Johnny Flynn was in town last night playing Dublin’s Academy 2 as part of his short Irish tour. The Academy 2 can be a bit of a pig of a venue, low ceilings and pillars makes for difficult viewing at times, however it forced home the intimate nature of the night. From the time we arrived the crowd camped in front of the stage, determined not to lose their good spot. Flynn’s arrival on stage was signalled by a rapturous welcome, which he appeared humbly surprised at.

The absence of his backing band added to his nervous demeanour setting us up for a totally different show to Electric Picnic, it was intense, up close and personal stuff. The crowd was like putty in his hands as they stood hushed and respectful hanging on every word, pick or pluck of his guitar strings during a set which included renditions of ‘The Box’, ‘The Water’, ‘Shore to Shore’, ‘Brown Trout Blues’ and ‘The Wrote and The Writ’.  It wasn’t until towards the end with the ‘punk rock version’ of ‘Sally’ that the Academy 2 found its voice either.

While the absense of his band helped create the setting and vibe some of the songs lacked their usual bite or panache and the crowd too only found its voice toward the end with the ‘punk rock version’ of ‘Sally’, that said it was a very good enjoyable performance from one of musics most promising young talents, don’t leave it to long to visit again.

PS – Excuse my awful photography skills (or lack of).