Live Review: Junior Brother/Hank Bee/Euan Blackman at Future Yard, Birkenhead.
Anticipation is a powerful emotion; it prepares us for the best and worst possible outcomes of a forthcoming event that we can imagine. As age creeps up, you learn to reign it in slightly and not get too over-excited by prospects, learning from past disappointments. Despite that, rarely is anticipation completely eroded by cynicism. I still get that sense of anticipation on the way to a gig; I just can't help it. Of course, it helps if you've got a little journey beforehand to help build that sense, which is what I find myself with on the way to Birkenhead. Half an hour away on the train from where I live is Future Yard in the centre of the town. Perfectly located just five minutes from the train station on the Merseyrail line, it's a very handy place to see some great gigs if you live anywhere between Liverpool and Chester. It's here where Junior Brother choose to start their UK tour and where I find myself on a fine Spring Tuesday evening.
Getting to a gig on my own is quite a tough experience for me these days. I used to fearlessly travel up and down the land in pursuit of music I loved, barely worrying if I didn't speak to a single soul the whole time. Now the opposite is true; I feel awkward and clumsy as I arrive, not helped by the front door at the venue which I found difficult to open. I mean, REALLY difficult. Being laughed at by good looking hipsters is hard to stomach - I'm getting on a bit, alright?!?!
Leave it Birch.
I walk in to see Euan Blackman play the last few songs of his set in front of a handful of people who got there earlier than me. I was expecting to get there just after he was finishing - such as the schedule of my day to this point - but it appears the night is running a little late, so it's a nice bonus. It's difficult to give a fair assessment of Blackman's material in a short time frame I get, but he's certainly got talent and a lot of promise. His songs have some proficient finger-picking skills that his earnest vocals complement nicely, but there is work to be done to take it to a higher level.
Next up is Hank Bee, who ventured over the tunnel from Liverpool to be the main support this evening. Based around the songs of Hannah Brown - who is originally from the North East - they have a warmth about them as a unit that develops throughout their set. Normally the band plays a more guitar-driven live setup, but the sound is more stripped back tonight, perhaps a nod to the artist they're supporting.
By the time their set is in full swing, the room is starting to fill up nicely and it's clear they've bought friends and family with them - perhaps boosted by their Bassist's Birthday celebrations. The songs cross multiple genres and Brown's voice has a distinct tone to it - although not blessed with a vast range - she sings within her vocal means and it undoubtedly works and allows the songs to breathe. She's aided by a tight backing band that doesn't overstretch itself and the overall impression is one of a well-marshalled outfit.
An album that has sat with me as a constant companion for the last year or so has been The Great Irish Famine - the extraordinary folk epic from Junior Brother on the cracking Irish label Strange Brew - so, the level of anticipation had reached its peak by the time the band enter the stage. Junior Brother is the work of County Kerry singer/songwriter Ronan Kealy and has garnered some serious critical acclaim without the commercial success to match. Previously, Kealy has toured solo with just a guitar and a tambourine he plays with his feet as the only percussive aid. Tonight is a much different setup.
Now Kealy has a band to accompany his idiosyncratic songs and to help bring out their drama - with drums, keys and mandolin added to broaden the live sound. The beauty of these songs lies in Kealy's ability to encapsulate a large range of human emotion, often several in the same song. 'Tell me I'm a Fool' is a fine example, which starts with some beautiful picking that resembles some of folk's greats like Nick Drake and Bert Jansch. It's one of his softer works musically, yet still manages to resonate on a darker lever, with anxiety and inherent existential angst at the core of the lyrics:
I'm made of heaven's skin/Too alert on everything/Maybe I'm just afraid to die.
'No Country For Young Men' is a beautifully delivered song that shows Kealy at his most reflective. The title of the song - paraphrasing the old Cohn Brothers film - is indicative of growing up in beautiful, yet not entirely enthralling surroundings for those in need of artistic stimuli. Kealy produces a vocal that evolves with the track - built around the simple repetition of a singular phrase that allows the sing to burst into life:
Can't tell the goons from the guards.
The band get more of a rounded edge here and it's stronger for it, with backing vocals, pounding drums and beautifully crafted mandolin giving extra depth.
The more linear Kealy's writing gets the more he relies on the good old fashioned Irish craic to come to the fore. He's a charming performer onstage, introducing the band and deliberately confusing his stage left and audience right for comic effect. Comparisions to Richard Dawson are quite easy to point to and a song that certainly wades into that territory is the poignantly funny 'This is my Body'. A light-hearted attempt to rationlise the aesthetic decline of the Human body due to the aging process and the inevitable hang ups most of us feel as a result; it's The Great Irish Famine's lead single, and with just cause. A similar use of humour courses through 'Hungover at Mass', a song that goes back to his wonderfully-titled 2016 E.P Fuck Off I Love You. Both songs land with an appreciative audience that are won over with these more digestible efforts.
But just like anticipation, sometimes the rewards are more intense from coming through the nervous energy that can often seem to cloud the process. The most beguiling and impressive moments of tonight come from two of Junior Brother's lengthier and complex pieces. 'No Snitch' is an extraordinary song on The Great Irish Famine, that pushes Kealy's vocals to extremities. He talks of hating someone for what they have done and it's punctuated by impassioned yelps that reverberate throughout the building. Counteracted by a God-fearing sentiment, there's almost a sinister overtone to his vocals as he laments:
Now I am angry/God knows why/God knows lots of things/ God's no snitch.
The closer is new track 'Junior Brother's Favourite', a sprawling epic that Kealy felt deserved an orbit of it's own instead of being lost in the gravitational pull of the album. It's a wise decision, because it's arguably one of his biggest achievements to date. The track now has a stunning video from Ellius Grace, which you can see above. The sheer intensity of the 19 minute piece builds to a cinematic climax - mirrored by the video - that the band move to with almost consumate ease. It's just as much infused by the spirit of Sigur Ros as it is The Dubliners. The effect on me as the song crashes to it's bombastic conclusion is one of almost transcendental satisfaction that only great music can produce.
Let me be perfectly clear here - Junior Brother is an artist at the peak of his powers and greatness is within his grasp. His live performance is one that will live a long time in my conciousness and I anticipate the climb to be a steep and fruitful adventure.
Listen to Hank Bee at Soundcloud
Listen to Euan Blackman at Bandcamp
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