Live Review from 21st Anniversary Festival Day 1:
1 Danny Ray- original
2 Singing Whiskey in the jar into whiskey in the jar – mostly original
3 Roisin was- original
4 Spancil Hill- traditional
5 Memory Lane- original
6 7 Shots- original
Black Velvet Collective are well known around Hong Kong and most likely to have been witnessed at a folk festival, Lamma island festival or Wanch gig after several pints. Their core duo singer/guitarists gets augmented with strings and tin whistles but upon this occasion it’s a trio.
After the danceable sonic onslaught of ELEKTRO MÜLL it’s a bit of a change of gear to get into their original Danny Ray, but they deliver and move one a reading of a 17th century traditional classic of a highwayman robbing a military officer before being betrayed by his lover – better known to fans of Thin Lizzy and Metallica as Whiskey in the Jar.
They do the song justice even if it’s a bit more up-tempo than the big rock sound of Phil Lynott or James Hetfield. And then we’re into an original called Roisin Was and the it’s a song you’d hope to her in a cosy pub on a Sunday afternoon, and its followup Spancillhill is a classic of lament of distance and unrequited love but there’s a sense this really needed a violin player to complete the arrangement.
The band moves into another original, this one with a more local reference than various locations in Ireland, called Memory Lane. It’s all about Hong Kong’s classic district for imbibery and negotiated affection, Wan Chai and there are enough sly references in the song to make it memorable.
The band seems to kick into top gear with their final song 7 Shots, dedicated to a gent who decides 7 shots of Jameson’s is the perfect precursor to calling his wife and telling her some opinions. However, if you’re going to name your song after specific drinks… you have to a) drink at least one of those drinks on stage or b) get people in the audience to drink.
I don’t make the rules.
It’s a suitably uproarious and energetic end to a set that moves the evening up one further gear to greatness.
-Jarrod Watt
