James Vincent McMorrow review: Controlled but joyful return to live music in Ireland
James Vincent McMorrow on stage at Iveagh Gardens. Picture: Mark Stedman
With some de rigeur festival flags scattered around the site, stray straw hats and GAA jerseys in the crowd, as well as not-quite-in-time clapping along to songs, squint and it’s almost like the real thing. It’s not really, though - we’re still in the midst of the Covid pandemic and James Vincent McMorrow at Iveagh Gardens is the first in a series of test events.
There are only 500 people in what’s usually a 5,000 capacity summer gig venue, so entry was seamless and quick (there was no Covid testing). With the small groups spaced metres apart in assigned pods, it meant instead of the rising tide of crowd chatter, the birds in the trees around the site were louder in between songs - a welcome development, to be honest.
There’s no alcohol to be had for the people in their pods, only two food stalls to choose from - an ice-cream truck (delicious 99s!) and a creperie, both located in front of a picturesque waterfall - and a one-way system to the toilets and back to the pod, so it’s the same, but different.
And yet, and yet. The joy was palpable. You could feel the beaming smiles of everyone lucky to be at a real-life, in-person concert. The distance between the groups didn’t matter - it was a shared experience of relief, of elation, of things getting back to normal.
It helped that it was James Vincent McMorrow who was providing the soundtrack. Considering the attention the gig has had this week, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the Dublin singer-songwriter releases his fifth album Grapefruit Season in July - this must be one of the most successful pre-album promo campaigns of modern times.
"I've never been as nervous as anything in my entire life," he says after the first couple of songs, which began with a sensational, brass-infused Me and My Friends.
It’s basically a greatest hits set, stretching back to 2010’s Early in the Morning - did those songs always sound so Fleet Foxes-esque - and featuring as-yet unreleased tracks. One of those proved the highlight of the show, a sax solo starring in a War on Drugs type number that includes the line “I pray to Kanye”.
Fronting a 10-person band (some of whom also played with support act Sorcha Richardson, whose slacker-pop is built for summer festivals), McMorrow is full of frenetic, giddy energy. A 90-minute, 15-track set, it was always going to be glorious considering March 2020 was the last time ‘normal’ shows took place.
“I hope this is the start of the summer we deserve,” McMorrow declares near the end of his set. Our heart leapt at the prospect.
