Words & Pictures: Max Falvey
Originally set to take place last May, Northern Irish singer-songwriter Birdie Monds-Watson, better known as Soak, finally took to the famed stage of Whelan’s in Dublin last Tuesday night for the penultimate show of her tour in support of her latest album, ‘If I Never Know You Like This Again’. Pretty much playing the entire album in full along with a healthy dose of her effervescent boppy hits, it was a memorable show for the rising star that the sold out audience won’t forget any time soon.
Support on the night came from Galway-based musician Niamh Regan who performed a stunningly soft 8-song set, calling herself a ‘professional buzzkill’ on Soak’s tour as she proclaims to have bummed out every audience in her support slot as they toured the UK in the previous week. In her stripped back set as she commanded the stage alone with her beautifully modified Les Paul-style guitar, she played very stripped back pieces such as ‘Happy Again’ and ‘What To Do’. She ended her set to a massive applause from the now near-full room, and kicked off a brilliant night of Irish music.
As the room was absolutely full to the brim with no space to move, Soak took to the stage with a ravenous ovation from the passionate audience. Being billed as ‘Soak And The Clanky Band’ for the evening, they kicked off the show with ‘purgatory’, the opening track from ‘If I Never Know You Like This Again’. Soak herself was suited and booted for the special show, and shredded her suit jacket as the band moved into ‘swear jar’ and ‘last July’, two brilliant songs from the new record. Soak didn’t shy away from her older material though, playing ‘Sea Creatures’ and ‘Blud’ as the audience sang every word back at her. The band waved goodbye to the still screaming crowd to end the show, which made me think they would’ve stood and watched the band play for hours on end, what a brilliant show. Thank you for reading.
