It has been just shy of two years since the Paper Kites last played in Dublin. Back then the venue was Vicar Street and the band was comprised of eight musicians on the night, the regular five-piece augmented by members of The Roadhouse Band. The show was centred around the release of At the Roadhouse and included seven songs from the album. It was a very special illustration of the quiet power that the band has harnessed over many years of touring and playing together, blended with understated interaction that was a joy to experience in such a perfect listening venue.
Tonight the band is commencing a tour in support of the current release IF YOU GO THERE, I HOPE YOU FIND IT and they perform six of the new songs taken from the album. Any band needs to change and grow over the arc of a career, and there are always influences at play in the dynamic of what presents itself onstage. Sam Bentley is the lead vocalist and guitar player, with the songs he writes a defining influence on the persona of the band. There is a sweetly tinged feeling of melancholy that runs through the song arrangements with the melodies conjuring up a sense of reverie in the laid-back delivery. However, over a set that includes sixteen songs, the pace doesn’t change very much and at times there is the impression that the band is performing with the brakes on.
Given that the gear they cruise in is very appealing, and creates a sense of quiet calm, there is the risk that everything becomes just a little bit one-paced in the delivery. In fairness, there is the new arrangement of Black and Thunder that lifts things into a different scenario, and the extended link from Bleed Confusion into Without Your Love adds a different colour in the performance, but somehow the return to a reflective, yearning ambience somewhat restricts the show from really catching fire and taking off. Sam Bentley has a vocal timbre that rests in the higher register and this defines a certain trait in the overall sound; something that soothes in the gentle delivery but also restricts a wider palette of musical exploration.
The band is really superb throughout, even if the visits to a communal mike don’t always work across the set, together with a visit to the ground floor of the venue for an acoustic number that left three band members temporarily redundant onstage, while the song performance was lost to the audience who were placed on the balconies above. There were three occasions when the band gathered around the front-of-stage microphone; beginning with the opening Morning Gum from the new album, continued on Deep (In the Plans We Made) into the set, and concluding with the ever-popular Bloom as part of the two-song encore. Does this approach always work? Maybe in a smaller, more intimate venue, but here it just serves to break up the natural flow of the concert. There is also an acoustic duet with the impressive support act Bess Atwell joining Sam on co-vocals on the song Dearest which appeared on the ROSES album from 2021.
The concert was somewhat compromised by the failing light show, with the stage plunged into total darkness at intervals, something that didn’t lend to the cohesion of the performance. No doubt, such glitches will be ironed out as the tour continues and the band is very genuine in their comments of the joy experienced in playing to an Irish audience over their previous visits to our shores.
Over the setlist, the band revisit eight of their releases, dating back to 2011. It’s a very generous approach in trying to include stops at a number of signposts along their successful career path and the enthusiastic crowd are very fulsome in their reaction to the song selections. Tonight, the band of six members comprises Sam Bentley (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Christina Lacy (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Josh Bentley (drums, percussion), David Powys (guitars, banjo, lap steel), Sam Rasmussen(bass guitar, synthesizers), and Chris Panousakis (pedal steel, guitar, mandolin, percussion).
I get the sense that David Powys could be let loose just a little bit more to express his obvious talents on lead guitar, his intuitive playing is a real highlight, plus the multi-skilled Chris Panousakis should now be a key element to the band sound into the future. His pedal steel adds a subtle and sublime element in the overall atmosphere that is so much a part of the sound, and so gently delivered. The Paper Kites remain a firm favourite, the inventive ensemble delivering so much reward in their intuitive playing. It’s as much the space between the notes that creates their special resonance and my wish is that they develop this sound into new dimensions as they move inexorably forward.
Review by Paul McGee. Photos courtsey of Anne Power.