Tír na nÓg

A Night With Tír na nÓg

Wexford Arts Centre, Ireland
19th Feb 2011

Tír na nÓg took to the stage last night, Sat 19th, in the Wexford Arts Centre. The extraordinary duo (Sonny Condell) and (Leo O’Kelly) rose to fame in the early 1970’s, and received widespread critical acclaim for their three magnificent studio albums (Radio presenter and music legend John Peel was a major fan of their work and championed them throughout his career). Tír na nÓg have toured internationally with bands such as The Who, Roxy Music, Procol Harum, Jethro Tull, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. With such staggering credentials one would expect Condell and O’Kelly to swagger like rock stars and bask in the limelight. Instead, the duo are incredibly down to earth, refreshingly unpretentious, and are truly as enchanting as the music they play.
Before Tír na nÓg’s arrival, whispers and excited chatter surged through an audience composed of all ages. Not surprising considering the impressive forty year career the duo have built together. The lights came down, a hush fell. Within seconds, and to rapturous applause, Tír na nÓg were on stage. From the outset it was clear that Condell and O’Kelly had some magic about them. Condell sat, acoustic guitar in hand, while O’Kelly stood, his guitar draped around his neck, a somewhat darker figure, hinting at his musical influences. (The Doors, The Velvet Underground.)

Although the men looked worlds apart, the music they performed together was harmonious, exquisitely played, and conjured up imagery so rich that the audience were entranced from the very first song. In fact, so beautiful were the lyrics in their simplicity and emotional depth that each audience member appeared to be lost in their own memories of the past. By the second track, the hauntingly beautiful “Mariner’s Blues” the Wexford Arts Centre had been transformed from, not so much a venue, as a gateway, to the past and to the future. Crowd favourite “Two White Horses” followed soon after. This track proved that Tír na nÓg had the audience in the palm of their hands. With songs reminiscent of early Led Zeppelin, and some with a hint of Nick Drake, it would be easy to categorise Tír na nÓg as progressive rock, or acid-folk, though truthfully it is impossible to pin down a definitive style, so diverse and wide ranging is their sound and so universal are the themes of their songs.

The banter that Condell and O’Kelly shared between songs was highly entertaining and, along with a loose set list, added a pleasant and informal feel to proceedings. Watching Condell and O’Kelly sip at glasses of red wine it was easy to forget occasionally that you were at a concert and not lazing in your own living room. The mood shifted however when Condell unleashed his dark side on a cover of the Rolling Stones track “Playing with Fire” reminding the audience of the great power that the duo possessed. Shifting effortlessly from light hearted quick ditties to emotional and heartfelt ballads to dark brooding pieces and back again, it was clear that Tír na nÓg are incredibly gifted musicians, and that their legions of fans are well deserved.

One of the most exciting parts of the gig came when O’Kelly launched into a floor stompingly powerful rendition of “Venezuela,” a song that he wrote between takes while the band recorded their first album. The duo are equally gifted as writers as they are musicians. Creating beautiful lilting melodies that are impossible to shake from your mind, and painting poetic pictures that are so vivid you will catch yourself day dreaming into the worlds they create.

They also performed an exhilarating version of the Nick Drake track “Free Ride” which had people literally rocking in their seats. Tír na nÓg have an incredibly rare combination of humility, astounding talent, and a powerful stage presence.

It is clear from Condell and O’Kelly that they care about their fans and are appreciative of the support they receive. One charming moment came when O’Kelly dedicated the fun and heart warming track “Daisy Lady” to a couple in the audience. Soon after he informed the crowd that the bands first album, also entitled Tír na nÓg was forty years old this year. With such a long and glittering career Tír na nÓg are every bit as powerful and vibrant today as they were four decades ago.

They do not shy away from the rich cultural heritage which Ireland provides as a source of inspiration for their songs, but they are by no means dependent on it. In fact, many of Tír na nÓg’s songs focus on human relationships, in all of their happiness, hilarity, sadness, and anger. Their songs could possibly be best described as modern day folk ballads. Whatever way you describe Tír na nÓg, it’s very clear that these two can do it all.

Murt Brennan
(Murt Brennan Writing - Blog)
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TÌr na nOg
The Greystones, Sheffield
Friday 25 March

“You were probably expecting much older men,” quipped Leo O’Kelly as he and Sonny Condell took the Greystones stage on a balmy evening in March. And given that their debut LP was released forty years ago, the two chaps do indeed look remarkably sprightly. Sonny is as leprechaun-like as ever, even without his inadvisable ‘70s beard; and Leo is positively Byronic in teddy-boy jacket and cascading locks. Well, TÌr na nOg does mean the Land of the Young, don’t y’know...
  The duo were two Irish lads of twenty short years apiece when they made landing in England in 1970. They were speedily snapped up by Chrysalis Records and given the pleasant chore of opening for the likes of Jethro Tull and Procul Harum. Their last time in Sheffield, Leo recalled, was supporting Tull at the City Hall. Three rather tasty albums and a programme profiling them on BBC2 helped generate a sturdy UK fan base, most of which seemed to be squeezed into the Greystones for their long awaited return to the city.
  They opened with Time Is Like A Promise and followed it with Mariner Blues, which made me wonder whether they were going to play their entire first album in sequence. Not so, as it turned out; but by the end of the night they’d mined it for more than half of its glittering lode. The rest of the set drew generously upon A Tear And A Smile (1972) and Strong In The Sun (1973), supplemented by a brace of Condell compositions from his time with the superlative Scullion (though not announced as such), O’Kelly’s atmospheric Venezuela (from Proto, 2001), and a couple of well-chosen covers: Nick Drake’s Free Ride and The Stones’ Play With Fire.
  Physically at least, O’Kelly’s is the dominating presence on stage. He remains standing throughout, fenced in by a lunar semicircle of effects pedals, and does most of the talking in an amiable, slurry Carlow brogue. Condell by contrast sits hunched over his guitar and introduces his songs in a laconic, almost apologetic half-whisper. Nevertheless, TÌr na nOg are a union of equals. Their guitars wind and mesh gorgeously together, their voices likewise; nor can you separate them for the quality of their songwriting. Songs like Condell’s Our Love Will Not Decay, Eyelids Into Snow and Two White Horses, and O’Kelly’s Piccadilly, So Freely and Looking Up—these are as good as anything Ireland’s produced in the past four decades. True, you’ll get the occasional trope of earnest hippy whimsy—”Three elfin painters with their jars of sunbeams colour your window”—but hey, we were all young once. Even so, I had my fleeting doubts when they encored with Dante, a portrait of, er, a shepherdess and her “fat lambs”. But why not? It’s one of Condell’s shapliest, most summery melodies, and the chiming open-tuned guitar figures have an almost otherworldly lustre. A delighted audience demanded a second encore, which momentarily nonplussed them. Leo asked for suggestions. “No, we don’t do that one... Sorry, can’t remember that...” A call for Sonny’s Scullion-period masterpiece The Cat She Went A-Hunting went up from our table. “Ah,” said Leo drily, “that’s from Sonny’s other band—the one we don’t mention...” Finally, they elected to play Time Is Like A Promise again, and nobody seemed to mind.
 
Raymond Greenoaken, Stirrings (issue 147)
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Tir na nOg
The Greystones, Sheffield.
Friday, March 25th, 2011
 
The Greystones underwent major refurbishment last autumn and the result is something to be proud of. This is a large public house with a back room (aptly named ‘The Backroom’) which is a comfortable, spacious, atmospheric and, most importantly, self-contained area for those coming to enjoy the music – and that’s exactly what this audience did.
With no announcement or fanfare, Tir na nOg unassumingly took to the stage and were instantly met by a wave of applause and noisy appreciation. It had been nigh on forty years since they were last in Sheffield, supporting Jethro Tull at the City Hall, and this packed audience intended making up for lost time. Sonny Condell, seated with guitar (and occasional African drums), and Leo O’Kelly, standing with guitar (and occasional violin), went straight into ‘Time is Like a Promise’ and suddenly the years melted away. The quality of their voices and musicianship is timeless. But the evening wasn’t just about the nostalgia. Yes, they played many classics including ‘Two White Horses’, ‘So Freely’, ‘Looking Up’, ‘Strong in the Sun’ and ‘Piccadilly’ (with Sonny, on jew’s-harp, conveying a rhythmic interlude) from their three inaugural albums, but for some in the crowd this would have been their own initiation into this style of progressive folk music. The set list also included songs from both their respective catalogues, including ‘Alcohol’ from Leo’s new album ‘Will’ and Sonny’s ‘Eyelids into Snow’, which is now a firm favourite of mine and which sits perfectly within the Tir na nOg repertoire. Added into the mix were the quirky and humorous ‘Bluebottle Stew’ and ‘Aberdeen Angus’, Leo’s powerful and forceful ‘Venezuela’, the slow ballad ‘Dante’ and also a couple of their favourite covers (Nick Drake and The Rolling Stones). The audience was captivated.
The harmonies arising from the contrasting vocals interwove beautifully with the intricate dovetailing of guitars. This is, and always has been, the trademark of Tir na nOg, who are enjoying bringing their music back to these shores for us to continue to savour and admire. During a recent radio interview Leo commented that something special happens when he and Sonny play together. The audience sensed this and we were so grateful that Tir na nOg were playing at such an ideal venue A second encore was demanded and requests were called out, but they decided to revisit ‘Time is Like a Promise’ - with a promise to return sooner rather than later.

Pete Needham -Classic Rock Society magazine

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