Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter was alive this week with an almost palpable air of giddy anticipation with the return of live music and arts events, post-pandemic. Even though there were still some restrictions, the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival (cancelled completely in 2020 and postponed this year from its usual early May slot) returned with a bang.
Galway based Brigid Mae Power admitted to being quite nervous for her very first live gig in almost two years and admitted to feeling ‘rusty’, but she needn’t have worried. The necessarily small but appreciative audience, in the intimate room that is the upstairs venue in The Sunflower Bar, was respectfully supportive and equally glad to be there. Kicking off with the never more appropriate You Have A Quiet Power, she did indeed demonstrate that quiet power over a 70 minute set of solo interpretations of her own folky songs and a couple of covers. This reviewer hadn’t experienced a live Brigid Mae Power gig before and wasn’t very familiar with her work, so was pleasantly surprised to have enjoyed it quite so much.
Most of the set was taken from her acclaimed 2020 album HEAD ABOVE WATER, which was co-produced by herself, husband Peter Broderick and Alasdair Roberts. Without the luxury of a full band tonight, Power used only her electric Squier Telecaster (quietly strummed or finger picked), and occasionally a harmonium, to accompany herself and nothing more was needed. Her sweet and simultaneously powerful voice and unusual vocal stylings carried off her songs with a quiet confidence, despite her initially timid stage presence. On a City Night, I Had to Keep My Circle Small (where she easily reached those ‘impossibly high notes’!), Wearing Red That Eve and We Weren’t Sure were exquisite. I haven’t heard a better cover of Dylan’s classic One More Cup of Coffee, taken from her upcoming EP of cover versions, BURNING YOUR LIGHT. Also from that EP we were treated to the traditional May Morning Dew, a nod to her traditional Irish roots in Galway, via London. A new song, the dream-inspired Mother in the Sky was given a first airing, and Prine’s Angel from Montgomery was a welcome favourite.
For the encore, there was a call from a possibly inebriated audience member to ‘play the harmonica again’ and an amused Power obliged by treating us to Let Me Hold You Through This from her debut album.
Confiding that she didn’t enjoy her on-line gigs because every little mistake felt magnified and unforgiven, I’m sure we all join with her in the hope that we will never again have to return to those miserable days.
Review by Eilís Boland