Concert Review - Wallis Bird

Venue - Crawdaddy
Date - 17th of April 2008

Setlist - See below

Sometime last year I was trawling through the music channels on telly and caught the last minute of a song and found myself completely transfixed. I had no idea who the singer was but I spent the next couple of days watching that same channel until the video was played again. I discovered it was Wallis Bird and the song was The Circle. Seconds later I was on the net, my fingers punching the keys as fast as they could but finding out very little other than that the release of her debut album was imminent and that she was Irish! For the next few weeks I spent a large amount of time in the "B" section of The Secret Book And Record Store, Rhythm Records and Comet Records in the hope of finding a promo copy of the album. Eventually I was rewarded with what turned out to be my favourite release of 2007, Wallis Bird's Spoons.

So I was absolutely counting the seconds to her appearance in Crawdaddy, the intimate Harcourt Street venue. Crawdaddy is without doubt the best venue in Dublin at the moment. I would guess it holds no more than 250 at a squeeze and the sound is consistently perfect. My expectations were probably unfairly high for this gig and yet as I floated out afterwards I knew they had not just been met but blown away. Like finding a light switch after a lifetime in the dark, Bird was instantly incredibly luminescent. From the moment she bounded onto the stage I knew there was nowhere else in the world I would have rather been. The cute 6 ft 8 was the opener and proved Wallis was in fine voice. Then she played one of her trump cards early with uplifting, foot stomping, smile inducing Counting To Sleep and we were on our way. For nearly two hours Crawdaddy was leaking sunshine and creaking as it struggled to contain the pure concentrated joy.

Wallis seemed to be an antenna picking up the soul of Etta James, the rawness of Janis Joplin and the spider web delicacy of Dusty Springfield while still retaining her own originality and essence. Apart from her stunning vocal prowess she is a whirling dervish on stage, conducting a storm of her own creation from the eye of it. Totally at ease and totally in love with each moment it seems as though she is only barely able to contain her passion. This passion is displayed in jumps, stomps and head shaking all topped off with the most contagious smile.

Wallis Bird is an artist who deserves to be loved, cherished and protected from the machinations of the music industry. This is someone whose sheer devotion to her trade will ensure she is here to stay. Grab the album as soon as you can and if you get a chance to see her live go along and you will be smiling for a week afterwards. This is the beginning of what should be a beautiful adventure.

Setlist
6 ft 8
Counting To Sleep
Slow Down
Country Bumpkin
Your Daddy Is A Liar
You Are Mine
Your Morning Dream
Moodsets
The Circle
Blossoms In The Street
Just Keep Going
All For You