Live Report: Bell X1 at the Trinity Summer Series

The Kildare headliners share a stage on the night with hugely successful folk rockers Frightened Rabbit, fresh from their last visit to Dublin back in February at The Academy.

Fans who have hopes that the Scottish band might play their own, unabridged set (they’ve certainly got the talent and the back catalogue for it) are left disappointed and more than a bit confused when Frightened Rabbit kick things off a full 15 minutes before they're penned to start and finish shortly after. A mix-up with the schedule (MCD, we’re looking at you…) means that only a few dozen punters actually get to see the band play their full set. This, in turn, looks like it’s taken the heart and soul out of lead singer Scott Hutchison, who shrugs off stage as the last notes of ‘Lump Street’ play out.

Undaunted, we give a rousing cheer whenever the headline act arrive - all freshly attired in unassuming t-shirts/jeans combos that scream “middle-aged and unashamed”.

‘Fake Memory’ kicks things nicely into gear, with its gentle bass hook, ethereal guitars and Paul Noonan’s unmistakably beguiling vocals drawing the few lingerers from the burger stands and beer tents towards the arc of the stage. ‘Fake Memory’ cedes to ‘Bring Me A Fire King’, another track from their latest album Arms. Between these two openers, and later renditions of ‘Out of Love’, ‘The Upswing’, ‘I Go Where You Go’ and ‘Sons and Daughters’, Bell X1 show that they’ve absolutely locked down the live performances of songs from their new album.

Following this, ex-Trinity student Paul Noonan takes a moment to absorb the venue and the occasion, sardonically reminiscing: “We were always told ‘Don’t play football on the cricket pitch. Now look at us, we’re playing a fucking concert here!”. The snyth-kick opening of ‘Velcro’ (this reviewer's personal favourite) is more than enough to get the crowd moving and muddying the grounds of College Park beneath our feet.

Mid-way through the set sees Bell X1 stir our souls with the much-lauded ‘Eve, The Apple Of My Eye’, and warm our hearts with ‘Rocky Took A Lover’, a bittersweet reimagining of love in destitution whose live rendition will always outstrips the album version.

‘The Great Defector’ and ‘Flame’ then serve as appropriately rousing climaxes to the main show, while the encore sees the three sole members give a reserved performance of ‘Careful What You Wish For’. The whole band returns for ‘Bad Skin Day’, which leads seamlessly into Don Henley’s ‘Boys of Summer’ (because why the fuck not?) before they finish, as well we knew they would, with the breathless beauty that is ‘The End Is Nigh’ (there's a nice nod to LCD Soundsystem's 'All My Friends' in there too).

The end, unfortunately, is all too soon. If Hot Press rightly had its way, the lads would be taking crowd requests until the wee hours of the morning so that we could hear every glorious hit that their seven albums have to offer, with a few Roy Orbison and Bowie covers thrown in for good measure…