Paloma Faith Live in the Iveagh Gardens

Yesterday my sister Milo and I went up to Dublin to see Paloma Faith play in the Iveagh Gardens. I mentioned in an earlier post that I won the tickets on 2fm's Rick O'Shea show and had been really looking forward to the gig. Rain, thunder and lightning were expected but when we arrived in Dublin we were greeted by a blissfully sunny day. To kill a few hours before the concert we did a bit of window shopping, had a couple of rootbeers in Eddie Rockets and then a pizza picnic in St. Stephens Green. I also managed to track down a wool store and picked my wife up a funky ball of yarn.

Gates opened at 18:30 but we wanted a good spot so we got there early and played Scrabble outside on our DS's while we waited. Milo and I were the first into the venue had claimed our spot, center stage at the very very front. Iveagh gardens is a really super location, very relaxed and chilled. We sat against the barrier and had waffles with maple syrup while the stage-hands finished setting up.

The legend that is Candi Staton made a special appearance and played a great selection of her hits! In particular I loved 'Young Hearts Run Free', 'In the Ghetto' and 'Suspicious Minds'. Candi was supported by a super band and equally talented backing singers. As the rain began to fall it's also worth mentioning Paloma herself could be seen stage left dancing it out to Candi's entire set, which was really cool! Milo and I were lucky enough to get hold of Candi's set list as it blew off the stage as it was being cleared!

Next up was Paloma herself, she started at about 21:15 and from song 1 blew every one away. By this stage it was pouring buckets but the crowd of 1500 didn't care. As Paloma herself commented we all looked 'like lemmings'...soaked and crowded together! Even a minor sound glitch obviously caused by the rain couldn't hamper moods. Paloma sang for a minute or so unaware the speakers were temporarily down...but the sound was soon restored and Paloma simply laughed it off and continued her set confident and unperturbed.

Paloma sang her entire debut album and even a couple of truly magnificent covers...'Everybodies Gotta Learn Sometime' in particular was breathtaking. I absolutely loved 'Play On' 'Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful' and my favorite track on the album 'Upside Down'! 

(apologies for the photo quality, they were taken with my phone.) 

Paloma's past stage experience really made for a spectacular show. She invigorated and dazzled the soggy motley crowd with charm and raw talent. Never once stopping or uneccesarily changing costumes. Both she and her band gave it 100% to the very end. The concert closed triumphantly to Palomas extraordinary version of Etta James's 'At Last' (my wife and my selfs wedding song I might add)

I suggested we wait a few minutes for the crowd to dissipate before we made our move. We chatted away with one of the security officials and he very gracipously located for us the last of the gig set lists! A perfect end to a perfect show. 'Do you Want the Truth or Something Beautiful' was a fabulous experience. I highly recommend both Palomas Live show and beautiful album to any and everyone! 

Epilogue: Milo and I left the Gardens buzzed and soaking wet. We had a couple of hours to kill before our late night bus back to Galway and needed to get dry. We set up camp in Mc.Donald's dried off and had a cup of tea while we waited. At about 1a.m. we ran back through the rain across the Liffey to the bus stop to wait. By that stage we were wet...again. But the bus came on time...we boarded and enjoyed a nice warm journey home. We made it through our front door for about 4:00a.m. after a really great day out!