There’s something about Irish music - it never gets old. Perhaps the driver of this eternal youth is the persistent stream of renewable energy that gets behind it, personified in groups like Solas, who graced the stage of the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley on Friday night.
A sense of knowing anticipation emanated from the packed audience at the pristine venue in downtown Berkeley, and was met with aplomb by the Philadelphia-based band’s opening reel ‘Jigs 08’. Immediately you sense the tightly woven artistry that pervades these four highly talented multi-instrumentalists – Seamus Egan, Winnifred Horan, Mick McAuley and Eamon McElholm – they have crafted a synergistic sound that overcomes the idiomatic vagaries of tempo and meter so common to Irish folk music, and move as a single unit. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the Freight’s fantastic Meyer sound system generally does a great job of both separating out the instruments and blending it all together seamlessly. There were a couple of hiccups on the mix front in terms of the balance (the woodwinds were a little low), but in general the sound was all present and correct.
A few tunes in, we are introduced to the band’s (relatively) new singer, Niamh Varian-Barry. Inevitable comparisons with the previous incarnation, Mairéad Phelan (who has left the band to pursue a career in medicine) are likely to be made, and certainly anyone who has heard the sylph-like tones of Phelan knows that this girl has a tough act to live up to, but Varian-Barry held her own for the most part, (despite a few questionable reverb choices by the band's engineer) and it is clear that a few more years with this stellar band will develop the latent power that is verifiably present in her voice.
Quite apart from the phenomenal music, what strikes you over the head about Solas is their sense of showmanship and engagement with the audience. Maybe it's because this is the Freight, one of their professed favorite gigging venues, but from the often hilarious banter between the entire band (Egan’s earnest defence of the virtues of the banjo in the face of denigration by the rest of the band was nothing short of priceless) to the frequent check-ins to make sure we are having a grand time, the impression we get from this band is one of genuine connection with its listeners. Indeed, towards of the show there was full-on clapping, even dancing in the aisles, rounded off by not one, but two standing ovations. It must be difficult in a large venue like the freight to make an audience feel like they’re being treated to an after dinner show in their own living room, but Solas’ performance, infectious enthusiasm and geniality render this description very close to the mark. Great stuff, to be sure.
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