With a humble wave Conor O’Brian steps on stage, his band around him. ‘Villagers’ is no longer one man and his band, it’s this collection of brilliant musicians who’ve worked together since day one: Conor, Cormac, Danny, James and Tommy.
Having just returned from a European tour where they supported Grizzly Bear, they kick off proceedings with ‘Set The Tigers Free’ and the beautiful ‘Home’; fitting now on their return to Irish shores. It’s no surprise that they’re exhausted: Conor coughs between songs and they tell us their instruments aren’t in the best of shape after the tour, but it certainly doesn’t affect the performance.
During 'Becoming A Jackal’ there’s a striking change in the line, from “I’m selling you my fears” to “we’re selling you our fears”, signaling their establishment as a group.
There’s so much to love about their carefully crafted songs and hearing them live adds an extra dimension to music that’s already full of texture and substance. They belt out an incredible version of ‘The Pact’ and during the heart-wrenchingly honest ‘The Meaning Of The Ritual’ all eyes were on the frontman, and again during the stripped back rendition of ‘That Day’, there wasn’t a whisper in the packed-out venue.
Focusing mainly on their new material (their highly-anticipated second album {awayland} is due for release in 2013), they play ‘Grateful Song’ with its gentle verses and gigantic climaxing chorus. ‘Earthly Pleasure’ is another cracker. They’ve held true to their roots. Everything we love about Villagers is still there, but there’s more of that mellow, insightful music that takes dramatic twists and turns into electro-experimental dimensions, and dramatic full-on rock.
After some banter, they play the quirky ‘Rhythm Composer’ and Conor asks, “Is everyone okay after that? We’re not sure about it”, to which there’s an undeniably positive response.
‘The Waves’ is as joyously intense live as it is recorded, helped along with the accompanying trippy flashing lights and followed by an exhilarating performance of ‘Ship Of Promises’.
With their next Dublin appearance to be at the Olympia, those in attendance were lucky to catch the group in an intimate venue like Whelan’s, and unless a new wing is added, it could well be their last.
Roll on January so we can get our mitts on {awayland}!