The Frank & Walters - Oriel Centre, Dundalk Gaol 13th November 2021

 


The most renowned band from Cork graced the stage at Dundalk Gaol last night to a packed house. The stripped back acoustic gig saw half of The Frank & Walters, Paul Linehan and Rory Murphy, perform hits from their extensive back catalogue over 90 minutes. The duo took a few minutes to get started as they tuned guitars and pulled "a rabbit out of a sock" before kicking off with "Memory Lane" and "Tony Cochrane". It was evident early on that it was going to be a raucous affair with most of that emanating from one particular section of the audience. Paul joked that they had their very own percussionist in the front row who was offering hand claps both in and out of time. Undeterred they went into "Looking For America', "Trust In The Future" and "Each Tree" which saw Rory switch to the electric guitar. There was an awkward silence in the room when Paul asked a member of the audience why they were coughing and not wearing a mask and it was hard to see how they could pick the crowd back up but they absolutely did with "Goddess Of Athena". 


The two musicians seemed to be in complete awe of the venue that they had played in once before and even went as far to call it the bets venue they've ever played in Ireland. Rory then endeared himself to the crowd further when he said that Dundalk legend Jinx Lennon was his favourite Irish songwriter (after Paul). "Lately", "Landslide" and the much loved hit "Fashion Crisis Hits New York" rounded out the first part of the show.


The second half began with "Until The End" and then "Stages". The rest of the audience were really warming up by now and were getting involved and singing along. Requests for "Cemetery Gates" was denied on the grounds that Morrissey might sue them. A cracking cover of Kraftwerk's "The Model" was next followed by "We Are The Young Men". The crowd erupted when "After All" began and were left calling for more at the close of "Colours". A standing ovation brought them back to the stage for an encore.

The encore consisted of a crowd rousing rendition of "We Are The Frank & Walters" followed by "The Clock" and "The Parson". The audience were satiated and left the venue in high spirits. 



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