Fionn Regan – The Luminaire, London 11/11/09

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Photo credit: Crazybobbles

The words “I’m tired of being scared” echo off the walls. Most commonly the utterance of Phil Mitchell’s latest victim or the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz. Tonight, however, they were the lyrics flowing from Fionn Regan’s mouth. And scared he is not… or at least he does not show it.

A vast majority of his performance consisting of songs taken from his forthcoming release The Shadow Of An Empire, Regan displayed afore an expectant The End Of History loving audience just how different his new sound is, and how versatile a talent he can be. Seeming much more at home when performing with his new, band-assisted sound than with his introspective and acoustic pieces of yore, the Irish singer-songwriter proved upon the stage at Kilburn’s The Luminaire that he wasn’t nominated for the 2007 Mercury Music Prize for nothing.

But first was support act Danny and The Champions Of The World, five cheery bearded men singing happy-go-lucky songs with a nice folksy twist. Adorning big smiles and an air of camaraderie, the simplistic lyrics were matched perfectly with the simple enjoyment the collective gained from performing, at one point perpetually singing ’I still believe in you, you still believe in me’, pointing at the crowd for ’you’ and then themselves for ’me’, with no shame and big grins. Decidedly cheesy, but as apt and happy a crowd warmer they were, such cheese can be forgiven.

And soon came the time we had all been waiting for. Opening with his band playing a loop of what sounded awfully like the Top Of The Tops version of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’, the man of the hour soon walked on stage amidst the crowd and stood with his back to the stage, eventually turning to unveil the unfamiliar Fionn Regan sound, heavier instruments, politically indebted lyrics and a lot more gusto than one would expect from the writer of a song named ‘Hey Rabbit’.

Gig audiences as a rule tend to respond the most to the songs they are familiar with, attaching emotional value to seeing an artist play a song they had listened to millions of times previously (this seemed particularly true in this circumstance – my view being partially obscured by a couples kissing galore – a thing best done standing at the very front, apparently). Yet the first handful of songs were unknowns from the unreleased forth-coming album, a brave plunge for Regan but of surprising pleasure to the crowd, the new rock ’n’ roll aspect of Regan’s music creating a more lively atmosphere than the crowd anticipated, with the expected sleepy sway of the head becoming a sly shake of the hips.

Despite the introduction into this nouveau sound, hard-core The End Of History fans were not to be disappointed, Regan lapsing into a hat-trick of his old ways soon enough. Fans cheered as he introduced ‘The Underwood Typewriter’, ‘Hunters Map’ and ‘Penny In The Slot’, yet his heart did not seem nearly as dedicated to these songs as it must have been when he first wrote them. His pristine vocals were stopped abruptly short at the times in the songs when, on the album, they sounded the most enchanting, and he performed them in a somewhat nonchalant manner, as though the songs were friends he had outgrown but had to tolerate because of all the good times they had shared.

After another bout of new material, Regan finally ended the set with another oldie, ‘Be Good Or Be Gone’, performed in a more attached way, reminding us of that time a couple of years ago when we fell in love with this big haired Irish boy. But the highlight of the night was by far witnessing the promise of what else he has to bring. His efforts are still very much poetic and distinct, but his focus appears to be cast outwards, a gaze fixed on the world outside rather than the world within him.

I hadn’t been looking forward to the new album, being such a great fan of The End Of History and the beauties within it, and frankly I was frightened a confirmation of the rumour Fionn was going loud and electric would be a gigantic kick in the shins for this love. Yet with his new material Regan was much more of a performer, and a brave one at that; his incredible daring and skill silently telling us to trust him, because he most definitely knows what he is doing.

mp3:> Fionn Regan: ‘Protection Racket’

TLOBF’s Rich Thane will be DJing alongside Heavenly Records at the Fionn Regan show taking place at The Social (Little Portland Street, London W1) on Monday 16th November.