Forget soppy R&B and angry hip-hop – feisty Irish pop-rockers the Cranberries are in town
Riaan Wolmarans
In the mid-Nineties, you could not go to any decent alternative or rock club without, at some time during the evening, hearing the crashing opening chords of the Cranberries’ powerful song Zombie. Then, people would scurry to the dance floor to headbang.
This weekend, Cranberries fans get to see the Irish band live when they perform in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Zombie was probably the best-known Cranberries single, but it is only one of many hits that the Irish band- comprising lead vocalist Dolores O’Riordan, percussionist Fergal Lawler and guitarist brothers Mike and Noel Hogan – have had since releasing their debut album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?, in 1992.
The biggest track off that album was the ballad Linger, a song that O’Riordan reworked for the band when auditioning for lead singer in 1990. It shot up the charts and was followed by strong tracks like Dreams, resulting in the album selling more than seven million copies worldwide.
In 1994 the Cranberries released their second album, No Need to Argue, which included Zombie. Fans got to know the harder edge of the band with the song’s alternative style and its hard-hitting anti-war lyrics, inspired by the death of a child in a London bombing. To the Faithful Departed, their third release, hit the shelves in 1996, and spawned further hits such as the fast-paced Salvation and Free to Decide.
Suddenly, the Cranberries went quiet. Their hectic touring and recording schedule had taken its toll. “It had been months since we sat down and talked like normal people. And it took us a while to realise we weren’t having fun because nobody wanted to say it,” O’Riordan said in an interview on the Internet. It was time for an extended break, which recently ended with the release of their latest album, Bury the Hatchet.
The Cranberries’ magic hasn’t faded. This can be seen in the fact that the track You’ll Follow Me Down reached the number two slot on the 5fm Top 40 two weeks ago. The band’s sound, according to O’Riordan, has become more aggressive: “I think that our music can cut through fad and fashion, and I think we used to whirl a bit more as teenagers,” she says. “We stomp now. Whirling is a nice way to start – whirling and gliding until you figure out your own sound and get a little more naughty and aggressive.”
O’Riordan herself has become almost as famous as the band. Total sales of more than 28-million Cranberries albums have made her the fifth-richest woman in the British Isles, and the music media certainly haven’t buried their hatchet when it comes to the singer.
According to an article by Caroline Sullivan in The Guardian, this attitude seems to be sparked by her transformation from a sweet Irish girl to a rough and tough rock singer, with some controversial views on issues such as punishment (“What happened to the days of being thrown into the cell and being starved and beaten every day?”) and feminism (“They probably need some serious man in their lives.”).
O’Riordan certainly seems to love being in the spotlight, as was the case when she married former Duran Duran road manager Don Burton in a see-through dress (Burton is now the Cranberries’ manager). But at the same time she doesn’t appreciate all that fame brings. “If photographers come near my son, I’m definitely going to break their camera over their heads,” she says.
O’Riordan’s celebrity status even seems to have affected the band’s performances. After they played at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in England to promote Bury the Hatchet, The Guardian noted that “the others, Noel and Mike Hogan and Fergal Lawler, seem to have given up all hope of sharing the spotlight. While O’Riordan stalked the stage like a tigress in search of tasty stage-divers, the rest of the group languished in unlit corners.”
She still makes an impressive lead singer. “No one said rock is a democracy, though, and the Cranberries don’t pretend to be one. O’Riordan is king, queen and even, when she danced, jester,” reported The Guardian. It does warn that “however impressive her vocal swoops and curlicues, at heart she’s a cool, austere performer who doesn’t engage with audiences.”
Whether Ireland’s own Madonna and the rest of the ‘Berries will engage with South African audiences remains to be seen, but if attendance figures at their past concerts are anything to go by, an evening lingering with the Cranberries must be worth it.