Bell X1
Iveagh Gardens, Dublin
★★★★☆
Intermittent drizzle and Bell X1 – two key ingredients of any Irish summer. The band’s back catalogue has been a backdrop for summers across the country for almost 25 years. Everyone and their mam knows their songs, most likely the one with the bit about the Cornetto. A sold-out gig in their hometown’s Iveagh Gardens, alongside a handful of festival slots over the summer, prove they’re as in demand as ever.
Support act Talos opened with a synth driven intro and pulled the crowd out from under the eves of the surrounding trees. Talos, aka Cork’s Eoin French, released his most recent record, Dear Chaos, late last year earning a four-star review in this paper. Some keyboards and the stage floor needed emergency tarps and towels brought out to keep them dry but this did little to deter his and his band’s performance, ending their polished set with Solar.
Paul Noonan and company stepped out and he picked up a bazouki to start their night with Haint Blue.
“Thanks for coming out in all this rain,” Noonan says to the crowd before grabbing some shakers for Snakes & Snakes.
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Before Next to You, Noonan again thanked the crowd for coming, especially those who had availed of their “special” gold and platinum patron tickets. Starting at a very reasonable €9,000, they apparently included crisps and cakes “to bate the band” and the chance to watch them doing some pre-show ironing. Let’s hope other artists don’t get any ideas for their ticket bundles.
They cruised through Something Electric, a recollection of late night cooking smells late in Dublin 8 during Ramadan, with a short sampling of Bagatelle’s Summer in Dublin over the outro.
Even with his multi-instrumental abilities it feels like Noonan comes most alive as a frontman when he’s just holding the microphone. He’s able to capture a crowd’s full attention with some smooth gliding around centre stage and flicks of the limbs during the big hits, not forgetting the warm tones of his vocals.
They take time for a few slow sets, with The Upswing being the highlight, accompanied by a fresh shower of drizzle.
Flame brought the up-tempo energy back into the show with the crowd matching Noonan word for word.
“Ana mhaith ar fad,” he tells them after.
A rapturous rendition of The End Is Nigh carried performers and onlookers into Rocky Took a Lover for one of the night’s biggest reactions.
Eve, The Apple of My Eye and Noonan’s trancey solo track Make My Way started off the encore. Make My Way was a completely different, almost jarring, sound compared to the rest of the night’s songs. The audience weren’t dancing but they were still listening intently.
Despite being a cornerstone of modern Irish music, the group remain sincere and joyful in their performance with Noonan saying: “It means the world to us to do this again.”
The Great Defector shook the crowd – are they really taking the chocolate bit out of the Cornetto? – one last time before they momentarily stumbled into and quickly restarted The Lobster to cap off another damp night of old hits and newer material that could have left few unsatisfied.
