It is good to see the Cherry Tree open for live music events once again. During the two years of Covid lockdown, a lot of similar venues were forced to close their doors and many have never returned to the original activity that they once enjoyed. The upstairs room has been reshaped and the new stage is very impressive, giving an intimate setting and a reduced capacity of 50 guests.
Paul Lee is tonight’s promoter and it’s like stepping back in time to walk into the venue and to see his warm greeting. Paul has been a music promoter on the Dublin circuit for many years, operating in various venues from the Cobblestone to the DC Club in the city centre. He moved to the Cherry Tree in Walkinstown for a number of years also, before Covid forced live music to be consigned to a communal waiting room as we relied only on our memories of what attending an actual gig was like. Happily, those dark days are starting to be replaced by a return to the joys of live performance and the presence of Buddy Mondlock and Mike Lindauer is just the perfect answer for our yearning souls.
Buddy has been a frequent visitor to our shores and has always been given a warm welcome by a country that has the sense of the bard and the poet running through the very lifeblood of the people. His abilities as both a consummate wordsmith and a guitar player of great subtlety are evident to all who have followed his career. His observations of life and love are mixed with wry humour and a sense of understanding when looking at the fragility of us all. A Buddy Mondlock gig is all about community and a sharing of the moment; the power of communication and a sense of unison in being part of a greater whole.
Touring a new album, FILAMENT, sees Buddy joined by the always excellent Mike Lindauer on fretless 5-string bass. Mike is such a lyrical player, very intuitive and always serving the song with his sensitive progressions and warm tone. The repartee between the two old friends is clearly evident for all to see. They are so comfortable in each other’s presence and their musical interplay is seamless. The humour is never far from the surface either, as when Buddy quips that he doesn’t need a tuner for his guitar when he has Mike’s eyebrows as a guide.
The set list tonight is very generous and the two musicians deliver twenty-three songs in total. From the new album, Buddy features nine of the eleven songs and none are lacking in the high standards that he has set over a career of seven albums, many songs written and covered by the likes of Guy Clark, Janis Ian, Nanci Griffith, David Wilcox and the folk trio, Peter, Paul and Mary. Highlights from the new album include The Woman In the Window and Come Back First. The former a song about regret, the road not taken and the price of love; the latter is an amusing look at relationships that don’t ever follow an easy path. Another song, Perfect, is dedicated to his wife Polly and recounts the story of how they came to Ireland and married on a beach near Clonakilty in West Cork.
Buddy also revisits his 1998 release, POETIC JUSTICE, and plays five songs from the album, with the sing-along No Choice being a particular favourite among the enthusiastic audience. New Jersey Sunset is another highlight with Mike really stretching out on his bass and delivering some jazz-infused melody lines – such a joy to witness. A previous album release was THE EDGE OF THE WORLD (2007) and this also features with the superb song Mud (co-written with Guy Clark), joining fine renditions of Nobody Knows Nothing and the excellent encore of I Count You My Friend.
The set also includes songs from Buddy’s 1988 eponymous release and The Cats Of the Colosseum, Amsterdam and his most covered song, The Kid, are all performed with a freshness, as if they are brand new. Two more highlights on the night were Let Me Go and What Do I Know, both taken from THE MEMORY WALL (2013) album. Buddy references the title track of the new album as being a look at how the music business has ‘a way of consuming our pop stars.’ In a career that has straddled over three decades, the obvious talent of Buddy Mondlock continues to shine brightly and the respect in which he is held among his peers is clear evidence that we are blessed by his songwriting and his enthusiasm to keep turning up with a guitar in hand and a smile on his face.
Review by Paul McGee and photography by Vincent Lennon