Lisa Hannigan

On this second night of a long tour ahead, Lisa Hannigan delivered a flawless performance of delicate, innocent, inner music. Whether on her own singing and plucking a variety of strings; or in harmonies with other voices alone; or accompanied by the full band of folk instrumentalists and the occasional stroke of electric guitar; no matter how soft they played, or no matter how hard and driving their songs, it was always delicate, and yet always full bodied. A mesmerising voice pitched over a beautiful body of music. This was something to feast your attention on, to savour every moment of, and feel at peace with – a
worthy achievement for any band anywhere. They played almost all of the new album, At Swim, including the high points, two of its singles, Ora and Fall; half of 2011’s Passenger; and a couple of songs from 2008’s Sea Saw.

The Old Market, 14 October 2016
Rating:
Pete Boyd