Since co-founding The Thin Air back in the sands of time (2013) I’ve encountered my fair share of “guitar bands.” You know the type: bands wielding, invariably, at least one guitar and two members. Usually, there are four people, though sometimes there’s three.
Historically, it’s just easier to think of these bands as guitar bands because sequestering them into little “indie rock” or “post-punk” boxes benefits no one. Of course, the latter tag continues to prove fortuitous – fiscally, at least – for certain PR companies on the mainland (read: England). Not to mention the ongoing quasi-fetishisation of white Irish lads, usually from the Pale, thinking they’ve invented an entire genre while merely aping its basest tropes. Blessedly, so long as they don’t break up, these bands almost always get better (some of our biggest “post-punk” stars are showing that staying power and shedding a sense of entitlement, at least relative to privilege, can work wonders for songwriting)
But I digress. In this decade-plus span, there have been few “guitar bands” to do it quite as convincingly as Adore.
Over the last couple of years, the three-piece has bridged the gap between their hometowns of Galway, Donegal and Dublin to become one of the island’s best bands. Tonight at Whelan’s, the band’s sold-out headliner feels like a major milestone for a band that has released only a handful of singles. But it’s nothing if not well deserved – a crowning moment for three young musicians whose craft, filtering surf, disco, glam and pop through fiercely tight and deeply believable garage rock, confirms that they know exactly what they’re about, who they’re for and where they’re going.
Theatre
Support this evening comes courtesy of Theatre, a Limerick five-piece who played their debut headliner last June. It’s impressive how widescreen and finessed their sound already feels. Conjuring fellow Limerick shoegaze-inspired band and TTA favourites His Father’s Voice, there’s a strong sense they’re beginning to find what could very well set them apart.
But tonight is, without question, Adore’s big night – and a searing performance to cap a busy 2024. From the outset, it’s another beautifully breakneck set, with ‘Fragile’ and ‘Not to Listen’ standing out as early highlights. Frontwoman Lara Minchin on guitar and vocals is assertiveness squared, helming a sound that may comfortably earworm but can, with a swift refrain, cut scythe-sharp.
Adore
It’s an M.O. perfectly supported by Lachlann Ó Fionnáin on bass and backing vocals and drummer Naoise Jordan Cavanagh. Few trios, especially at this stage in their career, can lay claim to such a clear and strong symbiosis. Tighter than a perfectly wound clock, and fiercer than a match struck in the dark, ‘Show Me Your Teeth,’ ‘Red Velvet’ (featuring some extraordinary harmonica forays by Pete O’Hanlon of Lord Friday) and ‘Can We Talk’ – the band’s sublime takedown of toxic masculinity – are just a few peaks in a set of swaggering panache that italicises and underscores Adore’s all-but-certain rise in 2025.
As purveyors of guitar music with backbone and pit-starting sorcery, news of them entering the studio to record next year’s singles couldn’t be more promising. As I see it, the writing couldn’t be more on the wall if it were spray-painted in neon. Best keep an ear or two on it. Brian Coney
Photos by Seán Kelly
Lachlann Ó Fionnáin
