Barretstown Inspirations 2013, live at Olympia Theatre

With a hairdo to give Skrillex a run for his money, the striking Tara Lee – who you may know from RTÉ’s Raw – approaches the piano. A couple of original ballads and a cover of Madonna’s ‘Papa Don’t Preach’ later, the fifth Barretstown Inspirations gig is off and running.

The crowd quickly find their groove as Maud In Cahoots, complete with fiddle, cello, trumpet and tuba, launch into a cracking cover of The Black Keys’ ‘Lonely Boy’.
Host Ian Dempsey pumps up the room ahead of The Strypes’ performance. The atmosphere is tingle-inducing as the impeccably dressed Cavan teenagers rip through ‘Mystery Man’, current single ‘Blue Collar Jane’ and a hip-shaking ‘You Can’t Judge A Book By The Cover’.
With just an acoustic guitar for company, Lisa Hannigan basks in the audience’s love, her voice as beautiful and fragile as ever. “We fucking love you Lisa!” yells an uber-fan in one of the boxes. She jokes about becoming the fifth member of The Strypes. Mmmm... she might need to work on her dancing first.
The Frank and Walters, in matching orange shirts, ties and braces, win the audience over with their amazing cover of Kraftwerk’s ‘The Model’. The Walls keep things ticking along, welcoming Mundy for the first of his three appearances.
The Coronas are greeted like conquering heroes. Danny and the lads don’t disappoint. ‘Addicted To Progress’, ‘Someone Else’s Hands’ and ‘Mark My Words’ are delivered before Mundy joins them and gets the whole Olympia on its feet for a monumental singalong of Mic Christopher’s ‘Hey Day’.