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MOYA BRENNAN
Liverpool, Philharmonic Hall 21 October 2007

When details of this show were published in the Phil's brochure, the prospect of Moya, accompanied by the RLPO, was good enough to sell me a pair of tickets. But this particular bargain at the point of sale wasn't the only one on offer.

Apparently Moya had discovered a phenomenal musician at the same time as I did. We both tuned in to a Duke Special concert on BBC Radio Ulster and sharing the bill that evening was Julie Feeney. I was so impressed with her that I just had to do my little bit to tell the world via Musictipping.com while Moya found out that there was more to Julie Feeney than just singer/songwriting. To cut a long story short, Moya invited Julie to score the music for the string section of the RLPO and conduct them as well.

So, with the needle on my anticipation dial pointing way past the red zone, and last night's Brian Kennedy concert still keeping me on a high, it was time to welcome Moya Brennan, the voice of Clannad with her 7-piece backing band on to the stage.

Robed in a resplendant royal blue Ciaran S. Grammy number, Moya was received by her awaiting accompanists.

Tapestry's intricate weavings of Eamonn Galldubh's Uillean Pipes, Sinead Madden's Violin and Moya's mesmeric vocals emerged from the fading applause and just to ensure that the audience's tansition into trance was complete, Moya reached for the bones and tapped us into Newgrange before saying Hello.

Apart from a minor distraction of a quickly quelled flash photographer and the whirring of the smoke machine during Pill A Run O, the first half continued as per the Signature Tour set - a steady flow of Clannad favourites, one or two from Moya's previous solo albums and a couple of jigs and reels. The penultimate song of the first half saw the introduction of Julie Feeney, who sat at the grand piano and delivered one of her songs from he 13 Songs album, Wind Out Of My Sails. Moya added BVs.

Julie returned the compliment for the first half finale, Many Faces.

The start of the second half made a mockery of the ticket price. A cluster of 4 whammies, 3 from Signature with Harry's Game in the midst, forced the body folicles to stand up on the goosebumps. For openers, Purple Haze was instrumentally lethal. Julie managed to split the group into two during the staccato bits. New life was given to Harry's Game and No One Talks was just out and out quality.

I wasn't keeping count, but apparently 9 songs were scored by Julie. She obviously has more strings to her bow (groan !) than just singer/songwriting.

Hour upon hours worth of rehearsal work must have gone into this by everyone on that stage. The whole presentation was immaculate right down to intricate details like Sinead's BVs harmonising perfectly with the violins.

Moya signed my copy of her autobiography after the show. I mentioned the Birkenhead gig and she told me that she enjoyed reading my review. So if Moya is kind enough to read my written works, it's only fair that I should read hers.

And to close this perfect weekend, I had to play that Beautiful Dreamer duet with Brian Kennedy once more.

The Band

Moya Brennan - Lead Vocals, Harp, Shaker & Bones Paul Byrne – percussion Fionan De Barra – Guitars, Vocals Sinead Madden – Fiddle, (perfectly matched)Vocals and Shaker Sam Jackson – Piano /Keyboards Eamonn Galldubh – Uillleann Pipes, Saxaphone, Clarinet Yoshinobi Izumi – Electric Bass (left handed), Vocals Cormac De Barra – Electric Harp, Vocals

Julie Feeney - Guest singer and conductor and the musical score for the string section of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Review by Graham Ashmore