "Six For A Fiver"- where Niall and Karl's power strumming shames most electric guitarists - and finally their third new song "I Love It When A Plan Comes Together", which quickly shapes up as vintage catchy country-rock and is begging to be a single.
The atmosphere is entirely convivial, with plenty of witty asides from Niall, including the recurring image of drummer Billy dropping the piano on Niall's finger and tales of the album launch party the previous Friday. When the band do finally call it a night after a generous 90 minutes, you get the feeling they're drained and a little anti-climactic after the Half Moon bash, but they needn't worry as tonight they're still as potent as ever, turning what could have been a perfunctory set before a small audience into something special and well worth savouring. Good on 'em.
|
