Sean Millar plus guests at the Sugar Club was conceived as a sort of tribute concert to someone who’s not dead yet. Millar, one of the great unsung heroes of Irish music, put together the show to coincide with the release of his best of, Tarzan’s Ambition. So here we are at the Sugar Club, ready to enjoy...
Millar ambles on stage to chat informally, while strumming Arlo Guthrie-style on his acoustic guitar. He tells us he’s not glib, or slick. But theres more! “I’m anti-glib” he insists, and this theme pervades the evening. The good doctor shares some truly hilarious anecdotes between announcing his guests, all of whom are delighted to stand up and lovingly render their favourite Millar songs in their own styles. Accompanied by Miriam Ingram, he opens with ‘Hard Years In The Big City’, a well-crafted song about urban decay – of being broke and fed-up – but sung with such upbeat optimism that you wonder what the rest of them are moaning about.
The West Seventies then took the baton to play ‘Always Coming Home’, replete with gorgeous plinky mandolin sweetness.Following a mellifluous interpretation of ‘Tarzan’s Ambition’ by Brian Roche, Mark McCann (why don’t people wear pork pie hats anymore?) hit the mark with a song about writer’s block and other dark elements of Millar’s experiences.
Camille O’Sullivan, the woman who permanently looks like she’s keeping a naughty secret, gave a very enjoyable cabaret performance, evoking a sultry atmosphere with her impeccable voice.
Then, to finish, it was time for Jack L to prowl on stage. Jack’s like the anti-Daniel O’Donnell. His older but sharply dressed fans seek him out with what you could only call a louche enthusiasm. There are few songs the Athy man can’t make his own – as his soulful crooning of ‘Happy Can Be’ showed.
“This is the last song,” professed Millar “I don’t do encores.” Nor did he. A very nice break from the usual tedious naval-gazer posturing.