Review: Damien Dempsey at Irish Fest

Photos by Timothy Finn/The Star

A native of Dublin -- or "Dooblin," as he pronounces it -- Damien Dempsey is proud to remind his audience of his hometown's famous sons: James Joyce, William Butler Yeats, Oscar Wilde, Brendan Behan. Dempsey is a writer, too, but not of epic novels or poems or plays.

He's one of Ireland's most heralded young songwriters, and on Sunday afternoon about 3,500 patrons of the Kansas City Irish Fest watched and listened to him showcase some of his best material for the second time in two days. (He also performed Saturday evening.)

These weren't his first performances in Kansas City. In May, Dempsey opened for the Swell Season at the Uptown Theater. That night, he did it all solo/acoustic. This weekend, he brought a four-piece band, which added even more vigor and wallop to several of his songs.

His music is a blend of diverse styles. "Maasai" is a dark and brooding hard-rock anthem -- something akin to Celtic grunge. "Your Pretty Smile" and "Sing All Our Cares Away" are lighthearted electric folk-rock tunes, but "Negative Vibes" and the effervescent "Teachers" mix Celtic folk with Caribbean/reggae rhythms. ("Vibes" sounds vaguely like a Police tune.)

His songwriting is solid; many of his lyrics are commentaries or narratives that directly or indirectly address social issues (like Billy Bragg or Bruce Springsteen). But Dempsey's most appealing trait is his voice, which is brawny and pure and emotive. He sings with such gusto and enthusiasm his eyes are closed most of the time (and once in a while he'll stop strumming his guitar and pump his fist to emphasize a lyric).

His 90-minute set bounced from original material to a few traditional Irish songs, like "Kelly the Boy From Killan" and "Rocky Road to Dublin." He also delivered a lovely version of the Pogues' classic, "Rainy Night in Soho."

Back home, Dempsey is big: His records compete hard with big-name American stars for top spots on the Irish music charts, and he draws huge crowds to his live shows. His two performances here this weekend drew several thousand fans each, and most were likely seeing him for the first time. He seemed to impress a lot of them (enough that they waited in line on a hot afternoon to get a CD autographed).

For me, he was an ideal inclusion in this festival, which rightly emphasizes traditional music and its contemporary offspring. Dempsey has managed to tap into both and create a sound and a style of his own.

| Timothy Finn, The Star

Comments

[Matt]

Loved the Sat night show. As noted, I was one of many that was intrigued by the description of the artists at the Irish Festival (my first one in KC, btw).

Damien BLEW us away. Full of gusto and his band members brought out wonderful instruments that took you back to yesteryear, as well as reminded you that you were in a concert hall. Mr. Dempsey is as vibrant on the guitar as he is on the vocals. Enough to the point I swore he snapped a couple of strings by the end of the Sat. night performance.

He was so good I remembered about his website, did some searching on youtube here at work...

And yes, I bought one of his CDs!

Bravo Damian... ya do y'er motha proud!

[CTG]

I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of hours with Damien, John (mando player in the video above), and Fiacra (stage manager -- hope I spelled it correctly) over the weekend. Not a nicer, more humble, group did I experience all weekend long! And to watch Damien interact with his fans is just wonderful.

When asked what their favorite part of the weekend was, they all said performing (they almost said it in unison!), and that they were pleased with how the audience jumped right in. (Someone told me later that Damien was nervous before the Saturday show.)

When the weekend was over, I asked the entire band what they would change, if anything, about their experience at KCIF and they all said absolutely nothing needs to change, that it was all great. Then Eamon said he could only think of one thing. And what was requested I don't think is legal...

Bravo! I really hope they're all back in 2009!

CTG

[Tim Finn]

I met him briefly after the show. Genuinely friendly boy.

And I got the lowdown on that funny story he told about the brawling football brothers who had loaded him with Irish car bombs. They rumbled pretty hard at the hotel bar. One guy screams to the other: "You're gonna break my leg again."
Again? And he did. So the cops came, they handcuffed one and took the other away on a gurney. But as the gurney was about to roll away, the bartender interrupted and made sure the guy with the broken leg signed for his tab.

[Festy]

There's an interesting thread on Damo's message board about the KC gigs.

http://www.damiendempsey.com/discus/messages/3/2715.html?1220546543