Bell X1 review: Church setting at St Luke's proves ideal for Cork devotees
Bell X1 at Live at St Luke's in Cork.
★★★★☆
The devout are out, ready to kneel in worship of the traveling trio of troubadours at the former church in St Luke's. A hush falls on the once hallowed hall, as Bell X1 appear amidst the smoke, the lights turn from red to blinding white as they launch into 'Bad Skin Day'.
Paul Noonan, David Geraghty and Dominic Phillips, accompanied by Dowry Strings, have just released a live album, Live at St Luke's, and are touring their sell-out shows at the eponymous Cork venue and Vicar Street, Dublin.
It's fair to call the hillside Cork venue 'iconic' at this stage — there really is nowhere like it in terms of acoustics, atmosphere and, in this case, levels of adoration. The dome of devotion, the elevated ceilings, stoic stone walls and grated floors create an unparalleled vibe, and on this Thursday evening, the church remains a shared, sacred space.
As the crowd sings along, word for word, it’s not a stretch to say the fans are familiar with the material, but the wonder of a live Bell X1 gig is there's always a moment of transcendence; be it a click of a finger or a drawn out note or a reimagining of a lyric. The Dowry Strings quartet work wonderfully with the material and with the band, a celestial collaboration that brings an extra element to the treasured tunes.
Classics like 'Rocky Took a Lover', 'Eve', 'The Apple of My Eye', and 'Light Catches Your Face' are beautifully elevated and the crowd responds accordingly. Notably, there isn’t much interaction or chat between the band and the crowd, until after intermission, when one of the congregation gets overly excited and tries to sing along to the chorus and blurts out an off-key ‘Flame!’ at the wrong time. Noonan stops singing, such is his mirth, the band clap and they start again.
Speaking of mirth, in the pew behind us, a group of women catch up on their gossip in between songs, when a gentleman leans over to inform them there's 22 hours in the day for talking and would they be quiet because real fans wanted to listen to the concert. Word to the wise, bud, don't take on school mums on a December night out in a venue with a BYOB policy, especially when you rocked in late two songs in.
"We're all real fans here,” comes the indignant reply and to paraphrase the Bell Xers, we all know what the fuss is about. Peace be with you guys. A heavenly night out.
