Flour Power

Last Saturday I got to see KT Tunstall live for my first time. The gig was in the Radisson Live Lounge, and although I didn’t think it was brilliant, it was a very good show altogether, well worth the €20.

The show was opened by The Pictish Trail, of 28-year-old singer-songwriter Johnny Lynch. I can only describe his music as… odd… but more knowledgeable people say it’s “a sonorous mixture of acoustic-driven balladry and lo-fi synthesised pop” and “a post-summer trove of sun-warped electro, anamorphic folk”. I say it’s a bit bizarre, and a good example of that is his latest EP, In Rooms, that consists of 50 songs, each 30 seconds in length. He played a couple of them last Saturday (Birds, for example), and for some weird reason I feel like buying the EP.

After this opening, it was time for the main act. This was the first gig of the tour and KT and the band started it with some songs from their new-ish album, Tiger Suit, which, I have to confess, I wasn’t at all familiar with. That’s something that’ll have to be corrected in the next few days, I say. A few songs into it, the band got out of the stage and left KT by herself to do her solo thing. One of those songs was a lovely version of Other Side of the World (I apologize in advance for the sound quality, but my camera is really not good for concerts because it messes up whenever there’s drums involved):

Still up there by herself, KT performed the fan-favourite Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, complete with all the pedal-magic we’re used to. Great stuff:

With the band back and after a couple more songs, they said goodbye only to be cheered by the few hundred people there until they came back for the encore. It was a small once, but they ended beautifully with Suddenly I See:

The full setlist went something like this:

Come On, Get In
Glamour Puss
Uummannaq Song
Universe & You
Lost
If Only
Difficulty
Other Side of the World
Scarlet Tulip
Black Horse and the Cherry Tree
The Entertainer
Saving My Face
Madame Trudeaux
Push That Knot Away
Funnyman
Fade Like A Shadow

Encore
Close To Me (The Cure cover)
Suddenly I See

I’m keeping an eye on Youtube for more videos (because mine got the sound all messed up). Stay tuned for more.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you might have noticed how I like music covers. That’s why The King’s Head is probably my favourite pub in Galway on Mondays and Tuesdays. From 10pm to around midnight there’s usually a gig featuring two guys with acoustic guitars, playing covers of well-know songs.

Fred & James are one of the duos, playing Mondays, and their version of Galway Girl is the one I mentioned before, with the slightly altered lyrics. This time I managed to get a much better recording of it:

They also play this great version of Hotel California, ending with an awesome solo. Which I’ve been meaning to record for a long time now, and it’s finally here:

Enjoy the videos, and see you at The King’s Head one of these Mondays!

Last year I went to Dublin to check out the St. Patrick’s parade (and saw some interesting stuff). I ended up not really seeing the parade, so this year I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss it. This time in Galway:

And because I always talk about geeky Internet-related stuff here, Google has a St. Patricks’s Day logo.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I think it’s little surprises like this that make people fall in love with this town. One minute I’m at home getting ready to watch a movie, the next I’m watching this cool band playing some covers on the street.

Prince – Kiss

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Fortunate Son

Tom Waits – Telephone Call From Istanbul

Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love

Thanks to @grealish.