Sunday, May 01, 2005

Eleanor McEvoy, West End Centre, Aldershot

Bill and I had seen Eleanor McEvoy at Fareham and Gostport Folk Festival, so we knew we were in for a treat!
The support act was Tristan Seume a very talented guitarist, reminiscent of Paul Downes. However half an hour of acoustic guitar with no lyrics did send me off to sleep a bit. Perhaps he should ask Eleanor to write some lyrics for him.
At last Eleanor came on stage (despite rumours of fog in Dublin) and gave a stunning performance. She seems to me like a cross between early Sinead O'Connor and Thea Gilmore. She can play fiddle to a very high standard as well as acoustic and electric guitar, her songs are highly emotionally charged and uplifting. The stories behind the songs are always entertaining as well. Sone of my favourite songs were Whisper a Prayer to the Moon (sadly unavailable on album in the UK - WHY NOT!!??!), The Rain Falls Down (a song about being dumped by email), and the ironically-named You'll Hear Better Songs (Than This) - now out on single - buy it!! She also covered Chuck Berry's classic Memphis Tennessee - a wistful, slowed down version.
The audience at the West End Centre were very appreciative and there was a long queue for CD's - Eleanor kindly signed mine, and we had a little chat - agreeing the gig was a lot less fraught than at Fareham, also a very good one! I hope she tours round our way again soon.

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