PAT O'MAY: One Night In Breizhland (ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

There was a time when most of the teenagers' pocket money was spent on vinyl records. Yes, you had to pay first and then listen. And even if the many small local record stores, which have now disappeared, were often inclined to share their passion with customers eager to discover new things, it was expensive to make the wrong choice of record. The infallible method to discover an artist or a group was to buy a live album. Many discovered Yes with "Yessongs", The Who with "Live At Leeds" or Deep Purple with "Made In Japan". The live recordings were mostly raw and without overdubs and allowed us to know what the bands looked like before looking at their discography. Pat O'May's "One Night In Breizh Land" belongs to this category of live albums which, much better than a useless best-of, is a real gift to all his fans and is the ideal gateway to the guitarist's universe for those who don't know him.

Pat O'May is a generous artist, with his audience, with his friends and with the listener. For his 23-year career, he organized a major concert in Trégueux in October 2017, broadcast live by France 3 Breizh. And for the occasion, he invited a large number of his musician friends to share the stage. They all have in common that they have collaborated with him in the past: Ron Thal, Patrick Rondat, Jonathan Noyce (Jethro Tull, Gary Moore), Pat McManus (Mama's Boys), percussionist David Hopkins (Alan Stivell), harmonica player Diabolo (Higelin, Christophe). From these four hours of concert, he carefully selected 23 pieces retracing the essence of his discography, for a particularly exciting result.

Indeed, "One Night In Breizh Land" is a live like no other, a great moment of sharing which retranscribes marvelously the energy and the warmth of the concert and the communion of the musicians with the public. Pat O'May takes care of his buddies, accompanies them on some of their songs (Patrick Rondat's amazing 'Mindscape', Ron Thal's brilliant 'Who To Pray For Anymore') and his friends give him back a hundredfold. The joy and emotion of finding each other is palpable on each track until the final climax with an anthology 'Whiskey In The Jar'.

The album is in the image of its author: eclectic and flamboyant. It alternates hard rock fireworks ('The Trolls', 'Far From Her Land', the cover of 'Crazy Horses' by The Osmonds), pure Celtic rock tracks sublimated by the bombards and bagpipes of Bagad Bro Konk Kerne ('Breizh America', I Want To Sleep') and the magnificent instrumental compositions of Pat O'May, whose talent as a guitarist becomes even more important live ('Overlord', 'That's Beautiful', 'Michael's Calling', 'Alan The Brave').

But in addition to being the sum of all the components of Pat O'May's music, "One Night In Breizh Land" also holds some particularly moving surprises. This is the case of the title 'On The Road Again' for which Pat resurrects Marienthal, a Rouen-based band of which he was the guitarist a long time ago when his name was still Patrick Maineult. And it is also and above all by paying tribute to Gary Moore, his spiritual father, that he touches the listener's heart. In interpreting 'Belfast Boy' with Pat McManus and 'Oh Wild One', a previously unreleased track by the famous Irishman, with Jonathan Noyce, Pat O'May asserts himself as the main depositary of the Celtic hard rock that makes up his musical identity.

Attaching, warm and moving, "One Night In Breizh Land" will delight all those who have had enough of fake live albums sanitized and reworked in the studio. Here no cheating or deception on the merchandise, just the pleasure of playing and the desire to share the party with the greatest number with talent and sincerity. Thank you for this gift. - Official website

PAT O'MAY

ONE NIGHT IN BREIZHLAND

COOP BREIZH

ROCK