WE don't need Noel Gallagher to alert us to the genius of Burt Bacharach - anyone who grew up in the vicinity of a wireless would realise that the man wrote some timeless tunes and that his erstwhile partner, Hal David, penned some cracking lyrics to go with them. In his heyday, Bacharach never enjoyed much in the way of rock n' roll cred, but the endorsement of Oasis, Blur and Manic Street Preachers has turned the 68 year old composer into a Britpop icon. Last night, Bacharach came straight from a day at The Curragh to play a show at the National Concert Hall, and he opened with some orchestrated tasters from his vast songbook - although it seemed a shame to waste such great songs as Walk On By and Do You Know The Way To San Jose? by mixing them into a medley with lesser classics such as I'll Never Fall In Love Again and Wham's New Pussy Jose? by mixing them into a medley with lesser classics such as I'll Never Fall In Love Again and What's New Pussycat? Sure, the locallysourced orchestra was well up to the swells and dips of Bacharach's arrangements. but what we really wanted was one full, superb song, delivered with power and passion, not a tentative trawl through past glories and half forgotten hits.
Singer Lisa Taylor duly obliged, singing a stunning version of Anyone Who Had A Heart, and anyone who had hairs on the back of their neck would have felt a jolt of electricity at the song's climax. After that, the orchestra settled into overture mode with Close To You, then pushed the elevator button for such movie soundtrack stuff as Arthur's Theme and Heartlight. Even a symphonic pops piece called New York Lady felt somewhat vacuous, like Broadway without the melody.
When Bacharach encored with a repeat rendition of Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, he received a standing ovation, not so much for his cracked, weak vocal performance, but more for his still towering presence over modern popular music.
