'Radical trad' - that is how I first saw Lynched and Ye Vagabonds described in the festival programme from Temple Bar Trad 2015. The write-up immediately made me curious. I could not make it to their shows at the time, but I checked them out online and realised these were two extraordinary new acts. A year and a half on from my discovery they have gone from strength to strength, particularly through continuous gigging. This was a joint headline show at St Luke's Church as part of the Cork Folk Festival.
 

Ye Vagabonds have been on the road playing support to Glen Hansard, Lisa Hannigan and Roy Harper. They have released a wonderful EP but I personally cannot wait to hear their debut album, when it will finally see the light of day? This was their biggest headline show yet and my first time seeing a full length concert by the brothers. There is something old-fashioned about Brían and Diarmuid, and this is meant as a compliment. Their music is as timeless as it is superb.

They played some of their own, excellent compositions, as well as songs by others, explaining where these were "got". There is something very wonderful about siblings harmonizing. Cork Folk got their share of this as Lynched of course has two brothers too and the Unthanks had played on the opening night.

Ye Vagabonds had brought two musicians along for the occasion. Alain McFadden on banjo and bodhrán (plus good looks and tech duties) and Jesse Smith on fiddle and viola. I did not think they added much and I was grateful that for a large part of the show Brían and Diarmuid played by themselves. When it comes to trad, less is always more, in my view.

Brían performed a beautiful instrumental piece on his own, entitled 'For Bert'. I had not heard them do 'The Lowlands Of Holland' before; a beautiful song that I had incidentally never came across until I moved from the Netherlands to Ireland.

The audience was really into it and well behaved (in terms of talking). There was much joking about the sound of cans being opened. I love the concept of Live At St Lukes. This former church is now solely being used as a live music venue. Punters are allowed to bring drinks (the website recommends three cans per person) and the venue has full cooperation from the pub and the carryout off license across the road. The acoustics in the church are slightly echo-y, which was perfect for these particular shows, but I do not know how well it would lend itself to louder music.

Support for Ye Vagabonds was by Tiz McNamara, a sympathetic singer/songwriter from Cork. An engaging storyteller as well as a performer, Tiz specializes in sad songs. Guy-with-guitar support acts can sometimes be a drag, but this was not at all the case here and he went down very well. A name to keep in mind.

On the previous night support had come from Morning Veils, a female trio, also from Cork. This was gothic, atmospheric music; a bit shoegazey as well. I was reminded of acts such as Fursaxa and Miranda Sex Garden. The girls were curiously dressed in regular clothes (one of them wore a 'Repeal' sweater) but with gauze veils tied around their heads. Instrumentation included harmonium and percussions bells. Radie from Lynched was sitting in the audience nodding along approvingly and later mentioned that she thought they had been great.

Lynched were utterly fantastic at St Lukes. It had been nine months since I saw them previously, hence many setlist changes. Their acclaimed debut album is over two years old now. Lynched have been touring constantly (many festival appearances over the summer) and have introduced a lot of new songs into their set. By the time they get to record album number two, they should have settled on perfect arrangements for this well worn-in material, thus avoiding any difficult-second-album problems. I am most curious if they will have an original song as good as 'Cold Old Fire'. If they do, they are keeping that up their sleeve for the time being.

Highlight of the show for me were the three songs on which Radie Peat sang lead. The acoustics of the church probably played a part - it was utterly impressive. It caused Ian Lynch to say, "It just struck me that I am in a band with the best singer in Ireland". True true.

Radie sang 'What Will We Do When We Have No Money', which she learned from a version sung by traveller Mary Delaney. I did not get the name of the second song she sang, but that was the one that took Ian and I guess all of the audience by surprise. The gig closed with 'The Old Man From Over The Sea'. Radie probably has enough good songs for a killer solo album, but that may be for another day. If I had any say in the matter though, she should get at least three songs on the next Lynched album.

The show included plenty of humorous banter. The original version of 'Salonika' was played so as to not to upset the keyboard warriors from the People's Republic of Cork. They also played a medley of some lesser known songs that the Dubliners recorded. Daragh explained that they got these songs on an album that they found in a 'crusty punk house' in Seattle.

The interaction between band members is a special thing to watch. The role of the quiet man with the perfect pitch, Cormac, is not to be underestimated. I found myself wondering why people get nostalgic for the 60s and 70s when there are bands as good as Lynched - and Ye Vagabonds - around that you can go and see nowadays.

The band seemed to enjoy the show as much as the crowd did. They mentioned that they love playing in churches, they complimented the audience on "some savage clapping" and wrote on Twitter that it had been one of their best crowds ever.

Move over U2, move over Kíla. Lynched are the best live band in Ireland right now.

Helen.