When our album went to No.1, I cried in my flat
HamsandwicH
H‘There are a few fluffs and mistakes in there but that’s the beauty of the live gig’
amsandwicH celebrated two decades together at a sold out show in Dublin’s 3Olympia Theatre in October of last year. It was an evening brimming with nostalgia, emotion and the good humour of a band whose moniker perhaps belied the quality of their output throughout those 20 years.
As a document of a special night and testament to the Co. Meath outfit’s status as one of the country’s best live bands, their latest release simply entitled The Live Album is timely. The core trio of lead singer Niamh Farrell, guitarist/vocalist Podge McNamee and guitarist Brian Darcy were joined by touring members past and present on that memorable night. The album isn’t embellished with the type of overdubs, ie re-recordings of certain parts of the songs later in a studio, that some celebrated live albums have benefited from through the years.
‘Nah, there was no overdubs at all,’ Niamh says. ‘Once you start opening up that can of worms, it gets messy. There are a few fluffs and mistakes in there but that’s the beauty of the live gig. The only edit is that not all the songs that we played that night are on the album. We just mixed it, mastered it and that was that.’
Some artists such as Thin Lizzy, Peter Frampton and the Ramones have hit career highs with their respective live albums, Niamh and Podge offer up three contrasting efforts as their personal favourites in the format.
‘Johnny Cash: Live At San Quentin is incredible. Until I heard that, I had no idea how good he was at all,’ Podge says.
‘I loved his chat in between the songs. We’ve always had plenty of it in between songs when we play whether it was good or bad.’
‘I was thinking about it there, probably Judy Garland: Live at Carnegie Hall,’ Niamh says.
‘You hear her being incredibly funny and endearing in between the songs, and you can tell she has the crowd in the palm of her hand and the music is just beautiful.’
Podge also offers up Radiohead: Live In Galway, a rare bootleg album recorded just before the OK Computer album would make them one of the most acclaimed bands on the planet.
The 17-track offering spans HamsandwicH’s four albums from 2008’s Carry The Meek through White Fox, released in 2010, their 2015 Irish No.1 album Stories From The Surface which was also nominated for the Choice Music Prize and 2022’s acclaimed return to recording action Magnify.
You can see Niamh, Podge and the man just known as Darcy on tour currently as a trio. It’s a format they have come to enjoy as much as their fans.
‘We did this last year and we had some people come up to us after those gigs and say things like, “I’ve seen you 14 times and that’s by far my favourite”, Podge says.
‘It definitely takes you out of a comfort zone. Having other people on stage is a bit like a crutch. When you strip it back to just
three people, it’s another discipline completely.’
As the two have passed such a significant milestone it’s fair to ask what their personal highlights in the HamsandwicH fold have been, as it were. ‘I’ve changed and got old,’ Podge says with a cackle. ‘I genuinely don’t give two sh**s about awards or chart places but I do remember you, Danny, when you interviewed us… predicting that Stories From The Surface would go to No.1 and we were saying, “Are you mental like?”… No offence! Then when I heard it did, I was in my old kippy flat in Portobello [in Dublin], I just burst out crying.’
‘Oh, that is so difficult,’ says Niamh, ‘There have been so many [highlights]. I remember when we were asked to open the Main Stage at Electric Picnic [2015]. We were thinking this is a really big deal for us… we were all really excited. The crowd ended up being an absolutely massive one. That was magic. That’s the one for me.’
HamsandwicH: The Live Album is out on Friday. See their Facebook page for news of upcoming dates.