Live Review: Wallis Bird at Vicar St

Just a week after receiving a Choice Prize nomination, Wallis Bird bounds onto the Vicar St. stage, delighted to showcase Home, the album which earned her the nomination. As ever, the Wexford woman is a loveable bundle of energy, full of witty chat with the crowd as she casually swigs a beer. But she’s in particularly fine fettle these days. As Home fans have already guessed, Wallis is in love; a declaration she states plainly as she grins and straps on her guitar. Indeed, the 11-track collection is an ode to Wallis’ very content state – a sentiment that really comes across in tonight’s beautiful performance.

She kicks things off (fittingly) with ‘Love’. Accompanied by an intimate, mini-orchestra of violin, clarinet and trumpet – as well as some fantastic harmonies from her band – it’s the musical equivalent of a warm hug. As the set continues, Wallis alternates effortlessly between the sultry soul of ‘The Deep Reveal’ to hip-swivelling funk number ‘Fantasy’, before taking to the piano for gorgeous, sparse renditions of album opener, ‘Change’ and a gorgeous ode to her partner, ‘Seasons’. What’s that?? No, I’ve just got something in my eye!

There are epic moments too; she performs a rousing version of 2009’s brilliant ‘To My Bones’, while ‘Odom’ is a veritable ‘80s extravaganza, that sees Wallis go full minx; ‘I always know when you’re in the room’, she purrs, ‘You’re hotter than a hot thing on a hot day / Oh I love what you do’. The end comes all too soon, but she returns for an encore of heart-breaking oldie, ‘In Dictum’, performed acapella with her band. A fantastic performance from one of Ireland’s finest talents.