Cranberry Sauce

I think every man, woman, and child enjoys a good bowl of soup. And nothing adds to the pleasure of a bowl of soup better than a fistful of crackers. Soup is good, soup is popular and in the hands of the right chef, a bowl of soup can be an exquisite masterpiece.

The Cranberries gave a performance last Sunday night that was remindful of a good bowl of soup (supported by a solid opening set from Cracker). The group has received a certain amount of critical and popular acclaim, and now with three solid CDs out, they are staking their claim towards that ever so elusive goal of longevity.

At their best the Cranberries create the type of music that Paul McCartney might be creating if he was still into creating very good Beatlesque music. The melodies are lyrical and the lyrics are consistently inspiring. The difference being when McCartney sings the most annoying line ever written in rock music ("Wo wo wo, my love does it good") one wants to scream, "think up something other than the woes, Paul." When Delores O'Riordan does her rather remarkable vocal gymnastics in songs like Dreams and Hollywood, one can't help but be inspired by the ethereal flexibility and the remarkable ability to express heartfelt emotions through the sheer sound of one human's voice.

O'Riordan was a treat to watch. She has a funky way of moving, pacing the stage, alternating between an awkward walk (she was wearing a knee brace) and dancing up a storm. One of the local paper's reviews criticized her performance as being too showy, as she artfully played the audience (most of whom sang along to many of the songs). Of course being a performer and putting on a SHOW does not necessarily mean that the quality of the art has to suffer. Many of the songs came off much better live than they do recorded. Ode to My Family a song that used to get on my nerves a bit was genuinely moving. And Joe which O'Riordan described as a song she wrote remembering what it was like sitting on her grandfather's lap as a little girl, was heart stopping. An early highlight was the second song, Free to Decide, which I knew was being greatly enjoyed by my ticket purchaser (she told me it's her song). My favorite moment from the show was a lilting light version of Patsy Cline's Crazy sung with such feeling that it wasn't hard to imagine a young girl in Ireland listening to that far away voice that matched her own.

The group tends to misstep when they try to make big statements. Thus songs like I Shot John Lennon and Zombie (which O'Riordan introduced by saying that her country, Ireland, has suffered so long at the hands of terrorists, and now America is headed down the same path, and we must stop the madness) tend to show a lack of insight or depth. Writing a song from the perspective of Lennon's killer is a promising premise for a good song, but if you are going to take on such a topic you better at least give it a little more purpose than "what a sad and sorry sickening sight."

O'Riordan is already being constantly compared to Sinead O'Connor because both are female vocalists from Ireland with versatile voices. The pitfalls the Cranberries occasionally fall into is to take themselves too seriously (just like that other Irish group, U2). What separates them from other groups is their ability to write some terrific melodies and express universally felt emotions on a personal level.

Sitting there watching the show I couldn't help but think back to one of my early days at Cheapo when my favorite ex-Cheapo employee asked me, if I could be anyone one in the world who would I be? Off the top of my head I said Smokey Robinson because he seemed like such a happy gentleman. It took many years to change my mind, but I now have a new candidate. As I watched guitarist Noel Hogan spinning his head, totally immersed in the mood of the moment and the music, I thought, that's the guy I wanna be. To be able to create something, whether it is words, sounds, pictures, movements, that can get a crowd full of people sharing the same thoughts and feelings and having the time of their lives at the same time, why hey, that's no small feat. Nothing to sneeze at.