Day 2 @ Other Voices 11: Villagers, SOAK, Owen Pallett, The Strypes and more

While the TV recording of the show in St. James Church is still the main event, the limited capacity in the venue and the amount of people looking for tickets to sit in the pews means that there will always be disappointed fans. But, if you are one of the brave many souls who have planned a Dingle break around Other Voices weekend, there's even more events happening around the town during the day than ever, and certainly enough to justify spending a weekend here.

This year's Music Trail sees bands play the idiosyncratic pubs of Dingle, the kind which double as a place to purchase some nails, flannel shirts, kid's wellies and random detritus not usually found in a public house. So you had Ghost Estates playing in McCarthy's Bar on the main street, Toy Soldier and Ocho playing in The Blue Zone Wine Bar and Pizza place (try the Italian Fancy sausage pizza - homnomnomnomnom), Sheffield band Drenge playing in The Marina pub and lots more.

As fate would have it, it was local girl Riona O' Madagain who impressed us, not once but twice on the Saturday afternoon, first in Dick Mack's and secondly in O'Sullivans Court House bar, both times to a packed audience. Like a few of Saturday's performers (SOAK, The Strypes) she's a young wan, with a beautiful emotive voice, at ease singing folk, jazz, or soul songs. Hers is a versatility that's able to channel Nina Simone on 'Feeling Good' or a song from relative English folk newcomer Daughter, 'Peter'. One to watch...

There's usually the huge amount of pub chatter in Dingle every weekend anyway but this year, it was made official with the addition of Banter Salon, a series of talks chaired by Irish Times journalist Jim Carroll's, which took place in Foxy John's cosy second room. In between riveting talks about phone-hacking and the Leveson Inquiry with The Guardian's Lisa O' Carroll, Diarmaid Ferriter's thoughts around commemoration of the birth of the Republic and what life was like back 100 years ago in 1912, and readings from the Silver Threads Of Hope anthology of Irish short stories there were a couple of surprise performances from Conor O' Brien of Villagers and young Derry lass SOAK. More about them shortly and more from Banter on Sunday. To the church...

The first recordings in the church for the show this year zipped along, four hours felt like a lot less in the company of the five artists who played the stage. Kodaline are a band on the up, the video for the Dublin band's song 'All I Want' has over 1.25 million views and Zane Lowe featured the band as a #NextHype selection on his BBC Radio One show. The band won't be playing intimate spaces like churches for much longer, their music yearns for bigger audiences; it's a mix of anthemic indie, rock and pop. Of particular note during the recording is a cover of Sam Cooke's 'Bring It On Home To Me' sung a capella which the band belt out in unison.

What happens next really has to be seen to be believed. Four young Cavan lads appear on stage, looking all of 15 years of age and proceed to rip through a history of vintage rock 'n' roll in a manner that can only be described as amazeballs. Yes, The Strypes were in the building. Men old enough to remember the '60s when it happened stared at each other gobsmacked at the playing chops of these kids. And boy, can these boys really play.They are dressed like Cavern Club Beatles. The singer, a Corey Feldman lookalike, is wearing sunglasses and sings as cool as a cucumber. The guitarist, with a head topped by an '80s glam metal hair chop tears through the songs with widdly guitar solos and excess notes. The drummer's fro and rhythm keeps things ticking along and the bass player. Our favourite is the bass player, who not only plays his bass like a double bass, rocking back and forth while his fingers cascade up and down the fret but he plays a harmonica for one as well. The Strypes have to be seen to be believed, old pros in teenage bodies. Give these kids their own TV show!

Not to be outdone, Derry singer SOAK, born Bridie Monds-Watson is only sixteen herself but is as comfortable on a stage as The Strypes. Her charming stage banter takes in penguins, her weird voice and a stay in a Sligo asylum. But it's her tunes which impress, especially 'Sea Creatures' and 'Trains'. SOAK will be joining Other Voices in Derry and London in 2013, by which time we expect a lot more people to know her. Adorbz.

Canada's Owen Pallett used to be known as Final Fantasy, a name he dropped a few years ago but there's echoes of flightful fancy in his music for sure. A multi-instrumentalist, Pallett has contributed string arrangements to two Arcade Fire albums as well as produced three albums of contemporary neo-classical pop songs. His brief set is challenging in its idiosyncrasies, rhythmically and arrangement-wise, the songs from forthcoming new album are complex and busy. Pallett's music is highly artful but when he relies on his trusty violin and loop pedal, pastoral wonder like 'This Is The Dream Of Win And Regine' flows out of him.

If we're to thank Villagers for one thing from last night's stunning set, it must first and foremost be the introduction of the phrase "totes dizazzo" into the Dingle lexicon during a brief technical difficulty. Thankfully the show was anything but a disaster, it may well have been our favourite Villagers show ever. The songs from new album {Awayland} are bursting with poetry, skill, tact, beauty and truth. The album is released in January and really is a step up for Conor O'Brien and the band. O'Brien is also remarkably more assured. He's always been a charming performer but he's really coming into his own; he's magnetising to watch and he moves around the stage much more now, not stationary, moved by the music, as are we.

After the show, the band held their annual Dingle Office party in the pubs of the town and there was much more music for those who couldn't get enough, Daithí O' Dronaí turned Adams bar into a rave and David Kitt packed out McCarthy's Bar. Saturday at Other Voices 11 was anything but a dizazzo.

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