• AVA Festival 2015

    Well, here we are.  After months of anticipation and the mandatory, giddy daily countdown, the moment has arrived for Belfast’s inaugural AVA (Audio Visual Arts) Festival.  We’ve entered the Titanic Qtr and are making our way to the goliath T13 warehouse and playing spot the raver as we increase our pace, beyond excited for what we’ll see when we get there.  When we do, a multitude of coaches indicates that although it won’t kick off for some time yet, there’ll be a sizeable crowd inside.  There is, to our relief, a mass of music fans buzzing around the gargantuan space.…

  • Mr Scruff @ Black Box, Belfast

    You might already be aware of this but Mr. Scruff AKA Andy Carthy is a bonafide hero.  Why shouldn’t he be?  The man has one of the most eclectic musical palettes around and the production/DJing skills to back it up – and then some.  That’s the reason (and always has been) why Carthy is such a huge draw for music lovers of all styles.  His last appearance in Belfast back in January was immense, and this time around, our expectations were obviously high.  It’s a treat, too, that he’s come back to play The Black Box for this visit.  Not…

  • Forbidden Fruit 2015

    Saturday Photos by Derek Kennedy Sunday Photos by Tara Thomas The pristine fields are suddenly swamps, the sauntering revellers now screeching for shelter; those carefully picked outfits exposed for the vanity items they are, makeup streaked, perfectly quaffed bed-head hair plastered to their owners faces. Yet an Irish festival goer not ready for a little rain is a fool indeed and though the crowds entering may seem a little put out, once in the party proper the atmosphere visibly lifts. In the Undergrowth Stage 4ward Grad is laying down some beats for the early peakers. The atmosphere is positively Hacienda…

  • Slane 2015

    County Meath holds one of the most beautiful areas of land in all of Ireland, and the worldwide famous landmark of Slane Castle hosts one of the biggest rock bands in the world today. There seems to be no better fit. The Irish music fans seem to be some of the best, recognised worldwide, and the statement made by the overwhelming crowd, surpassing the 70,000 mark, who came to see the Foo Fighters despite a number of other events on the same day, including Forbidden Fruit Festival not too far down the road, was an incredible sight to see. And…

  • Boiler Room Dublin @ Hangar

    Boiler Room is an institution, no doubt. From its weekly Tuesday night gigs in London four years ago to a near constant international revolution of live-streamed music, its rise has been exponential. What’s been surprising then, has been its absence in Ireland. That changed, finally, last night, when Glacial Sound launched the first Dublin event of its kind. Eyebrows were raised upon its announcement, with techno fans wondering “why grime?” The simple answer is that these are the people that made it happen. The drive and passion of Glacial’s Paul Purcell is unmatched in these parts, which is why with…

  • Swans w/ Okkyung Lee @ Button Factory, Dublin

    Despite being a Monday after the weekend before there’s a sense of excitement for those milling around waiting for the show to start. They’re all ages, a physical embodiment of the decades long span of Swans career and the age defying loyalty they inspire. But before that there’s something of a gatekeeper in the image of Okkyung Lee (below). Her face spookily serene, she weighs taste on her rapidly moving bow as she makes her cello gurgle, spit, shout and scream. In fact everything except sing. So is this deranged arthouse fun? There is something of the performance about it,…

  • The Cribs w/ September Girls @ Limelight 2, Belfast

    With their reverb-soaked garage-rock sound, September Girls (below) take to the stage at Belfast’s Limelight 2 tonight an hour after the doors open. The long wait for the opening act doesn’t make much difference as the capacity in dark room is barely touched, and with a mere thirty-odd people watching them on, the band start their set. With The Cribs gear arranged behind them, the Dublin band seem to make the stage appear even smaller than what it usually is. Swaying about for most of the set, they focus on a clean and crisp live sound, translating almost identically from their recorded material. As…

  • Swans w/ Okkyung Lee @ Mandela Hall, Belfast

    Writing about Swans is a curious, almost impossible thing. With their three-decade long pursuit of summoning fleeting encounters with ecstasy, induced by masterfully orchestrated swathes of crushing noise, incantation and repetition, they are the living, breathing definition of a band whose seismic might and majesty can only truly be heeded live. A year to the month on from the release of their critically-devoured thirteenth studio opus, To Be Kind, Michael Gira and co. roll into Belfast tonight a towering and potent force to be reckoned with. Expectations simply couldn’t be higher. Immediately silencing the room with a flicker of the…

  • Tandem Felix w/ Jawbone @ The Workman’s Club, Dublin

    Does life imitate art or the other way round? A fundamental question for aesthetes answered simply enough when, prompted by the seated musicians on stage, the audience follow cue and inhabit the dark, seated parameters of the Workman’s Club. Despite the resulting floor space having the inhospitable air of a school disco (circa 1999, god knows what they’re like now) the atmosphere’s closer to a dim lit jazz club. Fitting, perhaps, for the clever work of Jawbone; a folk/blues collective who stray into honky-tonk, swing and delta for good measure. More a showcase than a straight set, the members pay…

  • little xs for eyes w/ Paddy Hanna @ Whelan’s, Dublin

    Kicking things off nicely is Paddy Hanna with his introspective, delicate folk. His greatest, and most striking strength is his voice, reminiscent of BBC’s Jack Steadman, Alt-J’s Joe Newman and even our own Conor O’Brien. His mellow, gossamer guitar playing may be lost on the early crowd who are yet to break from their tight circles and shadowy corners. But in Paddy, though no stage master, there’s clearly something to like for lovers of the genre. The crowd begins to grow. Mid week gigs are all the thing it seems. But then again, who wouldn’t want to get out of…