Live Report: Niamh Bury serves up a bewitching set at Whelan's

A month after the release of her debut album Yellow Roses, Niamh Bury delivers an astounding set to a sold-out crowd at Whelan’s.

For her hometown show and the last stop on her Yellow Roses tour, Niamh enlists the reinforcement of an outstanding full band: Aongus MacAmhlaigh on cello, Caimin Gilmore on upright bass and Ryan Hargadon on keys. With support from Alannah Thornburgh, the harpist delivers scintillating sonic magic before Niamh takes the stage.

Donning a black velvet dress under a white lace waistcoat, Niamh unassumingly saunters on stage with her band as they're met with a surge of applause. The response prompted a smile from the Dublin singer-songwriter that didn’t fade for the remainder of the night.

She kicks things off with ‘Discovery,’ a stirring arrangement of piano, woodwind, plucked guitar and full-bodied vocals. It becomes immediately clear that Niamh is as authentic as they come - a bona fide singer, narrative songwriter and professional musician. To borrow a line from the song, she’s “not fooling anyone.” She's the real deal.

Alchemic songs like 'Beehive' and 'Who Am I To Tell Him?' reveal hidden textures and newfound glimmers when played with a live band. But it is Niamh's voice at the centre of it all, tapping the bones of the music, then cutting wider in the company of the accompanying ensemble foliage, to make space for her ethereal gossamer croon.

The set consisted mainly of songs from Yellow Roses, with a couple traditional numbers pulled from her repertoire as a Cobblestone session mainstay. ‘Geordie’ tells the story of a wife who pleads for her husband’s life after he’s accused of stealing sixteen white deer from the king to feed his family. “Because some things are always relevant,” she quips before breaking into the soul-stirring ballad.

She introduces an album highlight, ‘Pianos in the Snow,’ with an anecdote of family folklore. Going back to 1981, Niamh retells the story of her mom’s class trip to an art museum. Curiously, she wandered over to a painting that caught her eye and, fascinated by its textures, placed her hand over the canvas.

“Turns out it was a Van Gogh,” she says with a knowing smirk as the crowd guffaws.

Niamh then brings out Alannah Thornburgh on harp and cellist Aongus MacAmhlaigh for ‘Simmering Pots,’ a crystalline portrait of domesticity.

The set approaches its last act with ‘Yellow Roses,’ a loving and beautiful tribute to Niamh’s free-spirited, animal-loving nana. The nylon warmth of her guitar enriches the images she plucks from memory: the “judy garland” hair rollers, dogs in the back garden, hand-knitted jumpers, china cups on saucers.

For the encore, Niamh and her band return to the stage to play the last track off Yellow Roses. A sweeping rendition of ‘Budapest' rounds out a brilliantly mesmeric set from the most exciting emerging acts in the Irish folk scene.

“I’ve wanted to play here since I was sixteen, so this is something of a dream come true. Thank you,” she beams and bids farewell, but not before the audience sends her off with a billowing ovation.