Townhall wowed by Lisa’s album launch
During a bridge between songs Lisa O’Neill half apologised if her new material had alienated anyone attending last Friday’s Cavan’s Townhall launch. She needn’t have bothered. The audience was rapt, among them visitors from The Irish Times arts section and Rolling Stone magazine.
‘All of this is Chance’- Lisa’s fifth full-length album, her first on Rough Trade proper having marinated under sister label River Lea - encapsulates the entirety of the Ballyhaise singer’s musical journey to date.
As a performer Lisa has evolved as well, appearing more comfortable in her ability to agitate listeners to her captivating presence, lifting them from the dreamy flow state she just so easily led them into.
Modern day troubadour Larry Beau, six foot plus of sinewy positivity and the most marvellous moustache in the biz, kick-started the evening with a gorgeous set. His performance was elevated by the musicianship of Peter Sheridan, and latterly piano impresario Cormac McCann.
The hometown crowd was treated to a townhall stage decked out as if it was someone’s living room - heavy tasselled lampshades and soft-lighting warming the shadows of the stage. At its centre, as if a seanchaí, sat Lisa.
She began with an a cappella performance of ‘Come Back Paddy Reilly…’, hands square and head up, the crescendos of her unique vocals thrilling with momentum before slamming into abrupt silence.
Torch songs from previous albums - ‘Blackbird’, fan favourite ‘No Train to Cavan’ and ‘Rock the Machine’ - soon followed, before the real meat of the evening was served.
‘All of this is Chance’ is already being critically acclaimed, channelling the rawness of Karen Dalton, the emotion of early First Aid Kit, and sincerity of Iron and Wine.
Her unparalleled gift for attaching presence to the sighs of life sees Lisa juxtapose loving melody to much bleaker themes - skirting everything from unemployed dock workers to Kildare peacocks in heat.
Lisa prankishly interrupts the beginning of each song to explain their meaning, though she admits each still needs “room to breathe” to tell their own tale.
Her ode to Patrick Kavanagh’s ‘The Great Hunger’ is all the more impressive, as Lisa explains, she immersed herself in the “clay” from which the classic poem was hewn.
“I think he was talking about the oppression of passion and spirit,” she muses. If Lisa carries on in that spirit of archival deep diving there will be no shortage of fresh material to impress for future albums.
She takes particular glee meanwhile crediting her niece Sadie’s innocent contribution to ‘Old Note’- the two-year-old becoming “the youngest person published on Rough Trade”. She is just as chuffed to have her parents - Carmel and Bud - as well as other friends and family in the audience for what many described as a “great night” for the county.
To write a review and ignore the inventive arrangements conjured by The Frames’ Colm Mac Con Iomaire and a coterie of other musicians Lisa works with - Mick Geraghty, Brian Leech, and Ruth O’Mahony Brady - would be a crime. It truly made this an unforgettable experience.
There was even room to squeeze in a visit from John Spillane, with whom Lisa recently duetted. They play his classic ‘Passage West’ and ‘Near Cootehill Town’, a song the Cork man wrote on a five day sojourn to Smith’s Bar when filming with TG4.
A rendition of ‘All the tired Horses’ from his oft-overlooked ‘Portrait’ album, capped off the evening. The cover was shared with an audience of millions with at the heart-stopping conclusion to hit-series Peaky Blinders. Here, raising to the rafters and belting back down again, the combination of passionate vocals and near deafening accompaniment fills the air in ethereal fashion.
This night and album are exactly why Lisa is so highly thought of on the modern folk scene, not to mention Cavan.
* Reviewed by Seamus Enright