Bell X1 mark 20 years of evolution at the Marquee

By Esther N McCarthy

One way of feeling absolutely bone-crushingly ancient is to attend one of your very favourite bands celebrating 20 years together.

And sure what else would you be doing of a Friday night?

But two decades?! Seriously? How did that happen?

“We’re fucking old, man,” Paul Noonan confirms as he greets a sold out tent.

The last time I reviewed Bell X1 for this paper was back in 2012 when I went to three consecutive Cork concerts (thank God I wasn't able to get to Dublin for their recent five-nights-in-a-row residency at Vicar Street, I'd be flat broke) and at the time I put it down to the remarkable talent of the trio of troubadours coupled with my grim determination to do anything but stay at home with my children.

Six years later, not much has changed, let me tell you.

Perhaps the secret to their longevity is the constant evolution of their style and sound.

And of course, their wonderfully witty, epically epigrammatic and uniquely Irish lyrics.

Who else but Bell X 1 could give us the line; "You're the chocolate at the end of my Corneto"?

So yes, it's hard to put Messrs Noonan, Dave Geraghty and Dominic Philips, into just one musical category.

And isn't that just one of the reasons why we love them so? No pigeon holing these lads.

From the snap, crackle and pop-rock sound of their debut studio album, Neither Am I (with Brian Crosby making the band a quartet back then) through to the ethereal indie perfection that was Eve, the Apple of My Eye (people literally ran into the tent at the opening bars of this) from the band's second album Music in Mouth, through to the stomping glory of Flame from the 2005 chart-topping album Flock and right up to the perfection of The Upswing from the latest album, they are the chameleons of the Irish music world.

And they have the accolades and the awards and the adoring fans to prove they're doing something right.

Highlights in the Marquee tonight include the crowd-pleaser Alphabet Soup, Velcro, and my favourite of the set, Rocky Took A Lover.

All with a simple stage set, two other musicians, lots of lights, and a bit of banter about Sir Henry’s.

On the way to the Marquee in Cork... Here, a joke from the van: what did the Dub order in the Egyptian restaurant? Mo Salah!! pic.twitter.com/7XH8DePKNS

— Bell X1 (@BellX1) June 15, 2018

On their way down to the tent by the Lee, the lads tweeted: "On the way to the Marquee in Cork... Here, a joke from the van: what did the Dub order in the Egyptian restaurant? Mo Salah!!"

You'll be very glad to hear their gig material was far better than their gag material.

Here's to the next 20 years.