Monday, 21 April 2008
Wow!!! What a venue!!! Visually it is quite spectacular, all proper wooden craftsmanship, with intricately detailed stained glass windows, and the acoustics were amazing. Luka's voice and guitar filled all the spaces beautifully. Our voices didn't seem to quite do that when we sang with him, but Luka said afterward that he could hear us all very well, so he must have been getting the best of us just as we were getting the best of him!
But I get ahead of myself.... a special feature of this gig was the fact he had an opening support act, and he could not have had a better one in Claire Tchaikowski. They have known each other for a long time (he told the story of how they met in Lausanne, her home town, in the early 1990s) but had never shared a stage before, so it was a special gig for them both for that reason.
Claire sang for about 30 minutes, accompanied by two very talented chaps - Hugh Wilkinson on percussion and Tom Howe on guitar. Her songs are in a contemporary singer/songwriter style, not really what I'd call 'folk'. They are quite original with strongly emotive lyrics -- but it is her singing that sets them apart! Her voice reminded me at times of Sarah McLachlan... at other times of Enya (who she cites as an influence for her) -- a pure lilting soprano that soared over us like a dove. Her final song was Ride On, sung a capella. I'd never heard anyone but Christy sing this but she made it all her own. Just gorgeous. (Go check her out on MySpace and listen to her downloads!!)
And now on to Luka!
Here is the set list, starting on the Spanish guitar:
1 As I Waved Goodbye2 Here And Now
3 Tribe
4 Miracle Cure
5 I Love The World I'm In
6 Make You Feel My Love
7 Primavera
8 Sunday
9 Eastbound Train
10 City Of Chicago
11 No Matter Where You Go, There You Are
12 Peace On Earth
13 I'm A Bogman
(change of guitars to Rudy)
14 Exploring The Blue
15 Gone To Pablo
16 Fire
17 I'm On Your Side
18 Sunny Sailor Boy
19 You Couldn't Have Come At A Better Time
Encore
20 When Your Love Comes
21 Ciara
22 I'll Walk Beside You (a cappella)
Every gig is different of course, not just for the venue but for the people and the vibe and how Luka is feeling and playing on the night. The Union Chapel had, I felt, a restful, soothing effect. We know how Luka puts so much energy into his live performances and makes each one feel fresh and new but I thought this evening had a slightly different pace to it than his other gigs I've been to recently. The entire evening felt more contemplative. Perhaps our surroundings lent a little reverence to the occasion...? The tempo of the songs was a little slower and his voice savoured each word, giving each note its full value -- beautiful! Of course the cheeky jokes were all still there, with, for example, natives of Roscommon bearing the brunt of his introduction to No Matter Where You Go, There You Are: "there are places in Ireland where the gene pool is too small..." But things cannot quite be 'business as usual' when you're playing "Irish folk/punk/rap" music in a church -- a hasty "sorry!" was inserted immediately after "everybody's gone online, where nothing is real - big f*cking deal" in Fire, as if he suddenly remembered where he was!! ;)
Some songs that particularly stood out for me were:
Primavera - slowed down almost to the pace of the studio recording. Luka sang the first verse particularly softly, tenderly, then built up power and volume with each verse that followed. The result was spine-tingling!!
Sunday - the irony of the sentiments were especially poignant in this setting! And I get a kick out of the way Luka introduces this song with "I've just thought of a little song I'd like to play tonight" as if it's not on his set list and it has only just popped into his head to play it... does he say this at every gig? :)
City of Chicago - there has always been a hint of melancholy and yearning in this song but this performance went further, with what I thought was a sense of mourning, hinting at proper old-fashioned Irish keening -- a beautifully controlled yet incredibly emotional performance.
Peace On Earth was exquisitely played -- he could have gone on for another 20 minutes and I wouldn't have noticed the passing of time, much less minded!
Then he went straight to I'm A Bogman, apologising to us for the abrupt change of mood!!
When Your Love Comes -- his tribute to his friend John O'Donohue who died unexpectedly in January -- what an intense song! Luka may say he's no good at writing "sexy songs" but I beg to differ!!
For the final song of his encore, Luka placed Rudy on his rest, stepped in front of the microphone, out of the lights, stood on the very front edge of the stage and sang I'll Walk Beside You a capella. Every note hung in the air as bright as any pane in the glorious stained glass windows and we hung there with them, hushed and prayerful. When the last note finally faded away, I am sure I am not the only one who wanted to say 'Amen'.
Afterwards, Luka and his new UK manager Jane Skinner manned a little stand at the back, where Luka signed CDs, DVDs and no doubt whatever else anybody wanted signed! And he was free with the chat and banter, very relaxed. Of course we are dying to know about the next album! He said he has finished recording it and is very pleased with it, but says it is not like anything he's ever done before -- which is a rather intriguing thing for him to say, after Tribe!! :) The mixing of the new album is about to start, and he hopes it will be released in the autumn. I asked him about Don't Be Afraid Of The Light That Shines Within You, since he mentioned it in a recent radio interview -- he said it is "the big song" on the album! Also on the album is When Your Love Comes. The recent gigs have certainly whet our appetite for that one.
Rena asked him about his touring schedule through the rest of the year -- LOTS of dates still to be confirmed. I didn't catch all of them and have a memory like a sieve anyway, so all I can say on that score is 'watch the website!!'
At 11pm the church had to close up so we went up into the bar, where we were very pleased to have a chance to speak to Claire for a few minutes.
The evening ended all too soon for me, though in fact I very nearly missed the last train home!! A fantastic evening - looking forward to the next time!
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