A handful of bands, each playing four or five-song sets; this is a formula that will always produce mixed results. But, pleasingly, tonight threw up more hits than misses. Some of the acts involved are young, and have a slim catalogue – so a shorter set is actually quite beneficial.
This was for an extremely worthy cause, but only the most charitable soul could find something complimentary to say about the performance of the evening’s MC, Mr. Keith Duffy. Stilted and desperately unfunny, the former Boyzone singer looked woefully out of his depth.
The Coronas produced a relatively languid, low-key set, which was not one of the evening’s highlights. Their cover of Justin Timberlake’s ‘My Love’ manages to wring the original of all its style and dynamism, but they did sound at least a touch more comfortable when delivering their own material.
The Blizzards’ set is considerably better. They are not afflicted with the leaden earnestness of many other Irish groups, which gives their music a looser, poppier feel. Opener ‘Miss Fantasia Preaches’ is a breath of fresh air: gorgeous bubblegum indie-disco, with some pleasing Scissor Sisters falsetto. Smashing.
They would have been the evening’s highlight were it not for Duke Special. His set is more downbeat, but the suave gorgeousness of the music is a cut above. It’s a two-man band. Duke takes piano duties, while a portly gentleman to his right alternates between accordion and trumpet. Good though some of the evening’s acts were, this is perhaps the only set that would have benefited from being longer.
Director begin with a version of Nick Cave’s sublime 'Where The Wild Roses Grow’', but vocalist Michael Moloney does not have a voice deep or rich enough to pull it off. Their own material is also a touch unconvincing; it’s tight and focussed, sure, but with little in the way of memorable hooks or riffs.
Finally, The Thrills. They are yesterday’s men, perhaps. Their albums were filler-heavy, certainly. But they do have at least four storming songs, three of which feature in this set (they omit ‘Big Sur’ in favour of an unfamiliar, instantly-forgettable track, for reasons best known to themselves). ‘Whatever Happened To Corey Haim?’ is particularly resplendent: one of the most likeably overreaching (and under-appreciated) pop songs of recent times.
The concert was not a bad advertisement for contemporary Irish pop, then. But most importantly, the evening was unencumbered by the pomposity and vanity that can taint more large-scale charity events.