My wish to see Cara Dillon in a bigger venue with better sound was fulfilled a lot quicker than I expected, having seen her in June this year when the sound mix was not ideal.
There were a couple of extra members in the band with an additional guitarist and an accordion player. There was no support and from song one it was clear how special her voice is when listening to it through a quality mix and reproduction. It is velvet and sweet but with plenty of layers of emotion within it. The band were also much improved over last time, again due mostly to the mix but also the additional musicians were both good and added a richness to the overall sound. For many songs the three acoustic guitarist laid down a subtle but driving rhythm with the violin and the less-used accordion adding some great Celtic phrasing on top. Emma on violin was less prominent than last time which was a shame but she again did the business with a slightly unusual fiddle sound. Some tracks were just Sam Lakeman on grand piano with Cara on vocals and that worked beautifully as well and Cara singing gaelic acapello was also a real treat.
She did a number of songs from her last couple of CDs - a lot of the stuff was traditional Irish songs. There songs stood out for me, all in the second half. She started the second set with a gaelic acapello song 'Fil Fila Run O' which was stunning. She also did the song that really hit home last time I saw her. I have now worked out that it is 'Shotgun Down the Avalanche' a Sean Colvin cover. (Unfortunately I can't find a recording of it by Cara). The other track that was particularly memorable was 'Hill of Thieves' which is haunting and beautiful and powerful all at the same time. Great gig.
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