Back in their hometown following a successful US jaunt which saw them appear before a TV audience of 20 million on American Idol, this one-off, intimate performance had more than a sense of occasion about it. Kodaline rose to the occasion magnificently, albeit sat on stools for the bulk of this all-acoustic show. The guitars might have been unplugged but the highly-charged atmosphere was certainly electric, aided considerably by the setting which is truly stunning.
Anyone who hasn’t seen this beautifully-restored building is in for a treat – kudos to 7UP for choosing the perfect location.
Arriving out to huge cheers from the invite-only crowd, the Swords lads began in low-key mode, with an (almost) a capella version of the Sam Cooke classic, ‘Bring It On Home To Me’ - a song which normally forms part of their encore but tonight made for the perfect opening. As their crisp harmonies and soulful delivery reverberated around the historic stone walls, howls of appreciation erupted during the final chorus. From then on it was a set based on their debut's heavy hitters, apart from a rousing couple of bars of ‘Dirty Old Town’ preceding the soaring, ‘Love Like This’.
Songs such as ‘All I Want’ and 'One Day’ lost little in their stripped-down form and were greeted with smiles all round, while chat from the stage was kept to a minimum, apart from a sincere thanks to their fans for making it the best start to their Irish and UK tour.
Inevitably, it was ‘High Hopes’ that had every voice raised and every smart-phone in the building pointed towards the stage.
A very sweet fitting warm-up for their upcoming sold-out 02 show.