The National Stadium is packed out for Jasper Attlee’s Berlioz project and its unique fusion of house and jazz. The warm up act, and boy did we need warming up on a chilly Dublin February night, was Usher Lavelle, who mixed relaxed tunes in style perhaps more suited to a summer afternoon barbecue in a chilled out cocktail bar than the wintry climes of the South Circular road.
Attlee and his band come on, shrouded in red light, and he stands behind his desk. But he doesn’t seem particularly interested to acknowledge that we’re there. You can’t quite dance to it. There’s no words to sing along to. Attlee doesn’t say anything. By 10pm a fair number have drifted away; maybe this is the wrong kind of venue for this kind of thing, or maybe it just works better in the recorded form.
Usher Lavelle photos:
Berlioz photos:
Photos and words – Ian Davies @shootspeedkilllight