General Ludd - Golcar Huddersfield - Fridays 8.30 pm

Had a great night last friday, over near Huddersfield, I went over to see Kieran Halpin playing at the General Ludd, The Wheel Inn at Golcar.

Here are a few reviews taken from his website:

Live and Kicking (1985) - "... the lack of technical sophistication is more than compensated for by the sheer quality of both the musicianship and the songs themselves...ignore it at your peril!" - Hotpress

Crystal Ball Gazing (1989) - "In Irish contemporary songwriting we are blessed with such luminaries as Brady, Morrison and Jimmy McCarthy. It's about time that Kieran Halpin was admitted to their serried ranks. He is one of the best we've got." - Hotpress

Mission Street (1991) - "... a Van Morrison for the '90s." - Billboard

"Halpin's only claim to fame is that he is writing songs ten times more intelligent than anything you'll hear on MTV" - Sunday Press

"The songs, however, are only part of the story, Halpin, more than most, has a voice that sells the songs. It's unusual for a contemporary songwriter to sound so Irish (Christy Moore apart) and it's rare for anyone to sound so hard. This has the effect of accentuating all the emotions." - Folk Roots

"For myself and my companions it was Halpin who stole the show with an impressive selection of songs which encompassed a diverse range of topics, from the Berlin Wall to homesickness. Kieran captured our hearts with his emotive lyrics and mystic chords and is arguably one of Ireland's most underrated writers. "Too Long Away" is nothing short of sublime." - Olympia Theatre, Dublin 1990

"There is such a physical depth to Kieran's songs that many would take full rock band treatment and lose nothing of the intimacy" - Swansea Folk Club.

Excellent gig, passionate singer songwriter, make sure you see him if you get a chance, he is doing a lot of gigs over here.