Other Voices: Home at the Guinness Storehouse

On Nov 13, Dublin’s Guinness Storehouse hosted Other Voices’ Home series for the fifth year running. Aimed at platforming established and up-and-coming artists alike, Other Voices, usually based at St James’ Church in Dingle, hosts free concerts, normally in West Kerry for their winter festival. These are live-streamed and put on their YouTube channel, ensuring that as many people as possible can partake. Hozier, Paolo Nutini, Lankum, The National, Willie Nelson and a range of others have all taken part during Other Voices’ 23 years and counting. The Storehouse lies in the heart of Dublin’s Liberties (a suburb known for the songs it’s been home to over many years) and became a new base for Other Voices over the course of lockdown.

The Mary Wallopers took centre stage on this evening, having played the first OV gig there in 2019. They were joined by the indie magic of Niamh Regan & SOAK, pop and soul artist Tolü Makay, Just Mustard’s 90s punk and the uilleann pipes of Pádraic Keane.

Keane kicked proceedings off with a slow air. Incorporating rich chords between thinner, single-note sequences, he tripped lightly over some passages and drew others out. His inquisitive playing saw certain riffs repeated in different styles, seeing where they’d go, before a return to the tune’s core melody. He was playing a set of pipes made in 1812 at No 1, Essex Quay, a short walk from the historic building in which we were sat.

_{Padraic Keane © Rich Gilligan}

The Wallopers played a handful of some of their most-loved tunes, the highlight being Andrew Hendy’s ‘Gates of Heaven’. It’s rare to see the group in such a still setting nowadays. This song, a dry, angry accusation against the church’s hypocrisy, deserves the attention. Sean McKenna also delivered the rumbling ‘Rakes of Poverty’ with gusto. When it came his turn, Charles Hendy sang ‘Building Up and Tearing England Down’, remarking that immigration is part of Irish culture, rather than something to be rejected. Again the intimacy of the room did justice to the music’s weight. As was fitting, The Wallopers gave a shout-out to their hometown of Dundalk, telling presenter MayKay, it’s “the greatest place in the world… very soon we’ll be the capital of Ireland.”

Another highlight was Tolü Makay’s rendition of Tony Allen’s ‘Atuwaba’. Her clean, dexterous voice, supported by sparse guitar, shot straight to the soul. Between other artists, she also sang a self-penned paean to Sinéad O’Connor and a slow rendition of ‘Danny Boy’.

_{Tolü Makay © Rich Gilligan}

Having had our fill of Guinness and music, The Wallopers’ belter ‘Holy Ground’ sent audiences on their way.

+ The evening (and others besides) is available to watch on Other Voices’ YouTube channel. Other Voices continue their winter programme with concerts in Dingle from Nov 29 – Dec 1. See their website for more details.