A Night Out with… Somebody’s Child
Nine days after being treated to a joyous Johnny Marr performance in the X-TRA, the Zurich faithful could look forward to another night of emotive indie rock. Dublin fivepiece Somebody’s Child, on the back of the release of their second album When Youth Fades Away, are currently touring through Europe and – as frontman Cian Godfrey pointed out – headlined their first show in Switzerland yesterday. With their live shows being widely praised and their recent musical output occupying some of the top spots in this blog’s end-of-year lists (stay tuned for those…), it is fair to say that their performance in Zurich’s Exil club was eagerly anticipated.
A young up-and-coming indie rock band performing as the headline act in the Exil brought up memories of The Sherlocks’ 2019 gig in the same venue. At the time they had just supported Liam Gallagher’s European tour a year prior and had gained acclaim for their debut album as well as good reviews for their follow-up Under Your Sky. Sadly, only around 50 people made it out to their show in the Exil on the night. Albeit still a fun gig (for example Rich playing the air guitar right next to frontman Kiaran Crook), I couldn’t help worrying that we might be seeing the same for Somebody’s Child six years later.
Playing the air guitar with The Sherlocks frontman Kiaran Crook when the South Yorkshire band came to town in 2019.
But thankfully, I needn’t have worried. The venue was packed, the crowd was ready – thanks go out to Swiss artist SENTO, whose dreamy RnB bedroom pop was enjoyable, although I’m not sure it was the ideal choice to warm up an indie rock audience – and out came the band. And the lads came out with a bang, starting us off with When Youth Fades Away’s opening track “The Kid” and “Last Night I Held Your Hand”, one of the record’s lead singles. They followed this up with a dazzling run of songs from both albums, delivering tight and compelling performances throughout. Carried by frontman Cian Godfrey whose passionate vocals are always easy on the ear (even when screamed into the microphone), the band’s catalogue is undoubtedly elevated by the live setting.
Towards the end of the concert in particular, the crowd was fully in Godfrey’s hand as we were bouncing along to “Porcelain”, arguably When Youth Fades Away’s best cut thanks to its riveting chorus and catchy guitar hooks, and “I Need Ya” off the debut album, prompting the frontman to wade into the crowd. The band’s chemistry was on full display for “Give It up to Love” and “Jungle” as electric lead guitar licks collided with the booming rhythm guitar, played by Godfrey (who took turns on electric guitar, acoustic guitar and the tambourine). The night was capped off by the recital of a devastating poem written and delivered by a Palestinian friend of the band’s, followed by their debut album’s closing track “We Could Start A War” – a beautiful, high-octane track that left the crowd hoping for an encore that never came.
The lads from Dublin lived up to the expectations and provided us with a magnificent set. Comparisons to Springsteen, Morrison and Morrissey followed the show, particularly due to Godfrey’s irrepressible performance. We are looking forward to seeing where Somebody’s Child goes next and are sure that we’ll be seeing them headline Zurich again, perhaps even graduating to the city’s bigger venues.
Somebody’s Child performing “Porcelain”