Live at the NCH is a live album by the contemporary Irish/American music group The Gloaming. It was released on March 2, 2018 on Real World Records. The album received widespread critical acclaim upon its release and went to No.3 in the Irish Album Charts. Background and recording In February 2018, RTÉ reported that The Gloaming were readying the release of a concert album timed for release with the group's sold-out seven-night residency in Dublin's National Concert Hall in March (their only live dates of that year). The release would act as a celebration of the 17 sold-out shows the band had performed at the NCH over the course of their career to that point (that figure now stands at 24). In an interview, pianist and producer Thomas Bartlett said of the venue: “After playing our very first show there, we became really bonded to the National Concert Hall. It’s still absolutely amazing to me to have fallen into the situation where such a thing was even possible. I think because the room holds such importance for us as a band, and because the residency has become an annual tradition, we approach these shows with a particular kind of fire and focus, but also in the knowledge that we can really take our time to stretch out and explore, and that the audience will happily go wandering with us.” Compiled by Bartlett from two years’ worth of concert recordings, the album was produced by Bartlett and The Gloaming, with Patrick Dillett on mixing duties. The live recordings had been originally made by Phil Hayes and Andy Knightley at the National Concert Hall, with the group's live sound mixed by Matt Purcell. Marc Bessant's sleeve design featured photography by Hugh McCabe and Rich Gilligan. Release and reception The six-track Live at the NCH was released on March 2, 2018 on Real World Records to widespread critical acclaim. Shortly afterwards, music magazine Hot Press reported that the record had gone straight to No.3 in the Irish Album Charts upon its release. The Irish Times’ review of Live at the NCH felt the recordings “capture the essence of this band whose live performances are akin to mesmerising, whirling dervishes”. In its five-star review, The Arts Desk called the release “one of the great live recordings, in any genre”, remarking that it was the sound of a band “fusing form and feeling with dazzling