A wonderful evening at Crawdaddy the other night – the delightful Jay Brannan came to town. Support came from the endearingly shy and promising Adam Matthews, and, the opposite of shy, fresh from thisispopbaby at Electric Picnic, Justin Bond. It was a Shortbus reunion. I have to say Bond is definitely an acquired taste – the first time I saw him in London a few years ago, in Kiki and Herb, I was disturbed, but not in a good way; I felt alienated. Now, having seen him twice in three days, with the marvellous Our Lady J on keyboards, I found myself stirred and moved by, among other tracks, “Tomorrow is the 22nd Century”, in ways I didn’t expect, like being caught by the throat. Powerful stuff.
It was an emotional night for Brannan, coming to Ireland for the first time, with a name like that. He’s doing this, his first big tour, on a shoestring, taking buses from the airport, refusing to take taxis and walking everywhere; staying in hotels in Rathmines, for godsake. He is even saying he’s going back to his day job when the tour is over. Surely not.
He is just as he appears on YouTube – but perhaps even lovelier in the flesh. And he is very funny. He announced that he was about to do something horrible, and he did: he opened his set cheekily with “Molly Malone”. Despite some sniggering in the back, he did manage to pull it off, which says a lot about his charisma. Although he’s knowing, and most definitely working it, he is earnest and charming. He was touched that the crowd were singing along to his songs, “Soda Shop” and “I Want To Be A Housewife” in particular. And anyone who can sing a song about giving head gets my vote. He won us all over completely, and it was by no means a gay-only audience. It’s been a while since I heard a crowd as warm and generous to a performer. Perhaps that is what a room full of people falling in love is like.
Update: YouTube of the night:
And Cybernoelie took some nice vids too on YouTube.
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