With such a huge repertoire from which to choose, there must’ve been some radical decision-making and plenty of heated discussion among the seven-membered Kíla while they picked out what to include on their Live in Dublin album. I’m glad to say that the eleven tracks here – most selected from the albums Luna Park, Tóg É Go Bog É, Lemonade and Buns, Handels Fantesy and Tonnto Ró – fit the bill perfectly, providing the listener with a virtual live experience that captures the thrilling, uplifting, collective feel-good fanfare that is a Kíla gig.
The album takes off with two previously unreleased tracks. Warming up with the instrumental ‘Her Royal Waggledy Toes’, we move into Kíla dance terrain with ‘Cabhraigí Léi’ led by Ronan Ó Snodaigh’s vocals. From there it’s a scintillating trip of mood-altering twists and turns, from the air-and-string-lament/frenzied joy of ‘Dusty Wine Bottle’, through a couple of characteristically stomping tracks, returning again to the slow and internal with ‘Bully’s Acre’. Mirroring the changing pace and build-ups that Kíla achieve so well live, the album reaches a peak of mind-blowing shamanic trance with the astral projections of feedback-laden ‘Luna Park’, letting us gently back down to earth with the undulating beauty of Colm O Snodaigh’s voice in ‘Faoiseamh’ and the soft vocals and percussion of ‘Seo mo Leaba’.
While fans will undoubtedly love it, Kíla’s Live in Dublin is a good place for newcomers to start, too, capturing as it does the special celtic-rave crossover invented by this much-loved band.