Despite a concerning lack of prior advertising, this early concert into the New Year was very well attended by a room that held many admirers of Ron Pope and his craft. Returning to Dublin to kick off his Neon & Glass Tour, Pope leads a very impressive four-piece band who play with a real finesse and flair across an impressive set that includes a mix of new songs and old favourites.
Pope has had quite a prolific musical output since his debut album arrived in 2008. Having left New Jersey in his early years for a Georgia upbringing, Pope played in various school bands before focusing his career into The District, a band who recorded a run of albums that culminated in Pope making a decision to go solo in 2008 with the release of his debut album. Since then he has gone on to record an impressive body of work that spans numerous releases and includes many singles along the way.
His sound is an eclectic mix of country, roots, americana, soul and sass. Onstage his presence is relaxed and confident, a terrific guitar and keyboard player, and a natural storyteller, with an ease that endears him immediately to the audience tonight. Early into the set he divides the crowd into three sections for a sing-off, and the delivery on One Grain Of Sand is a risk that shouldn’t work, but it somehow pulls the room into the performance in a way that could otherwise have taken somewhat longer to achieve. His setlist includes songs from six prior albums, together with a run of more recent singles which should feature on his upcoming new release AMERICAN MAN, AMERICAN MUSIC, due to arrive next month. The new material is impressively strong and the abiding impression is one of a musician at the top of his game and very much enjoying the moment.
Highlights from the engaging performance were many but I Gotta Change (or I’m Gonna Die), Fireflies, Hell Or High Water and The Life In Your Years are standout performances. Pope has a way with a lyric and a gift of capturing a feeling, and a sentiment, so perfectly. His ability to communicate the joy of community is evident throughout his performance and his tales of a life spent on the road are tinged with the sense of sacrifices made and missing the comforts of home life along the singular path taken. This artist is the real deal and someone who deserves all that comes his way.
A special moment is his tale of meeting Jackson Browne, who had expressed an interest in the music, and Pope said he felt like a young kid “meeting Santa Claus.” He performs a superb acoustic version of These Days as a tribute, with the musicians gathered around a single microphone for great effect. The excellence of Caitlyn Raitz on cello and fiddle contains some real highlights and together with Zack Berkman offering creative support on bass and mandolin, and Matt Scibilia on drums and banjo, the band really knocked it out of the park tonight. Another standout is the off-stage performance of I Pray I’ll Be Seeing You Soon when the band join the audience on the venue floor to play a song that reaches out to loved ones across the divide and hopes to keep that essential flame burning.
Support act tonight was Emily Scott Robinson and her visits to Irish shores have all been too brief. She has a special talent and her ability to express an emotional purity in her songs is very much appreciated by the audience tonight. There is no questioning the quality in her performance and her vocal delivery is very engaging. The songs have a resonance and her creative muse is not too far removed from the wonderful Nanci Griffith and the lasting memories she has left behind.
In a short set of only five songs, Emily played favourites from previous albums with Things You Learn the Hard Way, Cheap Seats, and Better With Time all received with warm applause. Her song that led to a recording contract with Oh Boy Records, The Time For Flowers, is dedicated to the spirit of peace and fellowship that lies at the core of all that Emily espouses. On the cusp of the new Presidential Inauguration in America, she offers a balm to the division that separates so many and shows real elegance and grace in her performance. A new song from a forthcoming album is Bless It All and it instantly hits a sweet spot in her continuing ability to focus moments that should be held close in her insights on the human condition. I get the feeling that we are seeing Emily at a pivotal moment in her journey and she is on a trajectory that will only lead to greater things. Her career is on the cusp of taking off to the next level and I wonder on the push required to get her sublime talents over that line.
What a great concert to welcome the New Year and to get our pulses racing for all that lies in store. Two very gifted artists landed in Dublin and left a lasting memory that will remain for those who were fortunate enough to catch the show.
Review and photography byPaul McGee