• Anderson .Paak w/ Tayla Parx @ The Olympia, Dublin

    March 20, 2019 - By 

    The Olympia is at about half capacity and there’s a gentle chitter-chatter in the air as support act Tayla Parx takes to the stage. For those not in the know, PARC is better known for her behind the scenes work, having recently collaborated with Ariana Grande and Panic! at the disco. If you look at the songwriting credits for the big pop hits of 2018, you’re bound to find her name on a few of them. Parx’ energy on stage is like that of an excited child, in the best possible way. She is giddy, charismatic and bubbly as hell,…

  • Massive Attack @ 3Arena, Dublin

    February 25, 2019 - By 

    When Massive Attack announced their current Mezzanine XXI tour last October, no one could have reasonably expected a safe or linear presentation of the band’s seminal – and arguably career-cresting – 1998 album. With founding member Robert Del Naja aka 3D promising a “one-off piece of work; our own personalised nostalgia nightmare head trip”, at Dublin’s 3Arena tonight, the Bristol luminaries deliver on that pledge and then some. Unless you’ve been keeping a close eye on recent setlists, the big curveball of tonight’s set isn’t the top-drawer guest vocalists (in this case, Horace Andy and the ever extraordinary Elizabeth Frazer).…

  • Years & Years w/ Flynn @ The Olympia Theatre

    January 28, 2019 - By 

    It’s been nearly four years since London synth-pop band Years & Years burst into the charts with their mammoth single “King” and won hearts all over the mainstream, became darlings of the internet and prominent public representatives of the queer community. Last summer they returned with their sophomore album Palo Santo, a concept album around a world where gender and sexuality don’t exist and were met with acclaim from critics and fans alike. In the light of their ever growing momentum, Years & Years have returned to Ireland to a packed out Olympia Theatre absolutely brimming with anticipation. Olly Alexander has…

  • Turning Pirate NYE Mixtape @ Vicar Street, Dublin

    January 2, 2019 - By 

    Some of the press ahead of the annual Turning Pirate NYE Mixtape, returning for its 9th year, made the bold claim that it’s Ireland’s best New Year’s party. Common sense dictates that this sort of claim that should be met with scepticism, particularly on a date on the calendar synonymous with disappointing nights out. With house parties and the offerings of TV channels are more and more becoming the norm, everyone has a tale of horrific bar queues, taxi nightmares and booze-fuelled drama. The Mixtape, however, undeterred by the cynicism the night has fostered in so many, is a smorgasbord…

  • Kojaque w/ Luka Palm @ The Academy, Dublin

    December 7, 2018 - By 

    “What the fuck is up Dublin?” screams Luka Palm, as he takes to the stage of The Academy an hour later than expected. The young Dublin rapper carries himself with a boyish swagger, as he marches up and down the stage, with cartoonish intro music blaring in the background. There is certainly a buzz in the air as the show begins, but with that comes an air of uncertainty. Palm has been doing the round on the Irish and UK circuit with his SoftBoy label-mates over the last year, but has not released much music. The audience are unfamiliar with…

  • Florence and the Machine @ 3Arena, Dublin

    November 21, 2018 - By 

    It’s been nine years since Florence Welch and her varied band of musicians burst into the mainstream with their orchestral indie pop and grew to extreme levels of fame. Since then, the indie pop phenomenon has released four well received albums and has developed a reputation for emotional, bombastic live shows. As an artist with a fairly traditional album cycle approach in an era of constant Spotify releases and attempts at social media virality, Welch’s work veers in and out of the spotlight every couple of years so it’s easy to forget just how impactful Florence And The Machine’s back…

  • Parquet Courts @ The Academy, Dublin

    November 5, 2018 - By 

    In the giddy days leading up to Parquet Courts‘ sold-out Academy show, social media was strewn with desperate pleas aimed squarely at the #ticketfairy. It came as no big surprise. Riding high off the back of their sixth – and easily most accessible album to date – Wide Awake!, the Brooklyn indie rock heroes are, without question, at their all-time most happening right now. Take a well-earned bow, the marketing team at Rough Trade. Capped at a cosy 850, the heaving Dublin venue tonight buzzes like a glorified in-store, relocated to what could feasibly be some neony student union of the early 2000s (that the room is promptly transformed into…

  • Johnny Marr @ Ulster Hall, Belfast

    November 3, 2018 - By 

    “Sorry, I forget to say shit in between songs. Oh yeah, politics. Fucking great, right? Don’t worry. This is a safe politics-free zone for tonight. I’m allowed to take the piss, though…” 34 years on from gracing its hallowed walls with the Smiths, Johnny Marr is mid-way through a generation-blurring set at Belfast’s iconic Ulster Hall. He’s one day into his 55th year, and with his recently-released third solo album, Call The Comet, marking a new creative resurgence, he’s twice the character and poise of that 21-year-old back in 1984. Kickstarting a new European tour, tonight bridges three eras into one seamless celebratory whole…

  • Mac DeMarco @ Limelight 1, Belfast

    October 30, 2018 - By 

    Why does 28-year-old Mac DeMarco command so much reverence from so many younger fans, right across the world? It’s a question as old as time (or, well, circa 2013), and yet, a definitive answer is still outstanding. Sure, there’s the midpoint he strikes between authenticity and unconcern. There’s the albums and countless live shows that veer between inward-gazing, heart-stung, silly and fun as all fuck (and who, juvenile or flirting with the grave, can’t get behind that?) Then there’s the tattered baseball cap and rollies chic, which is every bit as dominant as a love of the harmonic twists and turns that…