Live Review: Saint Sister At Dublin's Unitarian Church

The intimate surroundings of the Unitarian church on St. Stephen's Green buzzed with chatter as Gemma's imposing wooden harp was placed at the front of the stage alongside Morgan's keyboard.
This was an ideal space to showcase Saint Sister's musical talents and strengths, in an environment that amplifies their presence and their ability to transport their listening audience.

"How are you all doing?" sheepishly asked Morgan as they stepped in front of the sold-out crowd. Before remarking with genuine surprise, "Oh wow, there's so many of you."
Instantly the silent, cosy church was electrified with a soaring, echoing harp, as the song 'Castles' enveloped the quaint venue.

Check out the photos for Saint Sister here.

Their new, very catchy material, with a subtle understated melodic backing beat, proceeded the opening track. Saint Sister's new songs seemed soulful, and in keeping with their previous emotional and enchanting offerings.
The duo were then joined on stage by backing singers, Wyvern Lingo, a drummer and guitarist, which added another dimension of depth to the performance. 'Blood Moon' was electrifying with a backing band. The song seemed to morph into an ancient war theme and bring to mind visuals of an army marching through a forest.

The electro-folk pair even found time to doff their cap to Friday night's other big musical draw, Bruce Springsteen. As The Boss rocked Croker, Saint Sister played an absorbing, soft cover of 'Dancing In The Dark'. (Watch below).

@Saint_Sister_ Bruce who? pic.twitter.com/R7bfe3qshC

— Sharon Hall (@sharonnahall1) May 28, 2016

There were some sound issues. At times, when speaking between songs, Morgan's voice was slightly muffled. It was hard to tell if that was the sound engineer's fault, or perhaps, from where i was seated, the pillars in the church obstructed her speech.

A particular standout track was 'Corpses', a song based on a dream Morgan had about the rituals and cycles of life, and the people we choose to go through those cycles with. The harmonising throughout the track was commanding and polished, as the heartfelt haunting lyrics 'darling i have tried to fix you/ i can't count the times that I've kissed you', echoed to the 50 foot ceiling of the 1863 church.

There is certainly a feeling that if Saint Sister's ember catches a spark, it's hard to fathom that their sound couldn't traverse and captivate the globe. If one thing has be proven about Irish art - recent examples being the Oscar winning film Once, Beckett's Waiting for Godot being translated for a Chinese audience, and the success of Hozier - it's that once it gains exposure abroad, there's almost no way of putting out the flame.

We had three special guest backing vocalists join us last night, none other than the absolute legends @WyvernLingo X pic.twitter.com/dh4IJ9q0LE

— Saint Sister (@Saint_Sister_) May 28, 2016