Live at the NCH is a live album by the contemporary Irish/American music group The Gloaming. It was released on March 2, 2018 on Real World Records.
The album received widespread critical acclaim upon its release and went to No.3 in the Irish Album Charts.
In February 2018, RTÃÂ reported that The Gloaming were readying the release of a concert album timed for release with the group's sold-out seven-night residency in Dublin's National Concert Hall in March (their only live dates of that year). The release would act as a celebration of the 17 sold-out shows the band had performed at the NCH over the course of their career to that point (that figure now stands at 24).
In an interview, pianist and producer Thomas Bartlett said of the venue: âÂÂAfter playing our very first show there, we became really bonded to the National Concert Hall. ItâÂÂs still absolutely amazing to me to have fallen into the situation where such a thing was even possible. I think because the room holds such importance for us as a band, and because the residency has become an annual tradition, we approach these shows with a particular kind of fire and focus, but also in the knowledge that we can really take our time to stretch out and explore, and that the audience will happily go wandering with us.âÂÂ
Compiled by Bartlett from two yearsâ worth of concert recordings, the album was produced by Bartlett and The Gloaming, with Patrick Dillett on mixing duties. The live recordings had been originally made by Phil Hayes and Andy Knightley at the National Concert Hall, with the group's live sound mixed by Matt Purcell. Marc Bessant's sleeve design featured photography by Hugh McCabe and Rich Gilligan.
The six-track Live at the NCH was released on March 2, 2018 on Real World Records to widespread critical acclaim. Shortly afterwards, music magazine Hot Press reported that the record had gone straight to No.3 in the Irish Album Charts upon its release.
The Irish Timesâ review of Live at the NCH felt the recordings âÂÂcapture the essence of this band whose live performances are akin to mesmerising, whirling dervishesâÂÂ. In its five-star review, The Arts Desk called the release âÂÂone of the great live recordings, in any genreâÂÂ, remarking that it was the sound of a band âÂÂfusing form and feeling with dazzling improvisations that transform tunes like âÂÂThe SailorâÂÂs Bonnetâ into huge and hugely enthralling explorationsâÂÂ. A five-star review in the Sunday Business Post stated that the album's "six lengthy tracks here encapsulate all that is terrific about The GloamingâÂÂ,." while the Sydney Morning Herald, in another five-star write-up, felt the live album would âÂÂsustain the wonder and peculiar magic of their first two [studio albums]âÂÂ.
According to Folk Radio, what was so impressive about this release was âÂÂthe level of immersive intimacy that the quintet achieves in a live settingâÂÂ. Similarly, Celtic Sounds noted that the album was âÂÂfilled with a sense of communication and collaboration, which is, at times, almost âÂÂ. Album track 'The Sailor's Bonnet' was also highlighted in the New York Times' Playlist.
In a review of these NCH shows, Irish music source Golden Plec commented that The Gloaming had âÂÂtaken on a considerable cultural significanceâÂÂ, and that the group's popularity âÂÂspeaks to the vitality of traditional Irish music as an art formâÂÂ. âÂÂIn an era where American sounds and images reign supreme, The Gloaming remind us as a people of our own cultural inheritance.âÂÂ
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.
The Booley House - The Booley House (hop jig), Lad OâÂÂBeirne's Geese in the Bog (reel), Brendan Begley's Slides, The Labyrinth (slide).
Cucanandy - Cucanandy (song), PáidÃÂn àRaifeartaigh (jig), Mrs Dwyer (hornpipe). Cucanandy is from the singing of Elizabeth âÂÂBessâ Cronin (1879 â 1956).
The Sailor's Bonnet - The Sailor's Bonnet, Rolling in the Barrel, The Tap Room, Tom Doherty's (reels).
The Pilgrim's Song - Lyric consisting of two extracts of poems by Seán àRiordáin: âÂÂOilithreacht Fám Anamâ and âÂÂA SheanfhilÃÂ, MúinÃÂdh Dom Glaoâ from Eireaball Spideoige (1952). Published by MOC Music. Music written and arranged by The Gloaming. Incorporates the reel Touch Me if You Dare. Traditional, arranged by The Gloaming.
The Rolling Wave - The Rolling Wave (jig), Music in the Glen (reel).
Fáinleog - The Wanderer (tune), Fáinleog (song), The Holly Bush (jig), Samhradh Samhradh (song). The Wanderer and Fáinleog written and arranged by The Gloaming. Fáinleog uses a traditional lyric extract from âÂÂNa Laoithe FiannuidheachtaâÂÂ. The Holly Bush is a traditional jig, arranged by The Gloaming. Samhradh Samhradh lyrics traditional (author unknown), music traditional, arranged by The Gloaming.