Cultural trip to the capital
Set off for Dublin at 6am on Wednesday to get my 'culture on'.
The Agnes Obel gig at Vicar St. wasn't starting until 8.30pm, but I thought I would get there early and have a mooch about.
First point of call, after dropping the van off, was the Natural History Museum off Merrion Square. Having swotted up on some old David Attenborough DVD's over the weekend I was keen to see if they had a Numbat, Pica and maybe even a baby sloth on display.
Although small in size it was packed with animals and birds in cases, mounted on the walls and hanging from the ceiling.
With my small mammals checklist complete I then popped next door to the Irish National Gallery, which I have to say was a little disappointing. It may have been that they only had on display a small selection from their permanent collection or the fact that I have been spoilt with London galleries but I did leave with a sense of being unfulfilled, artistically speaking.
My favourite painting was a portrait by William Orpen of the Irish tenor Count John McCormack http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCormack_(tenor)
After the early start and the walk across Dublin it was time for a spot of lunch before checking in to the hotel. I was drawn to a restaurant called Elephant & Castle in Temple Bar. It may have been the name reminding me of London or it may have been that it was the least 'halloween themed' restaurant I could find. Either way the food on offer was very good and it gave me a chance to plan for the afternoon.
Afternoon Session
Gallery of Photography
They had an exhibition by the National Women's Council of Ireland called 'Still, We Work'. I couldn't really engage with the imagery in the exhibition, it left me cold. It was clearly pitched at those of a deeper artistic knowledge then myself.
The book shop was good and I stumbled across a magazine called Source. I've been following their endeavours online for the last couple of months and they have provided me with some brilliant photography blogs.
National Photographic Archive
Had a collection of vintage black and white images on display of Irish workers. Everything from soap makers to boat builders were highlighted.
FilmBase
Had a great exhibition in their foyer of Eamonn Farrell's 'Elements of Nature'. He has taken a series of images showcasing the nude form set amongst the Irish landscape.
You can view his images on his website - www.eamonnfarrell.com
Evening Session
I got to Vicar Street at 8pm. The gig was due to start at 8.30pm but I got there a little early to enjoy a beer hoping to take the edge off 'going solo'.
There wasn't any information on a warm up act so I was surprised when Erin Lang of Feral & Stray took to the stage. However I was pleasantly surprised by her style of music and was enthralled throughout her short set.
“Feral & Stray play songs about the depth of shadows, sailboats across oceans and lightning struck cityscapes. Dream Pop with spooky effected guitar and whisper soft vocals make darkly intimate soundscapes that move to the nightmarish and haunted detailed and dark secrets of hearts.”
Agnes Obel came on stage just before 9.30pm and played a number of songs from her debut album 'Philharmonics' along with a number of songs from her new album 'Aventine'. It was brilliant to finally see her live, having first been 'put on' to her back in 2010 by Dada Records (unfortunately no longer in business). Agnes was on vocals and piano and was accompanied by cellist and violinist.
“Agnes Obel’s pristine, delicate 2010 debut, Philharmonics, was an unexpected platinum-selling sensation in her home country of Denmark, and a hit throughout Europe. The sudden fame left her reeling, and on Aventine, the classically trained pianist/singer has tried to make sense of things. Accompanied mainly by a single cellist, she has created a quiet, watchful record – a response to having spent 18 months in “a blur” of touring. The lyrics are impressionistic sketches (on Fuel to Fire, she sighs: “Roses on parade, they follow you round”), suggesting she saved the real firepower for the exquisite arrangements: sculpting strings and piano into beautifully melancholy ripples.
Like Ane Brun and Seventh Tree-era Alison Goldfrapp, Obel is exceedingly good at conveying weariness and disorientation through sound: Run Cried the Crawling’s pizzicato-plucked cello and otherworldly violin-swoops evoke the desolation of being awake at 3am, as do The Curse’s precise droplets of strings and vocals. A wonderful autumn album.”
It was a great day in Dublin topped off with a fantastic gig. The drive back West the next morning was pleasant especially as I had both Agnes Obel's and Feral & Stray's new albums to listen to.