Gig Review - Guilfest 2004

What better way to kick off the Saturday than to see The Twelve Sullivans thumping out their footstomping Irish music on the Uncut stage. A surprisingly large crowd made it out of bed in time for the start, and upon hearing their rousing songs & tunes, it quickly grew to one of the largest of the afternoon. Lead singer Jeff Ingarfield looked as though he’d had a liquid breakfast & was in sparkling form. His powerful vocals and thrashing guitar were a potent combination.

Once a few technical difficulties were overcome, Chris Goddard’s dazzling fiddle playing had the audience enthralled. The set began impressively and just got better and better, climaxing with superb acapela harmonies on “I’ll Tell Me Ma” followed by a manic intrumental that left the crowd screaming for more.

This was a fine GuilFest debut full of energy & humour, which could only have been improved by being later in the day. That way the crowd would have had a chance to drink as much as the band !

Whenever you hear people speak of The Twelve Sullivans it always seems to be accompanied by words like “Brilliant” and “Fantastic”. When I saw them open the Uncut Stage at Guilfest on Saturday I understood exactly why. They take traditional Irish songs and tunes and play them with an energy, intensity and speed which is just breathtaking.

Jeff, the charismatic frontman and guitarist, has a great voice which shone through right from the start on their opener, the Greenland Whale Fisheries. Their set was great, moving effortlessly through Star of the County Down and All For me Grog, and building up to a tremendous South Australia. You could almost hear the roaring winds and crashing waves, as Chris whirled and leapt whilst playing lightning fiddle (How does he do that?). The crowd loved it and danced into a frenzy with the closing version of Tell me Ma, which featured a pounding bodhran solo from Nigel, a cross between a drummer and Conan the Barbarian.

I was so impressed I bought a CD and T-shirt straight after the gig – and they’re both Brilliant; and Fantastic.
Pictures of the gig here