“Sorry for your troubles, as we say.” Lankum‘s Ian Lynch was offering condolences to the crowd, in a particularly Irish way, at the band’s second of two very sold-out shows at Brooklyn’s Warsaw that fell just days after Donald Trump won the presidential election. He was not mentioned by name and there was no need to, everyone laughed. “Every time we come here there’s some apocalyptic thing,” he then said, noting their last visit to the US was in March of 2020.
While the Lankum were jovial on stage, their music is mostly not, a decidedly dark roast of traditional Irish music, often heavy with an emphasis on drone and, onstage at least, capable of intense noise. But the effect, for me at least, was one of catharsis thanks to their powerful songs and musicianship. The Warsaw crowd was heavily Irish and pin-drop quiet for much of the set, which was heavy on songs from 2023’s great False Lankum and 2019’s The Livelong Day.
As they’ve been doing at shows this year, Lankum also offered a version of traditional folk song “The Rocks of Bawn” that they have reworked as “The Rocks of Palestine.” It elicited call-and-response chants of “Free! Free! Palestine,” and Ian Lynch said, “We’re from a small country and believe colonization and the genocide that comes with it is a terrible thing,” which brought even louder cheers.
Lankum’s main set ended with “The Turn,” whose noisy finish made me think of My Bloody Valentine’s “You Made Me Realise,” before returning for three songs: “Cold Old Fire” (dating back to when they were known as Lynched), the jaunty “Bear Creek” and False Lankum‘s “Go Dig My Grave,” which ended the night. After a very heavy week, this was just what I needed.
Both Warsaw shows were opened by John Francis Flynn, another Dublin musician who is expanding the definition of traditional Irish music. Photos from Saturday night by Ben Stas and setlists for both nights are below.
Lankum are currently only doing one-off shows as opposed to full tours, but they have announced 2025 West Coast shows in San Francisco (Great American Music Hall on February 27) and Los Angeles (The Belasco on February 28) and will also play Knoxville’s Big Ears festival in March. All dates are listed below.
SETLIST: Lankum @ Warsaw 11/8/2024
The Wild Rover
The New York Trader
The Rocks of Palestine
The Young People
Rocky Road to Dublin
The Pride of Petravore
On a Monday Morning
The Turn
Encore:
Cold Old Fire
Bear Creek
Go Dig My Grave
SETLIST: Lankum @ Warsaw 11/9/2024
The Wild Rover
The New York Trader
The Rocks of Palestine
The Young People
The Pride of Petravore
The Turn
Rocky Road to Dublin
Encore:
Cold Old Fire
Bear Creek
Go Dig My Grave
LANKUM – 2023/2025 TOUR DATES
Sat, NOV 16 – le lieu unique – Nantes, France
Sat, FEB 1, 2025 – Tavastia Club – Helsinki, Finland
Thu, FEB 27, 2025 – Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA
Fri, FEB 28, 2025 – The Belasco Theater – Los Angeles, CA
Fri, MAY 23, 2025 – Leiligheten Rockefeller – Oslo, Norway
March 27-30 – Big Ears festival – Knoxville, TV