By: Deirdre Bones

Just recently, Irish rockers Bell X1 returned to New York City for their second New York show of the year, attempting to duplicate in the US some of the sell-out success that they have enjoyed in Ireland and the UK at the Highline Ballroom. Bell X1 was born out of the remaining members of Juniper, following a bust up between their lead singer Damien Rice and Juniper’s label. Rice went off to Spain to tend sheep and find himself (I couldn’t make this stuff up) and Juniper’s drummer Paul Noonan took over lead vocals creating Bell X1. The band is known for crafting unusual lyrics, not unlike Rice, but with catchy radio-friendly hooks. In Ireland, they have built their reputation upon being a must see live band and have amassed a fiercely loyal following. After initial limited success, they released Flock in late 2005 which debuted at number one on the Irish album charts and garnered excellent reviews at home and in the U.K.

Bell X1 have toured the US twice this year on the back of their new album Blue Lights On The Runway. Unfortunately, I fear that their Highline show will not win over any new fans. When Bell X1 last came through in March, they seemed on the cusp of something big with several late night talk show bookings and tickets to their shows selling well. However, this show had a very different atmosphere. Fellow Irishman David Hopkins opened the night, putting on a good show and developing a good rapport with the crowd. American outfit Wild Lights took over from there with an all out rock set. Coming to the stage an hour later than billed, Bell X1 seemed disorganized and unprepared. Their instruments seemed to be all over the place and they were having difficulties with the sound system.

Noonan’s characteristic dance moves were on full display and shortly into the set, they broke the news that their cowbell had been stolen two days earlier, they improvised as best they could with a small drum which didn’t really have the desired effect. Although Bell X1’s music and performance are usually energetic and smooth, this performance was uncoordinated to the point of disorganized and messy. They seemed to be really badly prepared for this show with lead Paul Noonan doing various acrobatic stunts trying to get to an instrument while still singing into his microphone.

They tried to strike up a rapport with the crowd with a few anecdotes such as telling the story behind the writing of Chic’s disco song “Le Freak” and going into a performance of it which may not have been fully appreciated. Unfortunately, this audience afforded them only sporadic attention when a song they recognized appeared which did not help matters, although they did come to full throat for an encore. The band played a smattering of older favorites, “Rocky Took A Lover,” “Flame,” “Eve Is The Apple Of My Eye” as well as much of their more recent, more electronic material. It seems that Bell X1 is in transition from their older more soulful ballads to their more recent foray into a more electronic type sound and perhaps it’s the confusion of trying something new that led to a performance that felt erratic and disorganized.

Labels: Bell XI