Review by Ger McCarthy (gmcarthy@nmrc.ucc.ie)
My first Embrace experience started off with a minor hitch when my mate
pulled out and I ended up going on my own. I set off from Cork about 2pm -
it's 160 miles from Dublin - traffic was heavy enough so I arrived about
6pm. I discovered that I'd forgotten my ticket! Panic stations but luckily
the gig was not completely sold out and I was able to get a ticket from the
Olympia box office.
The doors open at 7:30 so I decide to have a beer inside, and I was
lucky
enough to get into the pit, and even better I got a fairly good spot right
at the front directly in front of Steve.
Just before 9pm the lights went down and "It's a wonderful world" comes
on
and Embrace walk on stage to very enthusiastic but not tumultuous applause.
There's a group of about 50 people directly in front of Danny, just a few
feet to my right, going crazy. Some of them are shouting "Blind". I suspect
they know what's coming and sure enough the gig starts off with a rocking
"Blind" followed with hardly a breath taken by "The Last Gas". Danny talks
for the first time - "this one's called All you good good people". What a
start, there's no doubt the band are in good form, Richard is going crazy
on guitar.
Danny explains that his parents are at the show, "thanks very much, me
mum
and dad have come all the way over from Leeds to see us tonight, they're in
one of them boxes I think", and introduces Dry Kids - "this one's a really
old song, it's called 'dry Kids'" - and there's loads of people singing
along. Next up is "my weakness is none of your business" and things pick up
again with "You've got to stop to get better" (I love that intro) and
"You've got to say yes".
Danny talks about their last visit to Dublin - "It's good to be back in
Dublin, did any of you lot come to see us last time we played HERE" - as in
the Olympia theatre - "they had seats in, we were supporting longpigs
weren't we. People were shouting at me to get me trousers off and stuff,
It's the first and last time that's happened at a gig, it's sad isn't it".
When he announces "retread" he's definitely chuffed with the crowd reaction
and it seems to spur him on. "Richard's gonna sing a song on his own now"
and Richard dedicates "The way I do" to his girlfriend of 9 years Joanne. "
This one's dedicated to Joanne who I've been going out with now for 9
years, there's commitment for ya. We've had our good times and bad times
and this one's about some of the bad times" he looks confident and doesn't
hold back at all.
One of my favourite tracks is next "I want the world". There's a couple
right next to me swapping tongues - during "I want the world" for fuck's
sake, what's the youth of today coming to I wonder (I'm definitely the
oldest person in the pit - 30 next february).
Next we're in for a treat -" here's one that's not on the list, It's a new
song, it's not quite finished yet but let's give it a go, it's called
'Happy at last'". I thought he said "happy and last" but the former makes
more sense. It's a slow love song with Danny on acoustic guitar and Mick on
keyboards.
Next is the immense "higher sights". This one really does it for me, very
close to musical perfection in my view. The crowd is now whipped into such
frenzy that it's the perfect time to do "one big family" and the response
is awesome, even the 2 young lovers are jumping.
The band go off to tremendous applause and come on for a 4 song encore -
"that's all changed forever" is beautiful - everyone's singing along -
followed by "come back to what you know", the crowd's allowed to sing the
first line. Then it's fireworks - excellent. Finally "the good will out".
It's a terrific ending with Danny urging the crowd to even higher levels
and gets down off the stage to shake hands with the fans - at one stage he
nearly gets mauled. I manage to shake hands with him and I'm well chuffed -
sad really but here you go.
"Great fucking gig, thanks a lot" and the band walks off. Some general
highlights included Richard going mental fairly often, and Danny's stage
presence - from the moment he walked on stage he was urging the crowd on
looking for more. He was very confident and overall the performance was top
notch - every note most notably vocal was crystal clear. I think Richard
lost his place during one of the guitar solos - it might have been "I want
the world" - but he was going crazy at the time.
The gig finished about 10:40 and it was off on my 160 mile return journey
to Cork. It was definitely worth the 6 hours driving.
Setlist -
1 Blind
2 Last gas
3 Good good people
4 Dry kids
5 Weakness
6 Stop to get better
7 You've got to say yes
8 Retread
9 Way I do
10 I
want the world
11 Happy & Lost
12 Higher sights
13 One big family
14 That's all
changed
15 Come back
16 Fireworks
17 Good will out