Gig Reviews

The Evening Herald (Vicar Street, Dublin)

It's a rare thing these days to go to a gig and be blown away by an act that leaves you dazed and confused about the whole experience.

Nevertheless, that was the abiding impression after seeing Jack Lukeman. That and his all-black attire (even his signature acoustic guitar matched his dark, spiky locks). "Feel free to sing along" chuckled the Athy man. "But preferably in the right tune, and preferably the same song that I am singing!"

Performing classics along with belters from his latest album Broken Songs, Lukeman was soon making his way through an excited crowd and climbed onto one of the tables on the floor. Armed with nothing but a small accordion, he asked for total silence and launched into what was probably the most surreal moment of the entire night. "This is the way they used to do it back in the 1800s," laughed the man, with a voice that penetrates you like a bullet.

Back on stage, the rock show truly got off to a start when every seat of the venue was ignored when Jack sang Folsom Prison Blues and Gnarls Barkley's Crazy.

Returning for one last encore, he kept everybody captivated again as he sailed through Hallelujah completely unaccompanied. Tears were shed and spines were tickled. I am still baffled as to what I saw and heard, but I know it was something special.

CHRIS WASSER Evening Herald, Herald AM.

The Examiner (Rosin Dubh, Galway)

If you were cranky about such matters you may have found one or two of the venues at this year's arts festival less than absolutely ideal for some of the music on offer, but the recently extended (and still intimate) Roisin Dubh was the ideal setting for the talented Mr. Lukeman, who can temper his powerful voice to fit the demands of a room with a low ceiling and a 'whites of their eyes' type proximity to the audience.

Interestingly, the singer had to enter the room via a back door that can only be accessed from the alley which runs along the nearby canal; a little idiosyncrasy in the new design, that chimes perfectly with the demimonde influence of L. Dressed head to toe in regulation black, the singer started things off quietly enough with Broken Songs, strumming his guitar and crooning the chorus that served as a manifesto of sorts: "I'll fire up my voice and sing you these broken songs".

Things were then cracked up when the four-piece band of cello, bass, guitar and drums joined him to fill the place with stories of defiance, lust and life's seedy underbelly. Open Your Borders has blossomed into a great belter that shows off Jack's musical DNA (Scott Walker, Jacques Brel, Tom Waits) while remaining his own man; I've been Raining and Georgie Boy blew the roof off, as did a smashing cover of Gnarles Barkley's ubiquitous Crazy.

The encores were fantastic too, with Brel's Jacky and the finale, Rooftop Lullaby proving that Jack L does quiet and loud with equal aplomb. Just brilliant.

By Enda Kilroy

The Irish Independent (The Olympia Theatre)

Jack Lukeman - aka Jack L - is perhaps the most singular talent to have emerged from Ireland in the past decade. Although he loathes the comparisons, the Athy man's spellbinding performances recall a blend of Frank Sinatra, Jacques Brel, Scott Walker and Nick Cave.

His Little Universe tour from 2001 provided some of the most arresting live experiences from an Irish act in years - and helped make him a cult on the Edinburgh Festival scene. His unprecedented 69 consecutive cabaret shows in Dublin two years later, is a record unlikely to be broken any time soon.

Lukeman's new album, Broken Songs, has just been released and offers further compelling evidence of his vocal prowess. It's a more stripped back affair than his more theatrical past work and this Dublin show reflected a new, spartan direction. Gone were the feather boas, garish make up and elaborate stage props. Instead, we got Lukeman without the mask where the music could speak for itself.

The new songs certainly held their own alongside old favourites. Broken Songs and Open Your Borders were greeted like long-lost friends - and Lukeman, aided by his fine five-piece band crooned along as passionately and evocatively as ever.

There was a wonderful moment half way through when he dispensed with his band and walked to the side of the stage to play a concertina and sing without amplification. Few would have had the nerve to try it. Fewer still would have succeeded. Has a packed Olympia ever been silenced quite as reverentially as this?

They crowd were suitably boisterous for two of his more rousing compositions, Little Man and Georgie Boy. Lukeman had everybody on their feet - and eating out of his hand.

The Irish Independent (John Meagher)

The Irish Times (The Lisburn Arts Centre)

Jack L's voice can best be described as an iron fist in a velvet glove but he leaves you punch drunk in a most enjoyable way.
Snuggling up to his audience in the intimate surroundings of the small black box theatre in the Island Arts Centre, Jack is like a musical magician.
His set was brilliant and mesmerising and everyone left the theatre not quite knowing how he did it. Now that is real magic!
Showcasing tracks from his new album Broken Songs, released last month, and including some old favourites in his set, this artist proved that he is going from strength to strength and like a good red wine he just gets better with age.

He is definitely genre defying and to try to pigeon hole him as crooner or storytelling troubadour is a pointless exercise.
Jack's voice and stage presence are his main selling points. His voice is three- dimensional in that he can go from a seducing whisper to an internal organ-shaking operatic top note effortlessly. His impish, coy malevolence casts an unbreakable spell over his audience and if you experience his show once you won't easily forget it. That's why this guy sold out the Spirit Club in Dublin for three consecutive months!

He may be less well known in the north, but after a number of high-profile appearances on RTE and an opening number in front of thousands at a recent international rugby match, Jack L's band wagon is transforming into a juggernaut that no one will be able to ignore.
He has had a long association with classic Belgian singer/songwriter Jacques Brel but this new show marks a departure for Jack in many ways as he is now including more of his own songs in his set.

He has proved himself an accomplished songwriter and the self-penned songs from his new album explore themes of love, loss and lust. All the things that Jack is emblematic of.

He has just embarked a quite an extensive tour around Ireland to promote his new album and the gigs that he has performed so far have mainly been in lively pubs. So it was a bit of a shock to the system for both audience and performer to be confined to the much more civilised and sedate surroundings of the Island Arts Centre.
However, as a true professional with years of stage experience he quickly won over a somewhat reticent and reserved audience and literally had them dancing in the aisles by his last encore.

He brings his amazing show to the Empire Music Hall in Belfast on May 17 and my advice is get tickets now and go along and experience this musical force of nature for yourself.

The Irish Times 2006 (Joanna Braniff)