It's been a while since the Folk & Tumble team have been to a gig, but when we heard our old friend Dave Arcari was returning to Belfast to play the Out to Lunch Festival, we knew we had to go.
Arcari’s first concert in 2024 was a sell out! He’s been been slowly building up a following in Belfast since we first saw him play a packed McHugh’s Bar in 2014 and the hard work is definitely paying off.
This time Arcari is playing the The Deer’s Head on a Saturday afternoon and the audience are excited to see both Arcari and enjoy the thrill of Saturday afternoon pints.
Many here have seen Arcari before and know what they are in for, pre-show the amiable musician easily mixes and chats to fans before taking to the stage to deliver a barnstorming set of blistering Alt-blues.
His set list is extensive covering the early days of his career with songs such as ‘The Devil’s Left Hand’ and ‘Cant be Satisfied’.
Between songs Arcari spins a few stories about the songs and events, that due to the passage of time, now all seem to have “taken place a couple of years ago plus ten”. Time however does not diminish the humour or Arcari’s ability to spin out a good yarn.
Songs from Arcari’s last album, ‘Devil May Care’ feature heavily in the setlist, ‘Walk the Walk’ see’s him switch guitars to an acoustic Fender for some deep hypnotic blues.
After a full on ninety minute set, and despite requests for several more songs, Arcari sends the audience home with a laid back tribute to his home on the shores of Loch Lomond with his unique version of the famous song taken from the ‘Devil May Care’ album, ‘Loch Lomond (Home)’.
Post show, once again, the affable musician makes time to talk to his fans, many he knows by name, as well as signing merchandise and goes out of his way to make the gig as personal as possible to as many as he can.
It’s hard to believe we’ve been following Dave Arcari at Folk & Tumble for ten years, and we hope we’ll still be following, and writing about his exploits for many more to come.