SUMMER MEDICINE SUPREMO

May 10th. Despite a bank holiday weekend the week before, Lismoreons hurled themselves from their homes again to create a packed out Sessions, with shoulder to shoulder sitting, standing and lingering in the doorway to feast on the spectacle that was created by our performers this month. Myself and The Ronald swamped Lismore with posters in the week leading up and the evidence of word of mouth promotion has started to creep in, which is just fantastic. There were a good few familiar faces and I was delighted to see a good amount of the local 'younger' population of Lismore, which is hugely rewarding!

Niamh Murphy, aka Foxglove, opened the night to a hushed crowd and mesmerized everyone with her beautifully arranged piano pieces and stunning vocals. It was an absolute delight to witness a female singer songwriter deliver songs with substance and original, brilliantly phrased lyrics. Her soon to be launched EP 'Crazy At The Helm' will be performed at Triskell arts centre at the end of the month and she will be together with her band Foxglove. I, for one, will be trying to organize a little trip to be there.

Unfortunately our poet this month had to cancel at the last minute due to a back injury, no sweat though, luckily for us The Medicine room has its fair share of talent merchants and it added a nice unpredictability to the night having an extended 'open floor', which exposed us to the delights of Joe Power, who rendered a Percy French creation and a Tom Waits piece, in true eclectic tradition. The floor was also filled momentarily by a local children's author Mr Murphy, who recited two poems, including a dreaded (but delightful) Haiku about a ham sangedge. Then there was the fella in a stripy hat, who was entertaining in his own nightmare of one pint too many, an out of tune guitar and the loss of words, however, he really did show some glimmers of real talent that I'd love to see properly some time. 

After a brisk change over, during which the bucket was passed, Daniel Valle and Ross Gillanders of Horsemen Pass By, revved up their pedals and blinking boxes and launched into their set from their soon to be released album. I overheard one fella in the audience say to his friend how he had seen the lads at Citog in Galway and that "they are rad"... who knew that the slang of old was groovy again!.. at least, I presume that 'rad' has the same meaning as it ever had! Anyway, They were fucking great! Myself and the Ronald have a bit of a penchant for Spaghetti Western soundtracks and old sic-fi, so watching these guys was like a heavenly exposure. I love the idea of live soundtracks and the guys played with fantastic energy and timing, hooking everyone's imagination and admiration.

Yet again, all the performers were brilliant to meet and thankfully helped each other soundcheck, as we had a loan of someone else's, slightly more complex PA, with even more switch things on than usual. Everything sounded amazing, everyone left full up and light headed and healed. One of my favourite things is to look at the faces in the crowd. Some are familiar, some are new, all were delighted. My job, for another month, has been done.