Review - Blind Yackety @The Harbour Bar 16/03/2011

As the members of Blind Yackety begin to crowd onto the stage of The Harbour Bar tonight  , pushing through an already somewhat boisterous crowd, a punter behind me remarks: "Jesus , how the fuck are they going to fit on the stage?  . .  .It's gonna be like Slipknot up there". Yes , the cramped environs of  the stage of The Harbour Bar , Lonely Planet's 'Number One In Pub In The World'  aren't what one would call spacious or particularly accomodating   , especially  if  you happen to have NINE members , but the atmosphere inside more than makes up for a very squished up Yackety looking more than a little claustrophobic.

And they are on cracking form , as usual . The low walls of the little Bray boozer can be quite unforgiving for many bands , however Yackety manage to circumvent that with a performance that sounds MASSIVE in places , warm and intimate in others , and never anything less than wholly satisfying . At  times tonight , the band manage moments of  Morricone-esque cinematic beauty that simply astound , bringing out in their musical hotchpotch elements of Folk , Country, Rock, Pop , Swing , Appalachian , and even polka and spaghetti western  . As each song finishes , the crowd reaction gets louder and louder , and by the time the band's set is over , the assembled throng here is one mass of bobbing , smiling heads , and band members are variously leaning into the audience , and in the case of fiddler Niall , starting to play in the toilets beside the stage , the result feeling less like a gig than an immense , immersive piece of sweetly demented cabaret . Excellent stuff .
Rating  8/10

Ste
bornagainnihilist@gmail(dot)com