Review: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah in The Pavilion Cork, Thursday 26th January
Brooklyn indie squawkers Clap Your Hands Say Yeah cool-ly slipped into Cork last night on what was – shock horror – a miserably wet affair. Fortunately the damp stayed where it belonged: outside The Pavilion.
The weather did effect how long it took for the Carey’s Lane venue to fill which meant Edinburgh’s Meursault had the unenviable task of providing entrance music rather than support as soggy, chattering latecomers ordered the first drink and figured out where to plant their feet for the night.
Better the shuffling was out of the way before the main event though with the crowd settlingnicely as CYHSY banged straight into ‘Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away’ to the delight of the sodden. Tracks from the 2005 eponymously titled debut dominated the rest of the night with the majority of the album getting a run out. A slower than usual intro to ‘Details Of The War’ (minus the glockenspiel brilliance of ‘Sunshine and Clouds’) whipped the atmosphere into a frenzy before frontman Alec Ounsworth let rip some of the simplest yet most effective notes a harmonica can bring to a live show. ‘Satan Said Dance’ from the divisive Some Loud Thunder made an early but welcome appearance in the set and was surely the most manic tune the Brooklynites belted out on the night. One amusing observation was when Robbie Guertin couldn’t suppress a smile on repeatedly hearing overly enthusiastic “doo-doo-doo”s as fans heroically attempted to imitate his warm synths ang jangly guitar especially on ‘Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood’ and ‘The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth’. Another observation – or should I say realisation – is that Clap Your Hands Say Yeah was no flash in the pan and, nearly seven years on, is holding up strong to the test of time. On the flipside I have to admit I have not had a chance to pick up a copy of last year’s Hysterical but, but if the title track is anything to go by the thumbs are pointing in a northerly direction.
The hypnotic, mantra-like chug of ‘Over and Over Again (Lost & Found)’ and the delightfully titled ‘Mama, Won’t You Keep Them Castles in the Air and Burning?’ – complete with a rare sight of Ounsworth‘s acoustic guitar – both added serious weight to a strong set-list. Alec Ounsworth and co. have enjoyed and obviously are still enjoying both the Cork leg and Irish tour overall remarking how they are not quite sure how this is only their first visit to Ireland’s second city backing the statement up with a post on Facebook earlier today :
“First two shows of tour have been great! Ireland is well versed in the rock and roll etiquette. Amazing audiences in Dublin and Cork. Tomorrow is Galway, the last show in Ireland. Hopefully we’ll be back for more soon!”
Hopefully they will be back quite soon.
www.clapyourhandssayyeah.com
www.pavilioncork.com
