Live review Niall Kerr Mid Ulster Mail
He looks for all the world like he was always meant to be on his own, as if the stage secretly belonged to Gribbin.
Now as Joe Echo, Gribbin has been given that freedom, a freedom which means we now have a future legend on our hands.
And last Thursday, Brysons was over run with a huge crowd of fans, well wishers and family members all eager to get a listen to this mysterious new performer.
Support slots were thought out too and it was Cork man Eoin Coughlan and another Gribbin, Younger brother john, who decided to get the crowd warmed up and rather sweetly too I might add…
The main man followed soon after, and began solo for the first half anyway.
Leys' "lets pretend" fired proceedings off and if any track makes best use of Mr echo’s voice it is with out a doubt this one.
Performed with equally as much passion and ability in solo format, he plays about with 'new toys' making echoes and other sounds cut in and out but it’s the sheer power and range of his natural voice that captivates the crowd.
And then with barely enough time to catch our breath, never mind his, "Personal Alcatraz" emerges and takes tonight’s top spot and refuses to budge throughout.
A Perfect slice of contemporary experimental/pop bursting in equal measures with emotion – 'one mans little island of hope is another mans personal Alcatraz'. Download from I tunes….now!
From there we see a whole new side to Gribbin/Echo (not sure what to call him yet!) as he takes a go at the keyboard for a dance track befitting of any sweaty Saturday nightclub.
It soon emerges that he’s doing much of this tonight as an experiment, trying to find his post-Leya feet by trying out new and exciting “toys�? as he refers to them.
And that aint a bad thing - probably because none of it goes wrong. Granted this is relatively a small crowd from what he will go on to perform in front of again but if he keeps this high standard up it wont take him that long.
From there he is joined by Coughlan as they take to “butchering�? each other’s songs. We hear new songs written in the past few weeks by both but the highlight goes to Gribbin again when he pulls out ‘Tilly’s Cowboy’.
A Tale of easier times of growing up, the toys are in full swing, vocals are coming from every direction and while it may not beat ‘Alcatraz�? its still the best way to wrap things up.
Glad I got to see him in the small hometown gig, might be a while before he is back.
