Something flowers when Dunne and Ó Braonáin sing together on stage 

Tom Dunne from Something Happens, and Fiachna Ó Braonáin from Hot House Flowers are touring with a live show that includes tunes from their band repertoires, plus a few other classics they both love 
Something flowers when Dunne and Ó Braonáin sing together on stage 

Tom Dunne, Fiachna Ó Braonáin, and Alan Connor play at Cyprus Avenue in Cork, and tour to Limerick and Dún Laoghaire next month. 

Sometimes the stars align. This time last year, Tom Dunne, from Something Happens, and Fiachna Ó Braonáin, from Hot House Flowers, found themselves on Ray D’Arcy’s RTÉ radio show doing some promotional work for the Féile music festival. 

They were encouraged to sing a song together. They performed Christy Moore’s trad song 'John O’Dreams', a surprise favourite of Dunne’s since his student days in the 1980s. Then they did Willie Nelson’s 'On the Road Again'.

It felt good, so good that the pair decided – after “several coffees” and jamming sessions at Ó Braonáin’s house in Greystones, Co Wicklow – to hit the road themselves. The duo roped in the multi-instrumentalist Alan O’Connor. They’ve performed three live concerts, and will perform three more within the next month, including a gig at Cork’s Cyprus Avenue venue.

“When we first played John O’Dreams, Fiachna started singing on bits of it,” says Dunne. “That was something that had never happened before in my life. With Something Happens, no one else sings. All our songs have backing vocals on records, but nothing live. When I heard Fiachna singing, I felt that really takes the song to a different place. It was revelatory. 

"I've never been in a position where somebody else sings some of the songs and I could step back and play acoustic guitar. Later, from rehearsing with Fiachna, I noticed Flower songs are less cordy than Something Happens songs. They're easier to play."

Their setlist includes a few songs from Something Happens and a few from Hot House Flowers, as well as a few other they were also keen to play live. "The reaction in the room at our first gig was amazing. We said, ‘We’ll have to do this again.’ 

It's also the freedom. Fiachna couldn't do these songs with Hot House Flowers. It's nice to take songs I’ve been writing in a direction that I wouldn't go with Something Happens.

"Also the enjoyment. When we went into a rehearsal room, and we’re trying things and laughing and looking across at each other: ‘That was good. Do that again.’ It has that giddy being-in-a-band excitement that I had when Something Happens started 30-odd years ago.” 

Dunne and Ó Braonáin have been crossing paths since around 1988. Their bands rehearsed in the same venue – The Factory in Dublin’s Ringsend– when starting out so they used see each other at lunchtime. Gigging around the world, they ran into each other, in cities like Boston and New York. O’Connor, the third musketeer, has been performing with Something Happens lately.

“Alan doesn't read music; he’s self-taught,” says Dunne. “He brings this gel to everything. He's a beautiful player. The songs are transformed with him. When Fiachna said, ‘Will we do a gig?’ I said, ‘We have to get Alan in. Trust me.’ He takes all the weight off myself and Fiachna. He can carry it at any moment, weighing in heavily on the piano. He's brilliant.” 

Dunne and Ó Braonáin’s influences are, unsurprisingly, diverse. Dunne loves American singer-songwriters and rock bands like REM, The Replacements, The Posies, Wilco. Ó Braonáin veers towards traditional and folk music, soul, Michelle Shocked, Van Morrison. The list goes on. 

Dunne loves the Beach Boys too; he sings a version of 'God Only Knows'. Part of their stage act is telling some stories. Both are good raconteurs. Dunne shares a story about the Beach Boys’ genius, Brian Wilson.

“I’ve interviewed Brian Wilson five times in my life,” says Dunne. “They are five of the most difficult interviews I’ve ever had. He's very, very difficult. He's not really on the same platform as the rest of us. He's got what you might describe as neurological issues. 

"I remember I interviewed him for an hour and a half in the Temple Bar Music Centre. I interviewed him for 45 minutes, and then for 45 minutes I wandered the crowd with a microphone, while the crowd asked him questions. 

"At the end of the night, I said, ‘Well, thanks Brian.’ He said, ‘Thank you, Microphone Guy.’ 

"I got one little sliver from him and that’s the story that I tell during the show. I distracted him and real Brian arrived for a minute or two. It was very poignant.” 

  • On The Road Again – An Evening with Tom Dunne, Fiachna Ó Braonáin and Alan Connor, 7pm, Saturday Sept 24 at Cyprus Avenue,  Cork; as well as Dolan’s, Limerick (October 20); and Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire (October 22). See www.cyprusavenue.ie.

x

More in this section

Scene & Heard

Newsletter

Music, film art, culture, books and more from Munster and beyond.......curated weekly by the Irish Examiner Arts Editor.

Cookie Policy Privacy Policy Brand Safety FAQ Help Contact Us Terms and Conditions

© Examiner Echo Group Limited