Dermot Kennedy at TD Backyard, 3/19/25

For a worldwide celebration of Irish braveness and artistry, Kennedy stated there was no higher place to be than Boston.

Dermot Kennedy carried out March 19 at TD Backyard as a part of his annual MISNEACH pageant. Courtesy Drew Signa

March 20, 2025 | 1:55 PM

4 minutes to learn

“Misneach” (pronounced “mish-nyach”) is the Irish phrase for braveness. At TD Backyard March 19, the braveness mendacity inside Dermot Kennedy’s songwriting was on full show.

Kennedy’s MISNEACH pageant, which additionally included reveals in Sydney, Australia and at Brighton Music Corridor, was a celebration of Irish satisfaction and spirit. Hoping to make the pageant an annual occasion, Kennedy was grateful to share his imaginative and prescient with Boston.

“To be taking part in right here within the first yr of this concept and this pageant, it’s simply so excellent,” Kennedy stated. “I’m so glad that Boston is the place we selected to do it. It simply is smart.”

That includes 4 Irish acts all through the night time, the pageant spanned the folks, hip-hop, indie, and rock genres. In between units, U2 songs similar to “With or With out You” and “I Nonetheless Haven’t Discovered What I’m Wanting For” performed over black-and-white footage of the Cliffs of Moher with “Éire,” the Irish identify for Eire, written throughout them.

Kennedy started his music profession at age 17 by busking in Dublin, the place he grew up. After releasing a number of singles and EPs and making an look on NPR’s Tiny Desk Live performance, he launched his debut album, “With out Worry,” in 2019. His second and most up-to-date album, “Sonder,” got here out in 2022.

Kennedy kicked off his TD Backyard set with “Blossom,” the closing monitor from “Sonder.” The album’s title is a neologism for the belief that everybody else resides a life as full and complicated as one’s personal, regardless of one’s lack of information of these different lives.

After this solemn opener, Kennedy launched into “Energy Over Me,” one among his breakout singles from 2019. With this music, Kennedy was instantly in a position to show one among his biggest strengths as a performer: his soulful voice is simply as highly effective reside as it’s on his studio recordings.

Following one other music from every of his albums, Kennedy launched a model new music referred to as “Let Me In,” which he launched on Spotify as a single March 11. With a gentler, stripped-back association, the music was paying homage to Kennedy’s earlier acoustic work. Regardless of the music’s current launch, some viewers members already knew all of the phrases.

Acting on a raised platform within the heart of the stage, Kennedy took full benefit of TD Backyard’s setup primarily based on the temper of every musical second. Some songs’ intense and climactic elements had been accompanied by strobing mild shows, whereas the softer and extra somber songs included on-stage footage of Kennedy washed in gradients of colour.

Kennedy’s stage presence mirrored this vary as nicely. Relying on every music’s power, he would both transfer across the stage as he sang or take a extra reserved method as he accompanied himself on acoustic guitar. For each music, nevertheless, he inspired the viewers to sing alongside.

One of many night time’s most poignant moments got here with “Rome,” one among Kennedy’s most reflective songs. Kennedy requested the group to carry up their telephone flashlights, with every mild representing a reminiscence.

“It’s largely about good recollections, so I’d such as you to image essentially the most stunning reminiscence you’ll be able to think about,” Kennedy stated.

Bringing the temper again up, Kennedy adopted this introspective second with a canopy of Van Morrison’s “Days Like This.” The 1995 hit has usually been used as an anthem of peace in Northern Eire, and Kennedy was desperate to pay tribute to a fellow Irish artist.

One other emotional peak of the night time got here throughout Kennedy’s efficiency of “Outnumbered,” his different largest hit and one among his most heartfelt songs. Persevering with the theme of dealing with life’s highs and lows, Kennedy additionally sang “Higher Days,” “Kiss Me,” and “One thing to Somebody” from “Sonder.”

Earlier than the final music, Kennedy once more thanked Boston for the influence town has made on his life.

“By way of my improvement as a musician, an individual, all the pieces, this metropolis’s been crucial,” Kennedy stated. “Thanks for supporting this concept, thanks for supporting me each time I’m right here.”

MISNEACH’s different performers included Nell Mescal, an indie pop artist and youthful sister of actor Paul Mescal; Ye Vagabonds, a people duo consisting of brothers Diarmuid and Brían Mac Gloinn; and The Swell Season, a people rock duo together with Irish musician Glen Hansard and Czech singer Markéta Irglová, who co-starred collectively within the acclaimed 2007 movie “As soon as.”

Mescal and Ye Vagabonds carried out 25-minute units every. Mescal’s songs, led by her hovering vocals and acoustic guitar accompaniments, touched on many points of relationships, together with one about “the worst particular person you’ve ever met.” Ye Vagabonds’ songs had extra folksy instrumentation, together with cellos, a mandolin, and loads of lush harmonies.

The standout act, nevertheless, was The Swell Season. Throughout the duo’s 45-minute set, Hansard’s intense guitar taking part in and Irglová’s delicate piano taking part in expertly balanced one another out. Their voices blended collectively fantastically, particularly throughout a canopy of Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic.”

Kennedy invited the pageant’s opening acts again on stage for the final music, a canopy of the normal tune “The Parting Glass.” Identified for its reputation in Eire, the place it’s usually sung on the finish of pleasant gatherings, there was no higher approach to shut out the night time.