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| Declan O Rourke Taking a closer look at local Ennis landmark |
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| Rory Faithfield Genn Cal Alice |
Irish singer songwriters seem to be enjoying a heyday at the moment and one of my favourites was in Glór on Saturday night. Declan O Rourke has been enjoying some international media spotlight particularly since his wonderful song Galileo has been recorded by Josh Groban and the subject of laudatory remarks by iconic rock musician, Paul Wellar . There are numerous covers but the original is still my favourite and I remember very well hearing it on PK show aptly following an interview with astronomer Patrick Moore.
In his last appearance here he sang to his own accompaniment with support on cello. On this occasion he was supported by a band consisting of drums , bass guitar, violin and cello. He had an impressive array of stringed instruments to accompany a set of songs many of which appear on his new album Mag Pai Zai.
There were some very good things about the gig. O Rourke himself was relaxed and genial on stage without being too nonchalent. There was a sense of some forethought in the sequence of songs and pacing of the gig. The songs are mostly lighthearted and whimsical in the best sense of those words, my favourite of the set being the uptempo Lightning Bird and River Man with some very beguiling lyrics although there were some sombre moments with Langleys Requiem, a song about two isolated brothers in Harlem setting a darker mood. The quintet, although they were well spaced across the wide stage connected well with each other . They smiled at each other a lot which was rather cheerful.
