Luka Bloom

Luka Bloom, from County Kildare, Ireland, looks undeniably cool as he takes to the stage, flanked by his backing band – a fiddler and percussion.
He’s charming, surveying the room and taking it all in, humouring the crowd with a bit of light banter before breaking into his first track, ‘You Couldn’t Have a Better Time’. It’s a joyful little ditty that’s about as Irish as the pigs of Docherty, with a fiddling melody that prances gleefully about the verses.
He’s partly known for his strident cover versions and a couple of these come out tonight. Some are off his cover album, Keeper of the Flame. ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’ is a bit naff, but it’s a big hit with the older members of the crowd. He does Hunters and Collectors’ ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me’, which raises the roof of the little social club. He plays some newer stuff too, of his new release, Head & Heart. Disappointingly though, his Celti-fied version of LL Cool J’s ‘I Need Love’ doesn’t get a whirl. He makes up for it though, as the atmosphere is gregarious and no-one leaves without a giddy Irish smile.