Other Voices update

Other Voices continued its march through the wintry nights of Dingle last night, as performances from James Vincent McMorrow, And So I Watch You From Afar, Lissie, Smoke Fairies and Everything Everything helped warm up the evening for the crowds at St. James' Church. As before, our fearless correspondent Roe McDermott was on hand to recount some of the finer moments of what went down. Here's what she had to say -

This weekend’s lineup saw international greats such as The National and Jarvis Cocker come to Dingle but Monday night at Other Voices it was the Irish acts giving those bands a run for their money. Kicking off the evening was Dubliner James Vincent McMorrow who only arrived in Dingle about an hour before the show (he assured us the delay was due to the snow and not any desire to seem ‘cool’ by showing up fashionably late). McMorrow provided the most magical performance of the evening, beginning with a gorgeous rendition of ‘Early In The Morning I’ll Come Calling’ which immediately had the audience in raptures. A technical glitch forced him to play ‘If I Had A Boat’ twice, but the audience actually cheered the technical difficulties which allowed them to hear the track again.

Next up was And So I Watch You From Afar who set a record at St. James Church for being the first act ever to hand out much needed earplugs for the crowd. Tony Wright was quick to brag about this feat, saying “We’re part of history, lads!” before telling the audience he hoped they enjoyed the music. There were deafening cheers – or there would have been, if not for the earplugs – following the band’s performance of songs like ‘Start A Band’ and ‘Set Guitars To Kill.’

The bar was set pretty high for next act Smoke Fairies, and the first song certainly impressed. ‘Erie Lackawanna’ has gorgeous harmonies and a very ethereal, eerie atmosphere. The girls were clearly a bit rattled as they forgot the words to one of their songs and had to play it three times before getting it right, which gradually lost the crowd. However, at least they know how to keep an audience on their side, dedicating their final song ‘Hotel Room’ to the Dingle Bay Hotel. Nice recovery!

Then came Lissie, the Illinois folk singer who came all the way from the U.S. just for the Other Voices session, who opened with a performance of her song ‘Cuckoo’ which was a little bit folk, a little bit country, a little bit gospel and seriously catchy. She also shined on tracks like ‘In Sleep’ and the gospel-tinged ‘Little Lovin’ which had everyone clapping and singing along.

Given that Lissie had celebrated the religious feel of the venue you can understand my apprehension as Everything Everything took the stage. With lyrics like “Who will sit on your face when I’m gone?” I was sure we were all going to be smote down in our seats just for listening, but it shortly ceased to be an issue. The band put in a great musical performance, but the trademark lyrics of lead singer Jonation Higgs were indecipherable for all but one track; though the band put in their all the audience struggled to engage when they couldn’t make out a word. After a tweaking of the mics, the audience thoroughly enjoyed a poignant version of ‘Tin (The Manhole)’ but not before much of the crowd had snuck off. To finish off their set, the boys dedicated ‘Photoshop Handsome’ to the extraordinarily beautiful town of Dingle, but it was a slightly disappointing show for a band known for their fantastic lyrics; if we want to hear them, I guess we’re going to have to buy the album. But maybe that was the plan all along. Very clever, boys.

Other Voices continues tomorrow with performances by Marina & The Diamonds, O Emperor, The Minutes and Ryan Sheridan.