June 23^rd, 2015.

When they started playing in local pubs at the end of the 80’s and the beginning of the 90’s, The Cranberries couldn’t just imagine that, 25 years later, they would have become a famous and legendary international band, acclaimed by an audience that joins people from different countries, ages and personal preferences.

After splitting up for the first time in 2003 to work on their solo projects, and getting re-united in 2009, they finished their last tour in 2012, and the changes and rumours over the last year made a lot of people think that maybe this was the last time we would see them working together. Until now. Dolores O’Riordan and Noel Hogan have “buried the hatchet” and performed together in the American TV show, The Bachelorette.

We were looking forward to seeing Dolores in a good mood, looking young, fresh and even thrilled. She’s splendid; her eyes, the mirror of her soul, are shining, and she smiles tenderly and sings with her sweetest voice. A voice that gives us goose bumps when she sings about love, that makes us understand her when she sings about heartbreak, that makes us protest when she sings against injustice, and that makes us believe in her when she says that she loves us.

Dolores looks happy and that’s worth enough, more than all the albums, tours, prizes or success they had. She’s back in Ireland, her homeland, where she was born, where she grew up and became who she is now. She’s singing in a beautiful scene, a cathedral, an atmosphere just like the one where she was singing in the choir when she was child, with hopes and dreams for which she worked hard. She’s getting back to her roots, at least it seems so, for the last few months, and we hope that this is helping her find herself again.

Candle-lit Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin witnessed how Dolores O’Riordan’s extravagant voice joined the magic chords coming from Noel Hogan’s guitar and a string quartet playing a beautiful version of their hit Linger. They made possible what some people wouldn’t have believed: that the hopes and dreams of people brought together by music always “linger”, despite adverse circumstances and the passing of time.

This performance has been short but comforting, new but at the same time a look back in time. Back to those years when two talented teenagers with empty pockets but a mind full of dreams were struggling to make those dreams come true in a country which, today, welcomes them with open arms.

You can watch this magical performance again in the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvmQDxLvjxI&feature=youtu.be