[ATTENDED: September 25, 2021] Mick Flannery & Susan O’Neill
I had not heard of Mick Flannery or Susan O’Neill. When I saw the listing I wasn’t even sure if they were together or separate. Well, it was almost both.
I hardly ever go to NYC for shows because it’s so much more of a hassle than Philly. I had to leave quite early and then had to get a parking garage. But I arrived in time to get a drink and settle in just as Mick Flannery came out.
He sat at a keyboard and sang. He has a pretty strong Irish accent when he sings, and he had overtones of Van Morrison. He’s been releasing music since 2007 and is apparently a pretty big deal:
Mick Flannery is one of Ireland’s most acclaimed songwriters and singers. The award-winning, double-platinum selling artist has released six studio albums, three of which reaching No. 1 status.
Maybe since Van Morrison is sort of embracing the anti-vax lifestyle, Mick Flannery can fill in those shoes.
He sang two songs by himself and then he called Susan O’Neill up to the stage.
Susan had a case full of instruments with her and she looked pretty in a sparkling outfit (I didn’t see what Mick was wearing but I did see that he had a bit of a fauxhawk–maybe it was a mohawk with his hair growing back in some.
Mick and Susan have released an album together called In the Game. Mick described it as a fictional account of married musicians whose marriage is falling apart. In this case, the woman’s career is taking off as the man’s is faltering.
I was immediately taken by Susan’s voice–raspy and (as an Irish review describes it) “whiskey-warm.” I was arrested by her immediately. And later on, when she played a gentle trumpet solo I was really taken with her.
A song or so later, Susan pulled out an acoustic guitar and a song after that she played harmonica–I started to understand why “her” career was taking off.
As you can probably guess from the description of the album it’s not a happy listen. Indeed, at one point Mick said that this song had a little joy in it–there are two of those on the record. So, yes the songs were sad–full of longing and loss. I rather imagined if “Fairytale of New York” was a full album of songs.
And yet, between songs, they were both very funny. Mick joked a few times and Susan had some snappy comebacks.
It’s nothing I’d listen to intentionally–way too dark for my liking, but it was really beautiful. I also wonder what kind of music Susan makes on her own.
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