Fionn Regan returned to CMJ 2011 and the Mercury Lounge on Tuesday night, four years after I first saw him there during CMJ 2007. After seeing Fionn on Monday night at the Rock Shop in Brooklyn, where he admitted he was less than fully-rested, I was curious to see how two consecutive sets would compare. Disappointingly, the show at the Merc was shorter and only included songs that Fionn had played the night before.
Part Charles Dickens character, part Peter Pan, part hipster, Fionn was alone onstage. (When he was touring on The End of History, his first album, he was accompanied by a drummer.) The small red Turkish-looking rug is his own; his guitars are held together by nothing more than masking tape, it seems.
Doris Cellar, a solo Freelance Whale, opened for Fionn Regan. With recorded beats on a laptop as her only accompaniment, her sound was thin despite impressively approaching the upper reaches of the human vocal range. With a mischievous, poppy edge, her songs wouldn’t have been mistaken for a Freelance Whales album and definitely explored a different musical direction.
Setlist
100 Acres of Sycamore
Sow Mare Bitch Vixen
List of Distraction
Violent Demeanor
Put a Penny in the Slot
Dogwood Blossom
The Horses are Asleep
For a Nightingale
Be Good or Be Gone
Nice review and photos. I love Fionn’s new record, hope to catch a live show soon
~PD
[...] Fionn Regan at the Mercury Lounge on October 18, 2011. View the CLOG post here. [...]