Ruby Sessions

Candles and quiet. Red drapes framing the makeshift stage and an evening of stolen moments to look forward to.

Leading us into tonight’s soiree is Steafán Hanvey from Downpatrick. Evoking the soul of Bruce Springsteen, Steafán sings about the down side of life without being depressing. He offers a reassuring voice that promises that even when the chips are down, a smile and a song are always on hand. A sublime start to the evening.

To paraphrase Mr Julian Cope, our next attraction is ‘Far Out’. Sporting a futuristic guitar and a fancy thing-ummy board, Neosupervital wows us with his matter-of-fact tunes and dance-y breakbeat rhythms. It’s different and it works a charm. If Lou Reed had been born a couple of decades later I would imagine he might have styled himself thus. Perhaps Neosupervital might be just the right guy to fill his shoes. As the man himself sings, “People think I’m cool anyway”. You certainly are, mate.

No stranger to the Ruby Sessions, Suzanne Rhatigan is resigned this evening to singing about all of her failed relationships (thank god I’m not alone!). Suzanne has an endearing turn of phrase that can be light-hearted and sweet or dark and chilling to the point of goose bumps. Her voice possesses a flattering country lilt as it ricochets between girl next door and all out rock ‘n’ roll diva. There are no frills (well okay, a harmonica and a fancy pedal and drum type machine that feature fantastically in the finale) but Suzanne is a girl that definitely doesn’t depend on them. She is simply magical.

All good things must come to an end and showing us out tonight is the last of the great punk rockers, Keith Moss. With every show I adore him more and more. A jammy dodger of Richard Hell, Neil Hannon and Lester Bangs all rolled into one scrumptious mouthful; Keith’s wit is on fire as he strums his way from song to story, from rant to resolution. I’m reminded that while, perhaps, anyone can rock, not everyone truly understands rock ‘n’ roll. Honest, original and individual, the spirit of ’76 lives and breathes through this little known genius and his anarchic acoustic guitar. And pedal, of course.