Just how powerful is Lisa Hannigan?

I was at a gig last Friday and it was one of the highlights of my life, musically. We three (two friends and I), had managed to get our hands on tickets to one of two concerts Lisa Hannigan was playing in Galway's Róisín Dubh. The venue is notoriously small and we were packed in like sardines with 150 to 200 others, all of us anticipating a good show and nothing more. What we got however was a spiritual and emotional experience that will be difficult to top.

Lisa Hannigan, for the uninitiated is an Irish singer songwriter, she got her career break as a backing singer and member of Damien Rice's band (she can be heard on a number of Damien Rice tracks including the haunting 'Blowers Daughter'). The two split both personally and professionally in a rather acrimonious fashion and Lisa made the jump to solo artist. All i can say having seen her perform on Friday night is thank the Gods (all of them!!) that she did. To see this woman and her band perform is more than a treat. She seems a quiet and shy character when she first comes onstage, but this develops into a quirky and fun person as the show progresses and as she and the audience feed off each other and off the energy her music generates.

Her repertoire consists mainly of songs from her awesome debut album 'Sea Sew', but she has also added some newer material (which bodes well for the second album) and some covers, including a performance of Dylan's 'Tom Thumb Blues' that would make the hair stand up on the back of your neck and send tingles through your body. In the sweaty confines of the Róisín Dubh nobody moved from where they stood, so entranced were we. Her voice, like that of the sirens in the Odyssey or the Pied Pipers tune drew us in and held us spellbound throughout. Each song was received with raucous applause and we cheered her and the band back to the stage for not one but 3 encores. Such was the energy in the room even she and her band (all of whom play multiple instruments) found it hard to break the spell they had created.

When the gig ended i found it hard to speak. It was an intensely moving experience and i was glowing with happiness at having witnessed it. So many artists go through the motions onstage these days, but for this girl it was different. She was having real fun and enjoying the experience as much as the crowd were. The intimacy of the surroundings contributed most definitely, but the music and the performance were mesmerising. One other thing about Lisa Hannigan, she is beautiful too, in a way that makes both men and women attracted to her. If we lived in the 18th or early 19th century or perhaps a Monty Python sketch we'd be saying; "burn her, she's a witch", but instead i say; if you get the opportunity to see her perform please go, i doubt you will be disappointed, in fact you'll probably find it magical.

Some youtube links to Lisa Hannigan tracks from both her solo career and her collaborations with Damien Rice and the 'Cake Sale' project
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSaPbVjcrp4&feature=fvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YXVMCHG-Nk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyXmp-FiPJo&feature=fvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S55BlxoGFsM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te84U9YOALU&feature=related

beginning at the end

So it begins, my blogging life that is. I probably should have done this much sooner but i guess i am inherently lazy in some ways. Anyhow, welcome to instant soup and other distractions, where various random subjects will get an airing and my opinion will appear here on the internet for all to read.

To begin i guess i'd like to say how disappointing it is that radio here in Ireland is losing one of its true greats tomorrow when Rodney Rice broadcasts his last Saturday View on RTE Radio1. It seems to me there aren't enough people in radio today with Rice's abilities. Saturday View has been a great radio show and Rodney regularly got some great interviews and debates on the programme. As a show it got to the heart of the important matters facing the country and Rodney Rice asked the questions we all wanted asked of the people in power. He didn't always get the answers but he at least asked the questions.

I hope that his departure doesn't mean further dumbing down in the national media, but i do fear the worst. Its not been the best of years for current affairs programming here in Ireland; John Bowman quit Questions and Answers, budget cuts meant that Primetime specials won't be as frequent and The Late Late Show (already gone to the dogs under PK) will surely be dumbed down even further by Tubridy and his attempts to Americanise us all. We can but hope that Pat Kenny's new show in September will redefine Pat himself as a decent broadcast journalist.