Gig of the year. I'm calling it. Being half Irish myself I felt very at home in Hammersmith's Irish Centre last Friday night. There was a session in full swing in the front bar when we walked in and Dublin chanteuse Eleanor McEvoy was getting ready to play the second of her two night residency in the little theatre at the back. And none of that QR code nonsense on the door - they just wanted my name; I really should have used my mother's maiden name to buy the tickets - McNamara would have been much more fitting as I mingled with my fellow Plastic Paddies in north London's most welcoming cultural centre; where a thousand* welcomes really do await you; céad míle fáilte indeed. And what a performance. Try and catch her if she plays anywhere near you**. You'll be enchanted. Love, death, and getting wasted with your ex in a pub on the corner of South Anne and Grafton Street on a Tuesday afternoon. It's all there.
Eleanor McEvoy - South Anne Street (2022)
* Er, give or take...
** Or even if she's playing nowhere near you; Eleanor carried out a straw poll and quickly established that nobody in the room lived in Hammersmith.
I loved her first couple of records and even saw Eleanor sometime around the mid-90s. The actual details are hazy....actually they're densely foggy, but I want to say it was at Dingwalls, don't quote me though. I've heard next to nothing by her in the 21st century and a quick look at her discography tells me that there's been over a dozen albums since I last checked in - yikes. Good to hear that she's still out there doing it - it sounds like you had a cracking night.
ReplyDeleteOnce again it appears I'm merely hanging on to your coattails, TS!
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