Yeah, it was great wasn't it?.. I must say, I didn't fall head over heels for 'Ys' like I did for 'The Milkeyed Mender' but I thought those long songs came alive more in the hands of the gypsy folk styled 3-piece band then they did with those fussy overdone arrangements on the record (the slightly faster tempos helped too). The 10-15 minute pieces seemed to make a lot more sense live, I got the feeling more of being at a classical symphony or a quaint musical or something than a pop concert... It was interesting to hear the old songs rearranged for the band also. Having said that I didn't come away with the starry-eyed feeling I had after seeing her play solo a couple of times in 2004 but it's hard to recreate that feeling when you've just discovered something new. Funny to hear her anecdote about that last Dublin show, jetlag and enforced trips to Hard Rock Cafes (and thinking that Stephen's Green was "a weird part of town").. she seems to come across in person as one part spaced-out naieve forest sprite, one part SoCal Valley Girl and one part super-smart prodigy type.. Looking forward to following her future career in any case.

Cheers dermot, good review. I missed that gig, had to give up my ticket. Sounds like I missed a good one.

don't be so silly... this wasn't a good gig... it was a great gig... twice this year and they've been the best two gigs i've ever been to (possibly)...

...and dermot, Ys is a masterpiece... the milk eyed mender was excellent agreed but Ys trumps it in every way as a work of art...

Yes Ally, it was a great gig although i much more a Milk-Eyed Mender man that an Ys man. Dermot, super review. You nailed it there.

Does anyone think there was much of a need for the support musicians? I would have to say that i thought, at times, they were surplus to requirements?

the milk eyed mender is a joy and before ys came along one would wonder how she could better it but the truth is with ys joanna newsom has propelled herself into another orbit…granted it’s more dense and perhaps not as ‘pop’ in it’s timbre as milk eyed mender but jesus h. christ, it is the one record of recent times that just when I think it can’t ascend any further in my estimation, i put it on again and up it soars…please don’t give up on it, keep playing it til it clicks with you...give it time and it will reward you well


as for the ys street band, i didn’t feel they were surplus to requirements at any stage really in fact I liked that they were subtle presences coming in when they were needed and fading away when they weren’t, they didn’t steal so much as a glance of focus yet were clearly accomplished and enhanced the sound, particularly the drummer I thought who was spot on with the extent of his contributions….anyway aside from that the ys tracks just wouldn’t have come alive in the same way without the musicians I think

what she said effectively...

...really the Ys tracks are an extension of milk eyed mender stuff like 'sadie'... exactly the same kind of writing but just bigger and better... granted there is no pop music on Ys (e.g. peach plum pear)...

...milk eyed mender is utterly fantastic... i just think she went for a more ambitious album with Ys and pulled it off with flying colours... if the new song (colleen) is anything to go by, the next record will be different again...