Hothouse Flowers at Warwick Arts Centre
Hothouse Flowers, Warwick Arts Centre, Friday 5 May.
Preview.
Hothouse Flowers are an Irish rock band that combine traditional Irish music with influences from soul, gospel and rock. Starting out on Dublin’s streets in 1985 they went on to product the most successful debut lbum in Irish history, reaching No 1 in Ireland and No 2 in the UK. Over the years they have separated and got back together, producing new songs and touring, as well as pursuing solo careers.
It seems that something amazing happens when Hothouse Flowers step onto the stage – something shaped by over 30 years of singing and playing all over the world, with no two shows ever the same!
There is a sense of musical adventure, an impulse to reach new heights and depths in music, where the unspoken aim is that the band and the audience become one, and the world becomes a different place for a while.
Ireland's Hothouse Flowers released their first single, Love Don't Work This Way, in 1986, on U2's Mother Records label, with their debut album - People - hitting number one in their native Ireland, and becoming the most successful debut album in Irish music.
In the UK, the album hit number two, powered by the Top 20 success of Don't Go. Ten years of chart success followed, thanks to tracks such as I'm Sorry, Give It Up, and I Can See Clearly Now, and albums Home and Songs From The Rain.
But it's live where their reputation has been sealed.
Having cut their teeth playing Dublin's late-night clubs, they're a formidable live act with a now grand repertoire that allows improvisation to take at any point, as the band express their brightest and their darkest influences.
Liam Ó Maonlaí (vocals, keyboards), Fiachna Ó Braonáin (guitar, vocals) and Peter O'Toole (bass) are traditional musicians at heart.
Allowing for moments of ancestral connection, they can go from a Doors-like musical workout one minute, to an earnest and timeless offering to the memory of Currachaí na Tra Báine the next, setting 'The Flowers' apart from almost every other band.
Hothouse Flowers are a rock'n’roll band. But they're a traditional band, a soul band, a jam band, and more.
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