Live Review: The Cranberries – 20th May 2017 – London Palladium, London
4 min read
Ireland’s darlings of pop rock, The Cranberries, returned to London this weekend to present to fans some of their career defining hits that have recently been given a new lease on life. Since the bands early nineties breakthrough, the four-piece have remained consistent in their delivery of impeccable studio releases and memorable stage shows; releasing records every several years and performing around the world to a fan-base who have never grown tiresome of their signature rock-edged pop hits or impatient of their sometimes lengthy hiatuses.
Having released a retrospective hits collection recently in the orchestral shape of Something Else – a collection of some of the bands biggest hits, re-recorded with the help of the Irish Chamber Orchestra – the band are now taking the collection on the road to present to fans in an intimate live setting. Tickets were picked up very quickly for these exclusive shows and we were lucky enough to be among the audience at last nights performance at the famous and eloquent London Palladium.
The Cranberries were in high spirits as they were greeted by a sold out London Palladium audience; emerging on stage at 9pm following a support set provided by up and coming rockers D.A.R.K, who warmed the crowd up with a 9-song set.
As lead singer Delores, dressed comfortably in black leggings, colourful pumps and a printed black sweater, and her 3 fellow band members took to the stage, the greatest hits flowed generously; an enviable set list to hear at a Cranberries show with the majority of the bands singles being played at one point or another during the evening.
The bands performance was complimented by a subtle yet very effective 4-piece string section that played side by side with the Irish quartet. Their contribution to the bands set was most prominent on some of the key numbers performed during the night; early career hits like Linger and Ode To My Family providing the strings ample opportunity to shine as they propelled two of the bands most iconic ballads along with a full, richer sound beneath the bands seasoned instrumentation. While the band took the reigns on tracks including Wanted and I Can’t Be With You, the strings also provided a beautiful dressing to the stripped back acoustic encore which included new songs Why, The Glory and Rapture which sat confidently amongst the bands heavyweight singles.
With the set containing a mix of old and new, it was the outfits most celebrated hits that garnered the band with the biggest responses from the crowd; Linger had the crowd singing along with the eccentric front woman while Ode To My Family, Free To Decide, Zombie and set closer Dreams injected a heavy dose of nostalgia and excitement into the London crowd.
Gripping her microphone with both hands and pacing the stage from side to side for the majority of the night, Delores’ interaction with the crowd was kept to a minimum; a thank you here and there and a band introduction was all that was heard from the Irish rocker between belting out the hits to her fans. A shaky start to Salvation also threw the singer off guard before quickly getting herself back on track to warrant a thunderous applause from the audience. Her band made up for her slight detachment during the set however, especially lead guitarist and co-songwriter Noel Hogan who dominated the stage with his exuberance and impressive guitar work on each song performed within the set.
Despite a couple of shaky moments during the bands 90 minute performance, The Cranberries were on top form as they brought one of the most celebrated Irish songbooks to London fans, and from the applause they were given throughout the night, we can only hope its not too long before the four-piece return to deliver another nostalgically rich set to the UK capital.
Setlist:
Analyse
Animal Instinct
Linger
Just My Imagination
Ode to My Family
Wanted
When You’re Gone
Free to Decide
Loud and Clear
I Can’t Be With You
Conduct
Desperate Andy
Salvation
Ridiculous Thoughts
Zombie
Encore:
Why
The Glory
Rupture
You and Me
Dreams
::: RenownedForSound.com’s Editor and Founder –
Interviewing and reviewing the best in new music and globally recognized artists is his passion.
Over the years he has been lucky enough to review thousands of music releases and concerts and interview artists ranging from top selling superstars like 27-time Grammy Award winner Alison Krauss, Boyz II Men, Roxette, Cyndi Lauper, Lisa Loeb and iconic Eagles front man/songwriter, Glenn Frey through to more recent successes including Newton Faulkner, Janelle Monae and Caro Emerald.
Brendon manages and coordinates the amazing team of writers on RenownedForSound.com who are based in the UK, the U.S and Australia.
