Oliver Nolan
Staff Writer
Trinity Orchestra don’t just play pop music. As their concert programme attests, they are’ first and foremost a classical ensemble’. Nevertheless, since the success of the Daft Punk concert last February, buoyed by a popular viral video of its encore, the national status of this occasional pop ensemble has grown enormously. Well-received renditions of Arcade Fire and Pink Floyd songs and appearances on festival stages have since cemented the event-concert nature of their performances. This Fresher’s Week, they kick-started another year with an expansion of the Stevie Wonder set debuted at last year’s Trinity Ball – presumably because most people either missed or can’t remember it – to a full set.
The Exam Hall is surprisingly a little less than full. A lot of those in attendance tonight are regulars at these events, and one might put the relative decline of interest – well attended vs. immediate sell-out as with previous concerts – down to the possible lack of crossover appeal in Wonder’s canon. While only a fool would claim to dislike Stevie Wonder, he might not be widely held with the same regard as some of the all-time greats, his songs not an obvious choice for the full orchestra treatment. The tantalising prospect of a fully orchestrated Dark Side of the Moon, the once off appeal of the Daft Punk concerts, make tonight’s concert feel a bit less momentous in comparison. The free-wheeling melodic funk of the material makes for a very different atmosphere indeed, but it’s one of joyous celebration, the timeless quality of the songs shining through, done justice by the fantastic transposition and arrangement by Alex Ryan and Peter Joyce.
After a slightly nervous start frontloaded with two of Wonder’s biggest hits, ‘Uptight’ and ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered’, the ensemble begin to relax into the material. Tremolo strings seamlessly build a bridge between ‘For Once in My Life’ and ‘Living for the City’, and from here things kick up a gear. The brass section shines throughout, providing an energetic backbone to the songs, even if on occasion they threaten to drown out the uniformly excellent vocalists. ‘You Haven’t Done Nothing’s call and response climax is replicated with aplomb by the more than capable band, and the closing salvo of ‘Sir Duke’ and ‘I Wish’ draw the main set to a triumphant close. Departing drummer Fiachra Kinder and guitarist Rob Kearns are toasted for their excellent contributions and awarded with naturally, free booze. As the orchestra round off the evening with Wonder’s mega-hit ‘Superstition’, patches of the crowd abandon their seats, dancing in the aisles, overcome by the music. Or maybe they’re a bit locked. Or both.
So what might our orchestra try their hands at next? They don’t just play pop music, when it’s as good as this, you almost wish they did.
Note: In my review of Trinity Orchestra’s Pink Floyd performance, I mistakenly credited lead guitar on Daft Punk’s Aerodynamic to Rob Kearns. It was in fact Barry O’ Halpin. Apologies to both for my obvious lack of research.
