Gilbert O'Sullivan

Irish-born singer-songwriter, Gilbert O'Sullivan, has had quite a successful career, and his songs spent a good amount of time on the international record charts during the 1970s and '80s.

While he has never stopped recording, O'Sullivan has not toured the US in over 40 years. That issue is now moot, as O'Sullivan recently kicked off his current tour (labeled "Just Gilbert"), which brought him to the City Winery in Boston, Massachusetts on March 10th, 2022.

Looking as if he has hardly aged at all since his 70's heyday, O'Sullivan opened with "January Git", and "A Friend of Mine", before playing a portion of "What Can I Do", the first song of his that was ever recorded.

A great storyteller, O'Sullivan fondly recounted his early days when he was in a band with Rick Davies, who would later become famous as the founder and keyboardist of Supertramp.

A sweet version of "Nothing Rhymed" was quite nostalgic, as it was O'Sullivan's first hit. While it did not break in the US, it did crack the Top 10 charts in the UK, Ireland, and the Netherlands. His masterful wordplay was quite evident on charming cuts as "Where Would We Be (Without Tea)", "No Head for Figures But Yours", and "Dansette Dreams and 45's", a wonderful track from his self-titled 2018 release.

The unique "Ooh-Wakka-Doo-Wakka-Day" is an irresistible cut (in the vein of the Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"), as was the first set-closing "Clair".

Returning for the second set, O'Sullivan humorously mentioned that when he played the City Winery in New York City a couple nights prior, that some members of the crowd started to leave at the end of the first set, thinking that the show was over.

The final half of the show opened with career-spanning cuts as 1990's haunting, "At the Very Mention of Your Name", "No Matter How I Try" (a Top 5 smash in the UK in 1971), and the more recent "No Way", from 2016.

A true highlight of the evening was O'Sullivan's 1973 hit "Out of The Question", a tale of a man in a tormented relationship with a moody partner ("One minute you want me/And the next you don't/You're turning me upside down/Giving me the run around") who finally discovers his backbone and tells his beau that him leaving her is a viable option (i.e. not "out of the question").

The set closed with O'Sullivan's monster-smash, "Along Again (Naturally)", performed as if his voice had hardly changed in the past 50 years. The two-song encore featured the country tinged "Matrimony", and the rollicking/infectious "Get Down" (which is an ode to O'Sullivan's dog), ending a long-awaited and successful return from O'Sullivan.


Upcoming Gilbert O'Sullivan Tour Dates:

City Winery, Nashville, TN, March 14, 2022
City Winery, Atlanta, March 15, 2022
The Mint, Los Angeles, CA, March 17, 2022
The Mint, Los Angeles, CA, March 18, 2022
City Winery Washington DC, March 20, 2022
The Baths Hall, Scunthorpe, Apr 5, 2022
New Theatre, Peterborough, April 6, 2022
The Grand Theatre, Lancaster, April 9, 2022
Opera House, Buxton, April 11, 2022
Town Hall, Birmingham, UK, Apr 12, 2022
Sinjuku Cultural Center, Tokyo, Japan, April 23, 2022
Sinjuku Cultural Center, Tokyo, Japan, April 24, 2022
The Anvil, Basingstoke, May 11, 2022
The Apex, Bury St Edmond, May 12, 2022
The Cheese & Grain, Frome, May 14, 2022
The Queens Theatre, Barnstaple, May 16, 2022
Westlands Theatre, Yeovil, May 18, 2022
The Playhouse, Stratford Upon Avon, May 19, 2022
The Mechanics, Burnle, May 20, 2022
Lyceum Theatre, Crewe, May 22, 2022
Lime Tree Theatre, Limerick, Ireland, September 2, 2022
Royal Theatre Castlebar, Castlebar, Ireland, September 3, 2022
Watergate Theatre Kilkenny, Kilkenny, Ireland, September 6, 2022
Cork Opera House, Cork, Ireland, September 9, 2022
Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, Ireland, September 11, 2022
Kursaal Ostend, Belgium, October 17, 2022
Muziekgebow, Eindhoven, Holland, October 19, 2022
Carré Theatre, Amsterdam, November 5, 2022
Le Carre, Amsterdam, Holland, December 8, 2022