After the reopening of pubs serving food and drink, the return of congregations to churches for devotees and the resumption of the GAA season, a next concrete step towards the restart of society in general took position when the Ionad Cult-rtha in Baile Mhirne organized a jazz. concert in his auditorium.
Set in the context of an alarming resurgence of COVID-19 infections over the more than 3 weeks, the concert with singer Christine Tobin accompanied by Phil Robson on guitar, whether it was a hopeful start before an autumn and winter musical, or a brief interlude before the curtain opened to rule out live performances while the virus regained its supremacy.
As a component of Music Network Ireland’s Live and Local series, all of which took place elsewhere in the country, the concert at Gaeltacht Hall is unlike any other venue held downtown.
As much as Fiji or Fermanagh is not an herb bastion for hurling, jazz is not heard in the Gaeltacht. But the difference was not prevented there because the new type of musical concert is completely different from the previous one.
First, the fewer participants, the better. I have been to many concerts in various places over the years and have noticed other people sitting on the steps or in the state at the back of the room or behind the stage, crowded in each and every nook and cranny. I hasten to climb that I am not speaking here of Ionad Cult-rtha, which has kept its entrance transparent and met the highest criteria in terms of protection of clients and artists.
It’s fair to say that the corridors, giant or small, like to be to proclaim a complete house. This won’t happen the way we’ve understood the room full for some time.
There were 12 in the audience plus a got hereraman, a sound consistent with o, two consistent with modelers in the level and a Bean a’T. We were all dressed in masks. We were all sitting at tables, one consistent with the organization or one consistent with the audience. We had to fill out a form on the table asking for our call and number, not a marketing survey to discern our preference for the concert and our comments, but for finding contacts if a user has made us sick. And the only alcohol came here in the manual dispensers around the building.
That’s the real revelation. The jazz songs that followed Christine would make you think we were in a club in a basement in bad shape in New York or Paris, but there’s no smoke or drinks. The piano didn’t drink like in the Tom Waites classic. Decidedly sober.
The songs themselves were the atmosphere and Phil Robson’s accompaniment contributed to a sense of intimacy. The candles on the table twinkled with nothing yet the sound waves emanating from the singer’s deep, deep voice.
Leonard Cohen’s numbers, his own songs, a poem, “Horse”, through Paul Muldoon with an accompaniment from Christine and Phil and the music worked its own magic.
It’s not the same as the other concerts in the venue. It’s another one and maybe better. While the air was loaded with heat and humidity, it would have been uncomfortable if the space had been full.
The only disgruntled visitor at the end of a very satisfying consultation may have been the ghost of the concert, the tacit ghoul, Covid himself. And I’m so sorry about that.
Live music can come back. It won’t be the same as before. It’s going to be different. Perhaps better, thanks to people like the director Ionad Cult-rtha Aoife Granville, his competent assistant, S-Le U-Chrain, the sound and video professionals, Music Network Ireland and, above all, the musicians.