Let’s face it, a trip to Temple Bar generally means a trip to the ATM where you proceed to extract the dregs of an already exhausted barrel of mula. Last night, the fourth annual Dublin City Soul Festival swooped into the cultural epicenter of Dublin and pumped some life and soul back into its cobble-street veins. The event’s organizers flashed their soulful wands (well… clipboards, timetables, P.A systems, i-phones and the like) over Meeting House Square and whalah!… Fantastic FREE live music, good weather, good food and drink equals VERY HAPPY PEOPLE!
The majority of the acts were there to battle it out as entrants in the event’s Rising Stars competition. The top three artists receive a much sought after spot at the Soul Picnic on Sunday before an over all winner is chosen. Last year’s winners, Mob Fandango, were back with a bang to play the opening night. The mob are comprised of eleven musicians and, I’m sure, proved a logistical nightmare to set up. Once they got going, however, they stole the show with front-man Jazzy Nice (a.k.a, John Paul Malone) running around the stage like a mad thing.
Fiona Melady and her band opened up this year’s festival. I’m ashamed to say I just missed them. They later sat near me and were stopped by random people complimenting Fiona’s amazing voice.
Next up was Andrew Mann and his guitar. Hands down to Andrew as he was the only act that night with no band to back him up. He put on a good show but unfortunately the sound was quite low. Jupe took to the stage next. These guys are a four piece Dublin band whose up-beat tracks and energetic stage presence got the crowd’s attention. They opened with their song ‘Eleanor’ which, with its catchy lyrics and melody, had true summery vibes enveloping the square.
Lee Meehan decided to do a brief disappearing act after Jupe but, once he appeared on stage, was worth the wait 
Meehan and his band flavored a bluesy soul sound with raw rock influences. You could tell from Lee’s understated stage presence that this is something that comes completely naturally to him. They started off with an instrumental cover which allowed Lee to fully exhibit his electric ability. It was the reggae number towards the end, however, that got my attention. It was undoubtedly one of my favorite tracks that night with nice synthesizer sounding keys and distortion on guitar.
The band Fiach are in hot demand after releasing their debut album in March. They played a mixture of acoustic, rock and soul sounds and put on a great performance. By the time they finished their set with “Every Single Day” the venue had filled up nicely. In true soul style the band played great individual solos to wrap it all up.
It was about 8.30pm when Jezzebelle went on stage and brought everyone to their feet. Complete with her red scarf, front woman Katie Carpenter has an enthralling stage presence that did nothing short of encapsulating the entire venue. Unfortunately for them, people were too busy watching them, to buy their 2euro cd’s. By the time it came to playing their last track ‘Down and Out’, the band and audience alike were really getting into it and didn’t want the set to end.
But the show must go on and the Ratzingers were able to do just that. They’re an absolutely fantastic jazz, swing and soul ensemble. They’re not part of the Rising Star’s competition and were able to play a series of popular cover songs to get people up and dancing.
Fresh from his scholastic endeavors Mark Conway was lucky in that he had a very cheery audience to impress. Mark plays acoustic guitar and was backed by a bassist and drummer with brush sticks. He got really into his performance and it went down very well. Particularly liked his vocal extension to his last track 
Creamy Goodness helped wrap up the night nicely along with the Mob. Not quite as big as Mob Fandango, the band are nearly there with a group of eight talented musicians. Absolutely loved the Chic ‘Good Times’ cover at the end. Thought Nichola’s voice was great, would love to hear more of it.
By Aine Gilligan
Share
Thanks a million for the compliment Aine!We had a great time!!Nichola x