Waterford’s finest, The Wran deliver an intimate show at Rough Trade East that shows why they’re Ireland’s next best thing
For those unfamiliar with Rough Trade sets it is an album launch here – there is no traditional support set or long wait for start; we’re straight in and the band are straight on at eight for an hour, but with The Wran that helps as ‘The Stone Man’ is their album, a debut launch, tricky to get right in setlist order but they are able to pull it off, coming in singing with the crowd-pleaser ‘The Waterford Boys’. “Who’s to compare to the Waterford Boys?” the four brothers Tommy, Danny, Seán and Stephen Dunford lead in their immersive live performance instantly pulling you under their spell with the skill of artists beyond their years. They have the chemistry of brothers and it pays off – a natural setting for a gig venue like this that allows them to lend into their more spiritual home. Their creative support at home has given them the oomph to break out in the UK, while their name carries a family connection too: chosen on St Stephen’s Day, or Wren Day, it echoes their grandfather’s phrase for those taking part in the tradition – “the boys are on the wran”.
It sees the evolution of trad folk into something that has become cool to play; rather than something to be confused at to its relevance, thanks in no small part due to the bands like The Wran and Madra Salach, following suit from bands like Lankum as their progenitors, you can see the trad Irish folk current generation evolving into bands like Child of Prague as we speak already following in the wake of The Wran, just as they came in the wake of Madra Salach. Like any modern Irish folk band they are destined at some point to do a cover of ‘The Limerick Rake’ and the transition into a darker, almost quasi-gothic feeling that is evoked by the instruments on display really goes down a storm here, completely different again from The Pogue’s iconic version and the in-built sound-system at Rough Trade really works here to its benefit.
Original tunes like ‘Dunford’s March’ get a run out that fit in with trad-songs that make up the bulk of the setlist; and the runaround for songs like ‘Aird ui Chuain’ lead for a memorable highlight when played live, haunting and evoking The Wran’s past and their country. The mix-up of the record into a melting pot allows for a perfectly charged set of songs that would probably go down a storm when deployed later in the week at Lower Third, but here at a record launch show the atmosphere in the crowd is more constrained even for the punkier songs.
The Wran could definitely go in that direction if they wanted to, as is evidenced by setlist closer, ‘Some Say the Devil is Dead’, which goes down a storm in the way it just builds and builds live to a climax that explodes in triumphant, almost industrial folk fashion. These songs help evoke the mood of rural Ireland and old cottages and abandoned homes where you see families that have younger members who have gone to Australia or England in search of a new life, leaving their home counties behind; and ‘The Devil is Dead’ wraps the set by pairing it back with the similar ‘Waterford Boys’ track that really leaves a mark – both tracks cleverly placed at the start and the end of the setlist to give a gung-ho free spirited beginning transition into something that fades away and becomes much darker as The Wran progress. This is evident on track ‘All Kilbrien Are On A Spree’ with its loud, dark opening salvo with a quietly building droning sound in the background - and the intimate atmosphere of Rough Trade creates a sense of closeness that most early festival slots The Wran are likely to be playing at this stage of their career that the outdoors venues with people wandering in by chance can’t hope to match.
It shows the continued evolving relevancy of folk music and its ability to address current topics in the current sphere, the bodhrán, banjo and acoustic guitar really fuse together with added harmonium that blends for a unique atmosphere that few bands can capture. The Wran’s buzzy word of mouth is not an Emperor’s New Clothes situation – they are the real deal, and it’s easy to see why seconds when they come on stage. It won’t be long before venues like The Lower Third and Rough Trade are a distant memory, they will surely follow in the wake of bands twice their size. I used this in my review of ‘The Stone Man’ - but is worth repeating. Who’s to compare to the Waterford Boys? At this time - Probably nobody.
Photography by Harry Proctor @harrproc