Cass McCombs & Steve Gunn – The Grand Social – Live Review
by Killian Laher,

The Grand Social, Dublin on April 29th 2024

A very decent double bill with the Grand Social playing host to two American songwriting guitarists.  First up was Steve Gunn who opened with Old Strange on electric guitar, which built gradually before rocking it up, creating quite a full sound.  His set was looser and more improvisational than previous shows, giving songs like New Moon and Wildwood a rougher treatment.  On The Way and his version of Michael Chapman’s Among The Trees benefited from a looped noise section but the highlight was Way Out Weather.  Gunn completely reworked it to play solo, fluctuating between intricate guitar picking and massive waves of sound.  The man is a superb musician.

He was joined by Cass McCombs for a rendition of the Velvet Underground’s Venus In Furs and then McCombs took over for a set of his own solo songs.  A ‘straighter’ set than Gunn’s, kicking off with the laidback County Line, he coaxed deep, soulful notes from his guitar.  We got the folky I Went To The Hospital and a bluesy Absentee along with some new songs, all of which had a relaxed easy groove to them.

Gunn returned to join him on some ‘old-timey’ sounding songs.  With McCombs on rhythm, Steve Gunn had the opportunity to show off more intricate guitar licks on Sweet Lucy and Angel Blood.  After a long drawn out version of Wild Mountain Thyme they finished off with Cass McCombs singing Brighter.  It was a joy to watch the two musicians in action, clearly inspiring each other to play these songs.  Gunn in particular appears to be transforming his sound and it will be fascinating to see where he goes next.