Live Review: Jinx Lennon and Captain Moonlight
2008-02-11
Artist: Jinx Lennon and Captain Moonlight
Source: Paddy Murphy
The Sugar Club is one of those kind of, ya know, intimate venues, which is a bit strange for me. It's gonna feel a bit weird sitting down watching one man rapping about hurling and body parts and then another one viciously attacking society and modern day culture and a fuckin' lot more besides. I'd love to be standing up at the stage but I'd be the only fucker in the place doing it and I not that brazen.
Kilkenny rapper Captain Moonlight opens for Jinx Lennon tonight. He begins his set with ¡°The Ditch¡± a tale of lust, booze and riding in a ditch. Wicked. At the beginning of the gig Mr. Moonlight seems a bit weary of the crowd but by the end of the opener, he looks right a home on the stage. He gets so comfortably that he treats them to a new number ¡°The Blind¡± from his forth coming third album, ¡°Agroculture Part 3¡±. He says he's not very original and he's just gonna do a trilogy and then ¡° probably take a break and come back with something completely different, still hip-hop orientated but something different¡±.
This chap's a bit special, he can spit lyrics with bile about modern day politics on ¡°Party People¡± or lamenting on his lack of ability to sleep because of his uncontrollable OCD. ¡±Was it a Good Day?¡± is a tip-of-the-hat to Scary Eire if ever there was one and sure why the hell not. But like all Kilkenny Cats he's in his element yapping on ¡°Now we're Hurlin'¡±. Drinkin', ridin', hurlin' and politics are the themes for the Captain tonight. ¡°Superhorros¡± claims he's been drinking for seven weeks, met his girlfriend in week 4, and ¡°tonight's the night we forget tomorrow¡±. There's a comment in there about our need to drink to escape the realities of Celtic Tiger bolloxology but fuck that for now, coz Moonlight's more interested in last night's kebab. The man himself finishes with auld reliable ¡°Dirty Cunts¡±, ¡°I'm fuckin' sick of this song, but sure I do it anyway¡± he says later to me after the gig. ¡°Telling us the truth is really a cunt¡±. Golden.
I made a massive blunder concerning Jinx Lennon coz I thought I knew what to expect but by two songs into the set I'm rooted to my seat and I'm hooked on every single word. By my count and I could well be wrong here, Jinx played around 22 songs and that's good value for you're hard earned yo-yos.
Jinx is well at home on the stage. And you don't know what to expect from him. One minute he's ranting on about too many houses being built, you're (what should be) God-given right to stab some fucker in the face if he enters your house, to do a bit of thieving. Or he's on about lonely single men living in his native Dundalk. Or immigration, or prostitution, owners of chip-shops, happy places in your head, or religious shrines. And he's well into his social issues too, ¡°Stand up for your Hospitals¡± is a call to arms to do as the title says. There's a tongue-in-cheek tribute to all the old R¨¢ heads on forkhill in the lookout posts watching re-runs of ¡°Only Fools & Horses¡± or old pornos.
You can tell by his body language that he doesn't give tuppence about what most people think of him but he's not cocky either. He's a proper seancha¨ª, a punk, a poet, a troubadour and fuckin nutjob to boot. But he's more than all these things too, he can play the crowd and he obviously has a great respect for his fans whether it's their first time seeing him or they've followed him all over the place.
He's full of banter and jokes as he thunders through the set. When Ms Paula Flynn joins Jinx onstage the chemistry between them is nothing but a joy to behold. Flynn, simply oozes confidence and she has a voice better than a million nightingales trying to please some ancient Chinese emperor. Then again though, Flynn admits that she could be a bit drunk ¡°I've had two glasses of wine and I usually don't drink before I sing.¡±
Funniest moment of the night comes when she asks Lennon what has he given up for lent but before he can give an answer she jumps in, looks right at him with a cheeky Cheshire cat smile and asks ¡°Me???¡±. And the crowd almost fall apart laughing.
Favourite crowd pleasers of the night include ¡°Flesh Taxi¡± a pitiful look a society when out on the sauce for the night and trafficking prostitutes. ¡°Noisemakers¡± nearly brings the house down, ¡°Stop Giving Out About the Nigerians- What's wrong with a little colour in the street?¡± Fuckin' genius. ¡°Bachelors of Pearse Park¡± about all the poor lonely lads in a local housing estate that everyone can identify with. ¡°You Must Forgive the Cunts¡± has got to be my favourite of the night, he's sayin' that until you can get past all the gobshites and crap that goes with them in this life then you'll get nowhere. Love it, this Jinx lad could well be remembered as some broad-thinking philosopher that came too early after he croaks it.
As you can tell by the way I'm writing, it's pretty hard to explain a Jinx Lennon show, it's a bit like trying to explain what does the colour blue feel like, or how do you explain the a sunset to someone that's never seen the sky before. The best thing to do is to experience it yourself. You'll get angry, you'll smile, you'll be confused, you'll get pissed off, you'll be scared and you'll be completely intrigued, but most of all you'll be inspired by this punk/poet from Dundalk.
JINX LENNON AND MISS PAULA FLYNN FLATLAKES AUGUST 2007 BY TONY ALLEN
There are moments in art, science and human endeavour when an innovator does a lot more than just win the race a tad faster or sell a few more tickets to the show, they actually seriously move things on and make everything that went before look like history - Look back in Anger, Anarchy in the UK, the Fosbury Flop etc etc.
It¡¯s not always immediately evident and sometimes it's a simple pop song or a fashion accessory that in retrospect can be seen to have decoded the zeitgeist. Spotting these cultural phenomena ahead of the pack is a pastime of mine; so, that said:
At the end of August, I was at the first Flat Lake Literary and Arts Festival in Ireland very close to the border with the North. There were only a few hundred local punters present plus the same amount of assorted artists, creatives and crew. The sound man in the tent I was stage managing, the bloke who rigged the lights and another Clones local - the woman serving beer; all independently recommended that I make time to see Jinx Lennon. Oh yeah, what does he do then?¡± I asked. Not one of them could give me a satisfactory answer; which I've learned is always a good sign. It panned out that I actually met the man before I saw him perform; he was a judge in the talent contest we staged and I hosted in our Circus tent. At one point I needed a chair for a singer songwriter and quietly asked Jinx to give up his seat (the rest of the room were sat on large cumbersome hay bales) ¡°And just what am I gonna sit on? He said gruffly. Before I could answer him, his friend and fellow judge Paula Flynn quickly gave up her seat. The next time I saw her was on stage alongside Jinx in the packed Butty Barn (the festival's main venue) and it was her that once again I warmed to first.
Jinx Lennon's tough love lyrics ¨a mix of cornerboy street lingo with the politics of peace and reconciliation accompanied variously on acoustic guitar and a dinky toy Casio keyboard, are given added dimension by Paula's quirky and confident Marilyn Monroe-style vocals. Jinx's delivery ranges from relentless ranting to larky laddish skat singing but his duos with Paula bring out a tenderness in him not heard in his solo pieces. My friend Rory Motion, himself a performing wordsmith, was gob-smacked; he described what we were watching as a cross between Flann O Brien, Captain Beefheart and Ian Paisley. Bizarrely, he was spot on. Along with Keith Allen, Kevin Allen and a celeb-studded crowd, Rory was one of the first on his feet greeting every number with a standing ovation. It took me a little longer, but there's no doubting that Jinx Lennon is a scary talent who is moving the artistic boundaries, winning friends and definitely influencing people with songs-cum-poems-cum-rants like You Must Forgive The Cunts and Stop Giving Out About Nigerians. For sure, this won't be the last you'll hear about Jinx and Paula.
Tony Allen 30th August 2007
JINX LENNON TAIN FESTIVAL 2004 BY TIA CLARKE Review:Tia Clarke |
Jinx Lennon - already regarded as a legend here in Dundalk proved his worthiness to a 200 strong audience in The Spirit Store on the Sunday leg of The Tain Festival. If there's one man who can pull in 200 people for a daytime gig, it s Jinx. 
And on the hilarious 'Lord of the onion rings' where Jinx tells us of a man who "has been serving chips from a chip-wagon at the square or the killing fields as young bleary eyed Dundalkians pile onto the streets out of the techno houses to slaughter each other. But the lord of the onion rings doesn't care as long as they buy his chips".LAUNCH SHOW FOR' TRAUMA THEMES IDIOT TIMES' MARCH 2009
Author: Paul Murphy
Jinx Lennon in his suit and familiar tip"ex decorated sunglasses began his new live set up insisting that their would be teething problems but there wasn"t a member of the audience who would be bothered by such occurrences. From the opening song through his back catalogue to songs from the new album fans and friends showed Jinx Lennon the strong support he deserves on the eve of the release of his new album Trauma Themes Idiot Times.
His stage presence isn"t of an angry lunatic as his recordings could lead you to believe. He"s natural on stage" born for it" as if his entire life has been leading up to this performance.
Jinx Lennon is wildly unpredictable not only in his lyrical themes" from techno whorehouses to self defense entitlements " "Well your not going to break into a yoga sessions with someone who breaks into your home are you"" " but also in what he"ll be playing next: an acoustic guitar" electronic gadgets" whispering through a megaphone" or completely raw" no mic" no instrument" no backing and no amp.
He was joined on stage by various people throughout the set" his backing band" The DTs" Bill Blackmore on Trumpet and of course the angelic Miss Paula Flynn.
He weaved the set through old and new but although the crowd was very supportive of his new material" The Flesh Taxi" Balaclava Boys and Forgive the Cunts were what had the crowd roaring most while Lord of the Onion Rings earned the Dundalk man a revered hush. The best received new material was Everyone"s Got a Mental Home I.T.H." My Head is Slowly Disappearing up my own Arzz" Protect Thyself and Home and the blissful ballads with Paula Flynn Splattered Eggs and The Ferris Wheel at Downdallshill.
Jinx Lennon"s music is like nothing else and it"s the same for his live show it is really something that needs to be experienced to be truly understood. Next time he"s in town get yourself a ticket to his merry"go"round.