the Cranberries

They haven’t gone away you know. The Cranberries are in the building, brewing up their own little weather system. And tonight the storm has hit Detroit.

No, they’re not giving a workshop on how to survive life off the rock fashion-rails after selling more than 30 million albums worldwide. They’re onstage at Oakland University, playing to a crowd of 6,000 plus. And both band and audience are on their feet and loving every minute of it.

Contrary to belief, this is full-on rock and roll, Cranberry style, fuelled by more than ten years of songs and a million miles of touring.

Opening with ‘Wake Up’, followed by ‘Analyse’ and then ‘Zombie’, The Cranberries have moved on from a band of intense, quiet little stage creatures to a band of intense, loud motherfuckers, aiming to reach ears and souls at the very back of the venue as well as those on the other side of the state of Michigan.

Backed by the driving rhythms of Fergal Lawlor – one of the hardest hitting drummers behind a kit – and the wall of noise provided by Mike Hogan and Noel, Dolores O’Riordan paces about the stage like it was hers. And it is.

She’s full of ease with the audience and a state of mind that once threatened to overcome her public persona as well as the rest of the band. Fears and inhibitions have been sent packing. And she is now free to deliver 30 songs in two hours with a passion and vibrancy that would surprise many a doubting tom.

The soul’s in the right place. The anguish is in a box in some rock museum and the hunger is still in the playing. Bring it home.