• Zlatanera w/ Slomatics & Bad Boat @ Limelight, Belfast

    Hail Satan! After four years, Belfast’s premier groove/stoner devil-worshipping metal band Zlatanera have finally put together their debut album Lergerdemain (literally ‘sleight of hand’, or trickery) and of course launched it in fine fashion in their spiritual home, the Limelight in Belfast. Both they and their two support acts also rather brilliantly showcased the many facets of stoner metal to boot. First of these supports is Bad Boat, who have been kicking around the local scene for the last fourteen years (“we should probably get an album together ourselves” quips frontman Tom Clarke). Tonight they are in outrageously superb form…

  • The Altered Hours w/ Girls Names & Gross Net @ Roisin Dubh, Galway

    Should post-punk still be allowed to be a thing? Is post-punk bloody revival still a thing? Like, is it not the case that by now the innumerable expanse of bands that exist under that vague banner have managed to forge something unique and individual from those initial influences? I don’t know what we’ll call it instead. Does it matter? It’s just that it is concerning that many acts seem to bear the weight of that label, being painted with a brush that has been in need of replacing for quite some time. Some seem so ready to slump tiredly into…

  • Julia Holter w/ DM Stith @ Button Factory, Dublin

    Having doubly underscored her critical clout and sonic vision with the release of her fourth album, Have You In My Wilderness, late last year, L.A. experimental pop dilettante Julia Holter’s sold-out Button Factory in Dublin tonight is nothing if not perfect testament to following one’s very own path in the well-trodden wilderness of solo artistry. Having positively beguiled the Unitarian Church three years previous, the multi-instrumentalist returns to the capital a musician that has covered considerable creative ground since. An under-the-radar proposition for many tonight, New York indie-folk singer-songwriter DM Stith (below) wastes no time in making an impression as Holter’s sole support. Stripped back to acoustic…

  • Shuggie Otis @ The Sugar Club, Dublin

    With a variety of funk and soul sounds emanating from the Sugar Club’s sound system, the scene is well and truly set for the highly anticipated return to Dublin, of guitarist, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shuggie Otis. Born Johnny Alexander Veliotes Jnr. in 1953, the young Otis became a member of his father’s backing band when he was only 12 years old, and just three years later the youthful guitarist accompanied renowned musician Al Kooper on his 1969 LP Kooper Session. Otis’ status continued to gather pace courtesy of his Freedom Flight and Inspiration Information records, the former of which included…

  • Slipknot w/ Suicidal Tendencies @ SSE Arena, Belfast

    August 27th, 2002: a date burned into the minds of Northern Irish metalheads, as it was the last time metal monsters Slipknot last graced our shores. Oh sure, there’s been Dublin gigs – the last of which was almost a year ago to the day – but it has been almost fourteen years since Northerners got to see the band on home turf. The announcement, then, of a date in the SSE Arena on the final leg of their latest world tour sent fans into long awaited paroxysms of delight. Somewhat disappointingly, we missed out on recently reformed tech/prog metallers…

  • Distortion Project Fundraiser @ Limelight, Belfast

    The Distortion Project and heavy metal are inextricably linked here in Belfast, as the many fans who showed their faces on Saturday, February 13 in the Limelight will attest to. The six hour long gig was part of the fundraising effort for the Distortion Project that’s currently underway in order to secure its future (you can donate to the cause here); a raffle with several frankly awesome prizes plus twenty percent of merch and drink sales all went into the kitty. First band off the blocks was stoner/sludge locals MOLARBEAR. Slowly easing the punters into the day’s festivities with their slow…

  • Kerrang! Tour 2016: Sum 41, Frank Carter, Roam & Biters @ The Academy, Dublin

    What’s probably most striking about tonight’s annual Kerrang! tour performance is the absence of side fringes and panda bear eyeliner. While outside there are a plethora of young folks trying to convince the bouncer that their older sibling’s ID is their own, the crowd inside the venue seems to be within their early to late 20s. This is the Kerrang! tour; the purest distillation of angsty misunderstood youth that a €3.50 magazine can offer. So why is the crowd from Animal Collective or TV On The Radio here? Does the long awaited return of pop-punk legends Sum 41 really inspire…

  • Foals w/ Everything Everything @ 3Arena, Dublin

    Coming off the sound of their excellent 2015 record Get to Heaven Everything Everything take the stage packing all their reverb-y epic-ness into the 3Arena’s panoramic sound. They kick in with a metallic, eighties edge and the vocals have a sharp bite that more than make up for Jonathan Higgs contained but usually irreducible, athletic range. ‘Regrets’ lives up to its anthemic potential and ‘Cough Cough’s frenetic rhythms make way for the best pop-post-rock soup on any mainstream menu. In ten minutes the Manchester locals have already played a stormer. By the time they unleash a bouncy, tricky version of…

  • Irish Tour: John Grant

    With words by Ross Thompson and photos from Alan Maguire and Sean McCormack, we capture the very mighty John Grant at Belfast’s Mandela Hall and Galway’s Seapoint. Mandela Hall, Belfast Photos by Alan Maguire John Grant is, to put it bluntly, as cool as all get out. Whether crooning over torch ballads or getting his proverbial freak on to big-boned electro, he plays the showman with consummate ease. Each of the mantles fit him equally well, thanks in no small part to his not only the appeal of his soaring, velvety voice but also his natural charm. Following support Icelandic multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter…

  • The Strypes w/ Support @ The Olympia Theatre, Dublin

    For years, Cavan boys The Strypes have been plagued with endless comparisons and negativity. Tonight’s headline show at The Olympia Theatre shows a band that have finally come into their own. With all three bands tonight being Irish, there really is a sense of national pride in the room. After Bitch Falcon and Travis Oaks (below) have warmed up the crowd, from the second The Strypes arrive on stage until the moment they leave, there’s not a moment of quiet in the venue. With a brass section as well as plenty of new material, The Strypes really do appear to…