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Of course, things are never as simple as all
that. Every Mercury nominee has to shoulder at least two burdens. Firstly, there are
ridiculously high levels of post-Mercury expectation from lots of people who aren't necessarily
what could be called genuine fans; and secondly, there's a high chance of being forever sonically
tagged to past achievements.
So, a night of tender, Damien Rice folk from Mercury-nominated Irish guy.
Lovely! We wait and expect GREAT things. Joking aside, the clutch of expectation inside
Manchester's best small venue The Deaf Institute is, thankfully, of the well-cultured
kind, and has little to do with the fact this guy was Nominated.
As it happens, The End Of
History is a brilliantly constructed folk record that glows with amazing self-assurance
for a debut album. That same sense of confidence radiates from tonight's performance;
something made even more impressive by the number of new tracks from its upcoming sequel, The Shadow Of An Empire, included in the set.
The amount of people on stage before Regan even makes an appearance tells the crowd as
much as it needs to know about the new material. Powered by three guitars (one acoustic,
one electric and one slide electric), new album opener Coat Hook confidently bellows
around the space and is a far cry from the plaintive one-man-and-his-guitar folk that so
characterised the first album. Regan appears to have Gone Electric, and with some
style.
Whether it's simply the quality of the venue's acoustics or the sweet sound of
Mercury-funded success, all of Regan's new plugged-in material reverberates with a
deliciously creamy tone. Many will name-check Bob Dylan and Neil Young, and while
these are undoubted influences, Regan seems to be shooting in the bluesy folk-rock and
alt-country direction of Ryan Adams. New tracks Protection Racket and Violent
Demeanour possess the same spikiness and volatility of later Adams and later
Whiskeytown.
Like Ryan Adams on one if his less good days, the floppy-haired Regan doesn't say an
awful lot, but he's not remotely tempestuous; just a little shy, perhaps. A member of the
audience sarcastically praises the singer for his unwieldy black bob. "It's a 'recession cut'" replies Regan.
"I do the front and my girlfriend does the back."
Happily, The night isn't all about the new stuff. Regan plays plenty of favourites
from the first album, appeasing an audience that is clearly taken aback by the
post-Mercury change of direction. The End Of History's elegiac highlights - Hey Rabbit,
Hunters Map and The Underwood Typewriter - trap the audience in a web of gentle melody
and hazy poetry. If only every street busker was this good.
Embracing the busking undertone, an excitable member of the audience randomly requests
a Donny Osmond number next. "He's on tour on with us but he's disgusted by the
(Deaf Institute's garish William Morris-style) wallpaper, so he's not coming out," retorts
the playful and softly-spoken Irishman.
For the encore, the previously acoustic-only Regan returns to the stage armed with his
own electric guitar for the decidedly non-folk new track Lord Help My Poor Soul - a
soulful and voluminous ode to Edgar Allen Poe. Having clearly conquered folk, Regan has
ably turned his hand to more forceful arts.
In an interview conducted around the time of The End Of History's initial success, Regan
spoke of his new material as having a "wild mercury violent sound, like the chest, the
ribcage, is ripped open." After tonight's fiery performance, it seems unlikely that Regan
will need the Mercury effect in future.
BUY Fionn Regan - The End Of History
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