The Cranberries’ Something Else tour has just started. On May 2nd The Cranberries inaugurated the acoustic tour that they will take throughout Europe in the forthcoming months. We travelled to Berlin to be with them on such an important ocassion.

Getting to the Admiralspalast in Berlin is breathtaking; It is one of the most beautiful and welcoming theaters that The Cranberries could have chosen to present such a beautiful show. The evening began with the performance of D.A.R.K. (Olé Koretsky and DJ Wool), which featured some unreleased tracks from their electronic repertoire, such as the groovy “Spirit Animal”. As incarnating the spirit of the 80s, Koretsky moves around the stage as if in slow motion; he distorts his voice and plays with it, sometimes whispering, others drawing more guttural sounds. He might remind some of Keith Richards a bit in his extravagant way of singing and playing the guitar; It is rare, but that is where his uniqueness is, while DJ Wool plays flat out on the mixer sonic table. The big surprise came with “Watch Out”, a song taken from Science Agrees, that made the public go crazy and sing in unison. The group closed their small repertoire thanking the public and the Cranberries fans (besides Cranfans, we are also Koretskiers), thus making way to the kings of the night.

As the tradition establishes, The Cranberries opened the night with “Analyse”, making clear that this is not an acoustic unplugged concert: The presence of percussions and electric guitars take a major role, while the excellent team of musicians who formed the string quartet adds an extra of sensitivity and emotion. “Animal Instinct” sounded beautiful, the staccato of the violins endowed the song with a great intensity and dramatism; “Ridiculous Thoughts” maintained the vocal format in Something Else, although its live version allowed Noel his most distinctive guitar technique, and we enjoyed watching him play with that passion. With powerful riffs and a great command of his instrument, he walks around the stage and writhes, as if the music pierced his skin through his guitar to reach his soul; “Ode To My Family” kept that beautiful violin intro and, like “You And Me”, those soft cadences of violins that give that much sensitivity to those songs that are so special, because of their personal meaning and the affection with which they are received by the audience. As if she wanted her outfit to represent the concept of Something Else and the format of the concert, Dolores chose for the occasion an elegant lace dress and a velvet jacket that contrasted with her big buckle boots. Around the third song she got rid of her boots and continued the concert barefoot; shee moved on the stage with the freedom with which one would walk around their house. The stage is her house, it has seen her grow. Thus she was able to move freely around the stage with songs that made the crowd go crazy and chant in unison: It was the case of “Wanted”, “Can’t be with you”, “Zombie” or “Salvation”. The Cranberries were euphoric; It was seen in Noel’s passion and devotion; In Mike’s permanent smile, in the complicity that the musicians hold between each another, and between them and the audience.

The magic came in the encore: Sitting on a footstool that presided the stage, and accompanied only by the acoustic guitar, the bass and the string quartet, Dolores opened the encore with “Why” and thanked us “known faces” for having been with them that night. With that touch of the era of Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?, and those lyrics written during the most difficult time after the death of her father, Dolores extends her arms and cries out to heaven when she chants that “Why?”, which gives a strong drama to a song that already has a significant emotional load; something difficult to express in words. She looks at the sky with teary eyes and sings the chorus in a thin voice. Dolores gets emotional and feels her songs because she opens her heart in them; Few people have that much truth in their singing, very few have that sensitivity and that gift of being able to transmit that much in such few words. I can’t hold back the tears anymore; There are no words to describe something so beautiful.  The acoustic set continued with “The Glory”, one of the greatest jewels of Something Else, a song that seems to be taken from Bury The Hatchet. Dolores has changed the sweetness of the final choirs by a slight cooing, and the song still transmits those feelings that are able to touch your heart and caress your soul. We come back from that parallel dimension to which Dolores has taken us and the guitars and percussions return, to make the finishing touch: “Dreams” closes an unforgettable concert, the end of something beautiful that has just begun.
You can watch our videos on our youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLroSxU_tuyL4YYT0EyOItDJ58k_72L2iu
The Cranberries will be touring Europe during the months of May, June, July and August. They present an eclectic and innovative show, where the classic mixes with rock, the strength of guitars with the intensity of the string. A wonderful show that more than a concert, it is an experience itself.