Kennedy's Mishneach fest brings diverse sounds

It may have been St. Patrick's Day in Boston plus one, but given the nature of the celebration in Beantown, the day after worked just as well at least from a musical standpoint.

And a most special night it was given that this was the first of two nights of Irish singer Dermot Kennedy's Misneach festival in the U.S., spread across two continents (it stopped in Sydney, Australia on Sunday) in only four days.

The festival was a chance to showcase (for the most part) Irish talent curated by Kennedy and for fans to simply enjoy music during difficult times on the world stage. Mishneach means "courage" in Irish, and that Kennedy and the performers had that.

The sold-out show at the small club got underway with the only non-Irish performer of the night, Hollan, from Huntsville, Ala. She was selected by Kennedy after a competition. Good choice because Hollan's pretty voice carried her through her 20-minute set.

Hollan almost seemed shocked to be there as she told the crowd she's used to playing before 25 people, not the approximately 500 in attendance. She belonged.

In sharp contrast was the all-female rock quartet Florence Road from Wicklow, Ireland. Led by lead singer Lily Aron, Florence Road powered through their stint in a muscular outing. Aron went from soft to snarling to forcefully belting it out with her band capably backing her up musically and at times vocally. There was a lot to like about the band.

Kennedy continued showing the different sonics with Sorcha Richardson, who was on the pop side. Richardson came through with a surfeit of songs that were pleasing to the ears.

Richardson would not be accused of being edgy a la Florence Road, but, hey, Irish bands know how to play pop music too!

Mick Flannery was the headliner, and it was easy to see why Kennedy slotted him as they are roughly from the same singer/songwriter territory. Like Kennedy, Flannery has a commanding voice. One suspects that his voice was typically even better than he showed because after nearly every song, he was coughing, but he managed to soldier on with his health issue having minimal impact.

Flannery, had a trio backing him with his electric guitarist supply the musical edge. But the focus remained on Flannery and his gentle, honest set of songs that reached deep.

Kennedy was explicitly not supposed to play the club show, although that proved not be the case. False advertising was most welcome because the singer was on stage with Flannery for the final four songs.

Kennedy was the reason people came from far and wide (at least two came from other countries: two 20-something women came from Cancun, Mexico and Potsdam, Germany specifically for the two Boston shows), and though unexpected, he did not let anyone down.

Kennedy has a lively, emotive baritone that was simply owned the songs. While he obviously was a far bigger name than anyone else who would be on stage this night, he would not be accused of hogging the limelight either. For the close of the night, everyone who performed came out on stage.

"I do find an awful lot of purpose in this," Kennedy told the crowd beforehand. "Nowadays to have a career is fucken brutal...You're kind of constantly talking about yourself and constantly look at this and look at this and look at this thing I did. I think there's so much value in us here actually playing. "

"I think...this room and this event gives me this nice feeling where I had with the first music that I realized," he said.

Kennedy resisted committing to doing the festival again although he was asked. "This was nice, you know?," he told the crowd. "I think there's a lot to be said for not worrying about the outcome of something."

Kennedy and company ended with the traditional "The Parting Glass," about friends saying good bye to a guest. A fitting end to a night of diverse music, enjoyed together.