Hal & Fred in the Savoy

Posted on 23rd Sep 05 by Contributor | 0

Artist: Hal Fred
Author: Mark

The Beamish Experience is for all intensive purposes an event where various bands come to ply their trade in Cork every year on a weekend towards the end of September. This year saw the influx of many talented and respected musicians" such as Jack L" KT Tunstall" The Frank and Walters" Hal" Fred and The High Llamas to name but a few" into the "Real" Capital or the Capital of Culture to say the least. On Friday the 23rd of September the much hyped Hal with support Fred played in the Savoy

Cork band Fred are a wonder to behold. Their almost cult"like following has increased steadily over the years. Tonight they perform once again in the Savoy and they are welcomed on stage with rapturous applause. The band crafted their songs to perfection over the years and the changing of some band members certainly hasn't hampered them. Fred can certainly play and the mixture of a good rhythm section" guitars and keyboard has lead to some cheery and often peculiar pop songs. They are such a feel"good group that I'm not surprised that there are smiles fixed on peoples faces throughout their set. The song four chords and the truth is a particularly outstanding number with the manic keyboard at the start mellowed out by some light bongos and then revved up again by some attractive power chords that really gets the crowds swaying. This particular song as far as I know is always performed with different lyrics on each night and tonight some clever and satirical words have been put into play with emphasis on the brands of Beamish and Miller"good enough to laugh out loud in appreciation at.

The Fred set continues with as much enthusiasm as the beginning and the large crowd by now are well into their groove. It is truly amazing that Fred have the power to make the audience sit down" stand up and dance at will" as mentioned before a wonder to behold" The track Summer in a certain way reminds me of The Beautiful South for some reason and it"s a pity we"re not in season. But overall the liveliness and happiness of the whole show is great and ultimately infectious. Include an impressive drum solo before the end and everyone seems to be satisfied. Fred have the thumbs up in every department.

Hal the headline act on the night have an impressive CV to date and the talk is that they are a band with massive potential. The trouble with this is that I for one got excited at the prospect of this gig. Hal just don't seem to hit the mark for me tonight. Sure they have some fine pop songs" a trendy Beatles cum Kings Of Leon image "those haircuts must have taken a while to shape"" and are well familiar with their instruments. In contrast to Fred they just had absolutely no showmanship" except for when they really got into their more complicated riffs and gave the odd glimmer of a smile or emotion. Sure they have some very good songs but is that all you want to see in a band of so much promise. The first time they come close to performing well is on their third song" which is a bit late as some people look for other things to do. The lyric on this track that strikes the most is "I"ve got a heart tick won"t stop beating for you" sung at the most poignant moment in the song. Towards the end of the gig Hal introduce a song that had the crowds in Galway and Belfast singing along to but alas not tonight. That was it for me really" the band just never got the crowd going except for the hardcore fans up the front" not even a single piece was sung in unison with the band. The following song though was much better in comparison.

Hal simply remind me of a poor mans Thrills or maybe I"ve got it completely wrong. Even though they played an impressive last song Your out on your own with what must be said was great keyboard with more Thrillsesque drumming" they did so without being called back for more. Perhaps they shouldn"t have had Fred with their energetic show play before their more drab set. Don"t get me wrong here" I can still see plenty of potential and Hal can play. They have some really lovely pop songs if only they could just find their energy. They could have possibly had a bad night" I"m not ruling it out but overall they remained a disappointment. I hope things pick up for them from here and that they prove me wrong. Still I"m not complaining at the quality of music that The Beamish Experience provided.