HQ opened its doors for the first time on Saturday night, for Lynden David Hall's sold-out appearance - it's the decidedly trendy concert venue for the new Hot Press Irish Music Hall of Fame on Middle Abbey Street.
Lynden David Hall is a young British soul artist. Last time he was in Dublin he was playing support for M People at the RDS.
Hall is a powerful, charismatic performer. His style of soul is a cut above the blandness of M People, the Lighthouse Family and their ilk.
He was aided by an assured band - four instrumentalists and three female backing singers. Of these, guitarist Maurice Brown was particularly impressive. The band really hit their stride with the lively If I Had to Choose, drawing cheers from the crowd. The Other Side built from a dazzling bass guitar introduction to a powerful workout for the full band.
Hall's considerable vocal abilities were clearly evident on the first ballad of the evening, Medicine. He is a clear, precise singer who avoids the overindulgent pyrotechnics that ruin so many soul performances. He was even better on a short version of Do Angels Cry, which he performed with only an acoustic guitar accompaniment.
After this, Jimmy Lee and Dead 'n Gone seemed by comparison turgid and cliched. However, they got back on track with a theatrically assured Sexy Cinderella.
The first encore was the rugged blues Jasmine, featuring an aggressive guitar solo from Hall. They closed with a full-blast, unsubtle rendering of Living the Lie.