Live At The Savoy Theatre, Cork

Bell X1’s support, Duke Special, quickly put tonight’s soggy, gloomy world to rights via a bewitching mix of romance, cheese grater-percussion and heart breaking Blondie covers, all held together by Peter Wilson’s passionate voice and thundering piano.
And thus it is a warmed-up but still politely restrained audience that greats the members of Bell X1. Expectations for new material are, understandably, quite high, both from long term fans of the band and the ever-broadening circle of new admirers, Indeed, the days of Bell X1 filling medium size stages could well be numbered – as it is, tonight’s stage can barely hold the band’s enthusiasm and confidence. In fact, Paul Noonan’s enthusiastic dancing and microphone japery at one point nearly results in one unlucky audience member losing an eye!
The set list is a decent shuffle through Music in Mouth’s finest moments, in addition to a selection of new songs from the forthcoming Flock album. ‘Monkey 61’ and ‘Flame’ show a funky indie-disco edge, while ‘My First Born’s First Song’ explores darker musical territory only previously hinted at, ending in a glorious squealing jam session. Old favourites like ‘Eve’ and ‘Tongue’, meanwhile, go down a treat, with this writer’s only gripe being the horribly misjudged drum machine rhythm on the delicate ‘Daybreak’.
With a lyrically broader scope, ‘Still Selling Shoes’ finds the group observing the social and musical disenchantment of our country, topped off with the winning streak of wry humour the band are noted for. If only we lived in a musically just world, this band would long ago be burning brightly above their lesser but more hyped contemporaries.

Photo by Jamie Howard