First up for the evening was Albert Jones who is Marc's lead guitarist in the band as well as an accomplished solo artist. After explaining he'd not played unplugged to an audience since his very first gig Albert went into a lovely finger picked song called 'The Promise'. Seemed to me like he jumped straight into the frying pan lay down and said 'I like it here', what a superb start to the night. With the song 'All I Need' you could really pick out the soulful tones of Al's voice in this intimate setting and it was so easy to immerse yourself into the flow of the songs. 'Ain't No Sunshine' just re-inforced the fact that Al has wonderful soulful tones to his voice which is really impressive as someone who's being touted as a lead guitarist. Al's set was over all too quickly which is always the sign of a top artist and he finished with a Shop Sessions favourite 'This Door' (my daughter had been sat at the front whispering it to him constantly I believe, so well done for not cracking under the immense pressure of a 12yr old ;] ).. Actually if memory serves me right I believe Al did some sort of Bryan Adams jukebox thing to explain that his penultimate song would be a Ryan Adams song not a Bryan Adams song which had everyone in stitches. Anyway where was I?? Oh yes the final song 'This Door' basically it's catchy as hell it has a great riff that makes you move and lyrics that encourage you to sing along what else do you need? We can't recommend Albert Jones highly enough if you get chance to see him live as part of a band or solo just do it......
Albert Jones - All I Need
So it was time..... Would the performance meet the excitement and expectation???
Marc launched into 'Lord of War' and the answer was an emphatic Hell Yeah!!!
I was into a full on head splitting grin right from the start with 'Lord of War' the music is superb and the message is simple George Bush is a dick!! So moving on...
It was Marc's guitar mastery that first drew me to his music when I was told to check out a session video of 'An African Day' which is an instrumental fingerstyle guitar piece about 2 years ago. Seeing it live and unplugged I have to say was stunning it really does seem to create the soundscape the title suggests.
Marc O'Reilly - An African Day
So two songs in and we'd already been treated to some serious acoustic riffage and then some delicate soul searching sounds, there was no doubt this was going to be a special Shop Session. By this point I was lost in the soul grabbing sounds of the guitar and husky soulful tones of Marc's voice. The performance just oozed charisma and energy creating a real buzz in the room which was palpable. The thing that struck me most about the flow of the music was, unlike some artists Marc doesn't seem to flatline i.e. he doesn't just find a niche and sit in it he takes you from picture painting instrumental, through heartfelt darkness to all out I can't stop myself moving & I feel great, basically a roller coaster of sounds and emotions which means you don't drop into a solid state trans. By the time we reached 'You Never' from the latest album Human Herdings the whole audience was immersed in the sounds, it was great to see head nodding & bodies moving even in this seated & cosy venue.
Marc O'Reilly - You Never
It was inevitable after such a performance that this gathering in a bike shop was going to woop, clap and shout for more even though Marc and the Irish based members of the band Peter & Michael had to get to Hollyhead to catch a ferry at 2.30am. It was great that Marc, Albert Jones and Peter Byrne obliged with a wonderful impromptu blues jam with Peter Byrne (normally Marc's drummer) climbing on a Cajon for the first time, they basically took the roof off the place superb!!!
We can't thank Marc, Albert, Peter, Michael and Oli enough for including us in this UK tour it was simply my favourite gig for atmosphere & quality of music for as long as I can remember. What I'm trying to say is you need to find where Marc O'Reilly and the band are playing and go see them, buy the albums and then tell everyone you know about them. There shouldn't be an Ipod in the world that isn't playing Marc O'Reilly music!!
Here's the Fellowship of the Ring just before they set off on their quest, you can see the Hobbits at the front....
You can find out what's going on with Albert Jones here
To immerse yourself in the wonderful sounds of Marc O'Reilly head here
Don't miss live music in a Bicycle Shop
Superb review! My wife and I were lucky enough to catch Marc and the guys in Southport on the first night of their tour. It was simply the musical highlight of my year so far. Albert Jones opening the night was sublime and an unexpected surprise. Marc and the band look like they were having so much fun on stage together. Brilliant night of fantastic music!
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