Silent for so long through mutiple lockdowns, the Gleneagle INEC was full of life and music once again last Wednesday evening as the Killarney venue played host to four of Kerry’s best and brightest musical talents on their ‘Kerry Rising’ night.
he event was all part of the INEC’s larger Inside Out series of events that have been running over the past few weeks and which has seen artists such as Aslan and The High Kings perform there.
Last Wednesday though, the focus was purely on some of the outstanding local talent we have in the Kingdom and the almost sold out crowd was treated to a wonderful mixture of lively and intimate, soulful music by Tralee’s Seamus Harty, Lyreacrompane’s Lorraine Nash, Beaufort’s Colin Andrew and last but not certainly not least, Killarney’s Cathal Flaherty.
After so long in the darkness of lockdown, it was fitting that for what was almost everyone’s first shows in over 18 months, the weather gods saw fit to make the sun was shining for it.
On a night MC’d by Brendan Fuller, first on the stage was 20-year-old Séamus Harty who, aside from making the crowd jealous with his tales of a summer spent living and busking in Rome, set the high standard for the night, with some of the songs incredibly only having been written the night before.
Next up was Colin Andrew, who if he ever decides to pack in the music (which judging by his talent, he definitely shouldn’t do) can easily forge a career as a stand up comedian such was his ability to have the crowd in stitches between songs.
Following two great acts in Séamus and Colin is not easy but Lorraine Nash was certainly equal to the task as the multi-instrumentalist wowed the audience as she flitted between the keyboard and her guitar with her renditions of her original songs ‘Changing Tides’ and ‘Wolves’ to name a few.
Finally, to round out the night, Killarney’s Cathal Flaherty, already such a well known performer in the Kingdom, did not disappoint in the slightest as he performed for the final time as a solo singer/songwriter before starting a new band project in January of next year.
The night would not have been complete without an ensemble performance and the Kerry quartet duly delivered a lively rendition of ‘The Auld Triangle’ together to finish the night off on a high.
