The Corrs at 3Arena review: joyous comeback night packed with golden hits and pristine pop

The Corrs

3Arena, Dublin

★★★★☆

What can The Corrs do to make us love them all over again? Just show up, actually. Ireland’s most celebrated sibling band since The Clancy Brothers are making a sort of second comeback with their Talk on Corners tour, celebrating their 1997 album that made them household names.

The tour kicked off in Belfast’s SSE Arena on Friday night, and Dublin’s 3Arena on Saturday night, and if the 3Arena show was anything to go by, the band have definitely not been forgotten by the faithful. And anyone who doubted that the quartet from Dundalk could still deliver a joyous, vibrant night of trad and pristine pop, well ... they’re forgiven.

“You were probably 10 when this song came out,” joked singer Andrea Corr, as the band delivered another golden hit from their heyday.

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After conquering the world in the 1990s and early 2000s, the siblings took a break from the business to pursue solo projects and start families of their own (Jim Corr also seemed to take a break from reality, apparently swapping his guitar for a tin hat and spouting conspiracy theories on his website). Having sold 40 million records, the band could afford to take their feet off the pop stardom pedal.

They returned to active duty in 2015 with the album White Light and a subsequent tour. Most recently, they took a successful jaunt around Australia and New Zealand, and the Talk on Corners tour will remind Irish and UK fans why they fell for their charms in the first place.

Andrea and Jim Corr performing at the 3Arena, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Times

Sharon and Andrea performing at the 3Arena, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Times

Saturday night in Dublin was 1990s pop heaven, and the crowd filled the venue early to catch Australian actor and pop star Natalie Imbruglia, who opened with tunes from her six studio albums, including Wishing I Was There, Wrong Impression and Smoke. Her second-biggest hit, Shiver, went down a storm, but so did more recent song Build It Better, new song Habit, with its dancey D: Ream vibe, and her classic track Big Mistake, with its Alanis Morissette air.

“Do we have any romantics in the audience?” she asked, rhetorically. The audience answered by singing her biggest hit, Torn, after the PA system suddenly went down during Leave Me Alone. “You just made my night,” she told them. When it came time for her to sing the song, the crowd were happy to sing it again.

The Corrs arrived onstage at 9pm sharp with an almost defiantly driving rendition of Only When I Sleep, as if they had something to prove. They needn’t have worried – the response was raucous, and the crowd goodwill lifted them through Give Me a Reason, Forgiven, Not Forgotten, Summer Sunshine and What Can I Do. They seem tougher, edgier, less airy-fairy than before.

The Corrs on stage at the 3Arena, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Times

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Andrea Corr is no longer channelling Stevie Nicks in the 1970s, but showing a commanding presence on stage. Sharon Corr moves comfortably between backing vocals and violin virtuosity, while Jim Corr ably directs the music via guitar, keyboards and grand piano. Caroline Corr’s drumming brings a primal edge to proceedings, and the fifth and sixth Corrs – guitarist Anto Drennan and bassist Keith Duffy – are present and more than correct.

Caroline takes up the bodhrán for their now-classic version of Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing, and that’s followed by the first trad hooley of the night, Joy of Life. Ellis Island is a moving reminder that Ireland once had its own migration crisis, and Spancil Hill is followed by another popular Corrs cover – Phil Lynott’s Old Town.

The band finish with a final barrage of Corrs classics including Radio, Queen of Hollywood, So Young, I Never Loved You Anyway and Breathless. The fans practically wrest the mic off Andrea during their cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams, and when the opening refrain of Runaway begins, Andrea can only look on as the crowd takes control of their favourite song. God, we were so young then.