19
MAY
2017

THE CRANBERRIES IN BELFAST: RUPTURE IN THE HEART

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I have always said that The Cranberries concerts are an experience that everyone should try, at least once. But the Something Else tour brings together all the ingredients to repeat such an experience as many times as possible. On Wednesday they lighted their shine again, in Belfast, for more than 2,000 people at the Waterfront Hall Center.

The D.A.R.K. show Live PA opened the night as usual. Olé Koretsky and DJ Wool give us a taste of an incredible and very personal version of “China Girl” by Iggy Pop and David Bowie, introduce some unreleased tracks from their repertoire, or rescue “Miles Away” and “Watch Out” from Science Agrees, the most greatly acclaimed. Their extravagant performance transported us for almost an hour to the 80s; the show always seems so short, it is too good; they are too good.

After a brief break between performance and performance, the lights turn off and the intro begins. The attendants’ impatient cries are heard, and the full band of The Cranberries together with the string quartet hit the stage one by one, acclaimed by their audience, whose wildness grows more and more at every second. Dolores hits the stage in last place and makes the madness unleash. She expresses her happiness for playing in Belfast that night and the audience melts into applause and cheers.

One of the problems with seated venues is how to remain seated. The guards expect you to do so; Most of the audience expects you to do so; But for those of us who were kids in the 90s, who have grown up with The Cranberries and have been touring with them for 10 years: how to stay seated when that unrestrained “Salvation” intro explodes, or when “Desperate Andy” sounds and your feet move on their own; Or while right in front of you Noel Hogan is playing flat out the most powerful guitar riffs in “Ridiculous Thoughts”. We cannot avoid the jumping, the headbanging, the kicking and the stepping; It is not us, it’s the music that moves us. We end up on the floor, dancing on our knees so as not to disturb the people.

The surprise came from the hand of “Zombie”, the anthem of a whole generation, the song that gets the audience leave their seats and some even start to dance. Moved by the influence of electric guitars, such a familiar music, such a meaningful letter especially that night when we are in Northern Ireland, or perhaps even moved by the memories of the 90’s that “Zombie” always brings back, a woman crosses the security fence to shake hands with Dolores. The guards do not take long to run to the place, but our Dolores does not hesitate to raise her to the stage and invite her to sing with her. That’s why we love you, Dolores. That’s why you deserve a little bit of happiness and love that you always try to give everyone else. That’s why you’re the best, and not just because we fans say so. Great ideas have been the inclusion of the already classic “Loud and Clear” and of course, the impressive “Rupture” in the encore: Johanna opens the song with that chilling piano intro before the solemn silence of the whole audience, that minutes before had left their throats chanting the greatest hits by the band. It is impressive the stillness with which Dolores interprets this song, it is impressive her torn voice when she sentences “Ruptured to hole in my heart”, and it is impressive the silence, everything is impressive. That little acoustic set formed by “Rupture”, “Why” and “The Glory” is undoubtedly the most emotional and sentimental moment of the night. It is when we really let go of the madness unleashed by the songs of our life to immerse ourselves in the inner world of The Cranberries. We now have to hold the tears, we stopped listening with the ears to do it with the heart. The soft cadences of violins, viola and cello of the string quartet add a special magic to that beautiful universe to which The Cranberries invite us in these three songs. It is too beautiful an experience to try to express it with words. As in every concert, the night is closed with “Dreams”; It is a classic, the most suitable and perfect song to close the night, and the public is back in ecstasy. It is the first song that gets to make the whole room stand up and sing in unison, and many people join us in the front row. Dolores walks along the edge of the stage to shake hands with us: sometimes she has to stretch a lot but she does not give up, she winks her eye to me and then it is when we get hold hands; She holds my hand for a while and smiles at me as she sings. I put my hands in the shape of a heart to say “I love you” and she dedicates me her cutest reaction. Here you can see our videos of D.A.R.K show. And The Cranberries:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49XxYdWFThc&index=1&list=PLroSxU_tuyL4G3eioMOcfX3g8fx1lccX7

The concert is over; the stage is empty, lights go on in the Waterfront Centre and the crowded venue is now just a collection of empty seats and security guards cleaning the remains of a night that ruptured a hole in our heart that, instead of hurting, it made us dream.

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