Reviewed on Wednesday September 14
“Tonight’s a special night,” explained the amiable Basement doorman to punters heading down the stars into the venue. “It’s an Irish night.” Indeed, there was a large contingent of our Irish brethren out for County Down’s Foy Vance, lending the venue the feel of a Celtic singing hall.
The whisky chasers flowed freely as punters looked for a pick-me-up after Kyle Lionhart’s short set of sad songs. In the space of a mere thirty minutes we learned of Kyle’s four-year battle with depression, his sister’s meth addiction and the day he had to beg his wife not to leave him after a long tour.
By contrast, the combination of Vance’s bluesy piano tinkerings and voice – a complex mix of soothing tone, rasp and condensed Nor’n Irish vowel sounds – was immediately uplifting. Backed by a single drummer who often deployed nothing but a lone bass drum, Joy trilled lyrics such as “I will find my means to an end / With an open heart in hold and a closed hand, full of friends,” filling the room with a hopeful urgency.
His love letter to home, ‘Bangor Town’, conjured a sad longing for an overdue family reunion, yet he cut the tension with a little Irish charm, stopping the mood from getting too heavy. “The only time you’ll hear an Irishman singing sentimental songs about home: when he’s nowhere fucking near it,” Vance quipped.
Safe covers of ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ and ‘Purple Rain’ provided an opportunity for a sing-along while bottles emptied, before the show closed in the same way as the album, with a hymn-like version ‘The Wild Swans On The Lake’. But once again, Vance didn’t allow us to disappear into our own thoughts for too long. Over the crowd’s meditative hums, he announced in song, “A baby’s on the way / Second of March 2017, folks!” Another whiskey? Ah, go on then.
