by Cathal McGuigan“You've come to the right place,” is what John Spillane constantly reminds us and anyone with the common sense to come to him when they need a song written (somebodys got to do it...). The man from Cork (the centre, he says, of the universe) took the stage at the Black Box, hoping to win over the audience one by one with his honest lyrics, disarming charm and a good dose of the craic. Starting with a self-confessed "fierce depressing number", When You and I were True, Spillane's banter ("Fair play to me!") kept the crowd laughing as he switched between melodic numbers like Passage West and Hey Dreamer to pure, undiluted craic in the form of Johnny don't go to Ballincolig, shameless drink tickets Magic Nights in the Lobby Bar and The Ferry Arms, as well as what is probably the best 18 second song in the world, Martin's Mad about Fish, written for a cooking show on RTÉ. Spillane easily created a comfortable, homely atmosphere in the bar, with his boasting jokes,“I can't stop playing that song ladies and gents and if you could, you couldn't stop either” and sweet, small venue dedications from a woman to her future husband and to a birthday girl in the audience. There was a lot of talk as gaelige, which I regrettably couldn't understand, the songs were all popular Irish songs that everyone knows and feature on Spillane's album Irish Songs We Learned At School. Báidín Fhelemí is a great wee song about a little boat (I'm told) that had the audience joining in, clapping and stomping, as they did for Óró Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile. After calling for a pint, Spillane was obliged to answer the sheer number of requests from the audience. After fan favourite Orca, it was to the proper encore in Maddens, where the locals crowded in the corner, pints in hand, to hear Spillane sing Dear Old Skibbereen, which sparked a string of regulars singing in Irish, making me wish I'd paid more attention in school... John Spillane's latest album, A Rock to Cling To, will be released in September. (CMcG)
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of all articles, advertisements and other insertions in the Website, the publishers can accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions or incorrect insertions. The views of the contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher or the advertisers. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the copyright holder and publisher, application for which should be made to the publisher. By entering this site the user accepts a charge of £10,000 if the site is used for advertising canvassing purposes or published in any way.
Incoming Incoming….Prepare For Evacuation!
