Ellie O’Neill – Pavilion Theatre – 13/09/26 – Live Review
by Killian Laher

Ellie O’Neill & special guests Aongus & Rua Rí
Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire, Sunday 13th September 

The Dun Laoghaire folk festival has been attracting big names and some of the best up-and-coming artists.  This year, as well as Bonnie Prince Billy and Destroyer, Sunday afternoon saw a high-quality line-up of three artists.

First up was Rua Rí, a singer-songwriter joined by Stef on double bass.  Rua Rí sang a short set of songs like Snow and A Song John Wrote, the latter in particular evoking John Martyn while Stef conjured up avant-garde sounds on double bass.  This was especially evident on the lengthy set closer Fish Go Deep, where fine guitar playing was complemented by double bass loops and scratching, making the instrument sound like seagulls!

Next up was Aongus, a cello player from Donegal, who played his instrument accompanied by a laptop and an extraordinary singing voice.  Combining the cello with glitchy electronica and snatches of voices created an enveloping sound.  Some of his songs were otherworldly,  almost sean nós, including a dark cover of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game, where he looped his voice to make it seem like he was accompanied by some sort of celestial choir.

Ellie O’Neill headlined, joined by Brendan Jenkinson as the duo traded guitar fingerpicking on some wonderful versions of Sister of the Sea and Anna With The Silver Arrow.  On these, O’Neill sounded a lot like early Joni Mitchell.  There were plenty of songs which don’t feature on her debut album, such as Great White Wing and an extremely moving Peter’s Song.  Although the pair lost a bit of momentum by tuning the various guitars between songs and swapping them with each other, it didn’t detract from the music.  They even threw in a spooky cover of Nirvana’s Something In The Way, before finishing with a lengthy tune which gave Jenkinson a chance to unleash some noise on electric guitar.

Although the venue was far from full, it felt like a special afternoon, with three highly impressive acts.