A very quick review of Roy and Nick's gig at De Barras last night (Thursday 19 September) in Clonakilty, Ireland. This review will actually be more detailed than the ones I've done in the past as I actually tried to write the tracks down... but as this was after 12 pints of Murphy's (which were excellent!) I woke up this morning with loads of scraps of paper with some scribbles on 'em. So here goes nothing!
De Barras has always been a cracking venue; holds abou 150 folk and everyone has played there in the past including Bowie, McCartney and last week Christie Moore! The backroom where the gigs are held has just been re-jigged and the stage is now under the stairs; most of the regulars said the changes are for the better.
Anyway, better stop this waffle. There's no time for me to correct any of the spelling mistakes here as Clony library is just about to close! Apologies for not knowing all the song titles, but you should get the gist of which songs I mean.
Nick's set: She Rules My World / Karmageddon / The Magnificent G7 / The Verse Time Forgot / Lily's song? (She Makes Music) / Instrumental / Galaxy Song / "Love Is Music"
Then there was a break for more Murphy's before the main man came on stage, looking very well indeed, and playing even better. The songs he played tonight (and probably on the whole tour) are what he classes as B-rate songs, i.e. nothing off Stormcock! The selection of songs he did play was unusual but very good (and not necessarily in the order mentioned).
Roy solo: Commune / Rushing Camelot
Then Nick turned up on stage and forgot something quite vital... his guitar! Roy called him an "insect" and he toddled off to find it. Then they both played cracking versions of:
Short And Sweet / Drawn To The Flames / Francesca
I shouted for Hangman, which they both then played beautifully! In fact, on some of the songs Nick was actually singing along too, not just playing which makes a great change!
Nick started playing One Man Rock And Roll Band and it sounded brilliant, but that wasn't one of the songs they were going to play. They went on to:
Sleeping At The Wheel (one of my faves!) / The Tallest Tree / The Green Man / Miles Remains / Sophisticated Beggar
Only a couple of hours now until the next gig! All in all a brill night... but now I've got to go, the caretaker is looking rather peed off with me!
Addendum, 23 September: I wasn't really going to do another review (as it takes up valuable drinking time!), but something occured last night in Limerick that's worth telling you about. Firstly, Nick's set is generally changing each night which is great (for me!) while Roy's is definetly not changing. It looks like he won't be singing any of his "usual" ones at all.
Last night Nick sang (obviously among others) Kilty Stone, which he dedicated to one of the guys (Johnny) which the song is actually written about. Johnny has lent Nick something that's the purpose of this email... his electric guitar! Last night was the first attempt (in front of the 30 strong crowd - there were only 10 people at the start of Nick's session!) with the electric guitar and Nick was having problems with the volume levels. But believe you me... to see Nick play the electric guitar with Roy on Short And Sweet and Hangman is absolutly brilliant! [total agreement here - Paula] Roy is getting better every night and is really settling into his set. By the time he hits the UK, it should be superb!
