Body & Soul – 2023 – Saturday Review

It would be fair to say Saturday at Body & Soul had everything; music, laughs, dancing and even some extreme weather conditions! We started the day with the wonderful sounds of Aoife Nessa Frances on the main stage. Her album Protector was one of the best Irish albums of last year and she played along with her band to a small but appreciative audience. Gwenno was next on the main stage at 14.45. Gwenno is an artist we’ve been talking about for a while now, so it was good to finally see her live. Her new album Tresor is recorded almost entirely in Cornish (Kernewek). At one point, she taught the audience the lyrics to a song about Cheese!

Nealo (real name Neal Keating)  is a regular at Body & Soul and he was on at the Hennessy Hip Hop House at 16.45 along with some friends. His stories of life growing up in Clonsilla always go down well with the festival audience. Denise Chalia was next on the main stage. The Limerick-based singer was a sensation during the Covid lockdown, so nice to finally see her in the flesh. She had some impressive dancers on stage along with her own blend of pop.

Meute – Body & Soul 2023

David O’Doherty had something of a saga getting to last year’s festival, as his flight was delayed by 6 six hours! This time out, his set had a similar story attached. As he was approaching the end of his set, an announcement was made that there was an electrical storm and all acts would be cancelled until it passed! There was about half an hour of heavy rain and lightning while the audience found places to shelter in the tents.

The storm passed and as quickly as things had been stopped, the music returned! Meute were my highlight of the day, and they took to the main stage at a slightly later time of 8pm. They’re an 11-piece brass and percussion ensemble that belt out dance songs with a twist. It would be fair to say the audience loved what they did! Real Lies played the Secret Orchard stage with a blend of vocals, beats and flowers, as roses were distributed to audience members.

The headliner of the night was Alison Goldfrapp, who banged out her Dance songs to an appreciative audience. She has impressive stage presence and it was an enjoyable set of her classics. The music continued into the late hours with Moderat, the German electronic music supergroup. Hopefully, the audience kept a bit in reserve for the final day of the festival…