Songs of joy and mourning

KATELL KEINEG'S concert at Whelans last night was supposed to be a joyful reunion with her many Irish fans; instead, it was a sombre, grief filled tribute to Jeff Buckley, the American singer who disappeared some days ago, while swimming near the Mississippi River and is presumed, drowned.

Katell and Jeff Buckley were not just good friends, they were soulmates; and, as Ms Keineg took the stage in a crowded Whelans, it was plain that she was still in shock. Holding her tears in check, Katell sang a powerful, almost dirgelike chant, lingering over every word as if clinging to a freshly shattered memory. If, the audience had known what she was going through, they would have cried, too, not just for the loss of a great artist, but also in sympathy with the bereaved singer onstage.

As the band took their positions, Katell fought to keep her composure, and Battle Of The Tree was a cathartic mix of gentle, undulating folk melodies and solid, crashing rock motifs. Each bewildered, questioning verse was answered by a crushing cry of pain as Katell drew on her every reserve of strength to deliver an awesome, anguished message.

The current single, One Hell Of A Life, is usually a raucous celebration of the endless possibilities of existence, but last night was not the time for festive resignation, and it must have been hard for Katell to sing with such fatalistic levity so soon after this tragedy. Somehow, though, the tune broke through the grief, and Katell was able to introduce songs from her new album, Jet, which was released yesterday.

Leonor was a humorous tale of surrealist artist Leonor Fini, and the lyrics lightened the atmosphere with a feminist touch. Ole Conquistador was a story of conquest and crusade, but the final line - "maybe we might conquer the world tonight" was a cruel reminder of a journey's sudden end. Veni Vidi Vici, on the other hand, surrendered to the conquest of the heart, bringing a calm in its wake.

The band stood by Katell through every perilous note, soothing the air with light, breezy strokes, then charging the atmosphere with stormy, swirling beats. O Seasons danced on a folksy drum `n' bass undercurrent, while Mother's Map negotiated a path through the pain and loss.

Katell encored with Al Green's What A Wonderful Feeling and the audience joined in with the lyrics of hope and redemption. It was a moving end to the saddest, most poignant and most heartrending concert I have ever been at.