• Ash @ Limelight 1, Belfast

    June 10, 2015 - By 

    “How many of you have never seen us play before?” Very few hands are raised. It’s probably fair to assume that the majority of this Belfast crowd have, in some shape or form, grown up with Ash. Having been upgraded, due to demand, to the larger room in The Limelight complex, it speaks for the enduring appeal of the home grown band who are currently touring to mark the release of Kablammo!; their seventh album. For a band sporting a back catalogue as well regarded as Ash, you would forgive the temptation to forge a set list of favourites. It…

  • Ty Segall – Mr. Face EP

    January 28, 2015 - By 

    We’re not really certain that Ty Segall sleeps. His near-constant stream of output, be it through his seven solo albums or countless collaborations on other records, all within a relatively short span of seven years, make us wonder when he would have the time. His latest effort comes straight off the back of last year’s glam-powered double album, Manipulator in the form of a four track EP entitled Mr. Face. Mr. Face is currently being promoted as being ‘The World’s First Playable Pair Of 3D Glasses’ but they use the term ‘glasses’ generously. If you were to hold the two red and blue 7”…

  • Young Fathers @ Black Box, Belfast

    January 19, 2015 - By 

    Edinburgh trio Young Fathers play to a sold out Black Box as part of the tenth annual Out To Lunch Festival, and as one of the more highly anticipated acts in the programme, we can assure you that they do not disappoint. They open nearly in darkness with a single drum beat which slowly builds into a battle march and bleeds into the electrifying ‘No Way’. It’s menacing and theatrical and immediately sets up the extraordinary atmosphere spectacularly. Young Fathers have clearly approached their Belfast show with an attack mentality which by the end of their first track leaves many…

  • Stars @ Limelight 2, Belfast

    January 15, 2015 - By 

    The experience of going to see a band live usually depends upon two elements – the strength of the artists and the audience. As Stars clamber on to the Limelight stage, bursting enthusiastically into ‘From The Night’, it soon becomes clear that it’s not the standard of performance that leaves the whole evening feeling a little… well…off. Stars are in Belfast to tour their seventh album, No One Is Lost. They make likeable records which translate live with ease. Belfast receives a sharply executed set-list of classics mined from their extensive back catalogue offering a satisfying mix of haunting, eloquent…

  • First Aid Kit @ Mandela Hall, Belfast

    September 19, 2014 - By 

    First Aid Kit have dressed for the occasion. They arrive onstage in shimmering outfits, faintly resembling the lost children of ABBA and take their places before a wall of gold lamé and glittering abstract alpine mountains. Their drummer wears a suit and bow tie. They are soon bathed in a warm golden hue and open their debut Belfast show with the rather fittingly titled, ‘Stay Gold’. First Aid Kit are Klara and Johanna Söderberg, who hail from Stockholm. The sisters have been writing songs together since 2007 and owe their international attention to the popularity of a YouTube video featuring the pair…

  • Oh Volcano @ Voodoo, Belfast

    August 5, 2014 - By 

    When a band with a firmly established sound and style decide to go on hiatus only to re-emerge under a different name and with a new creative direction, it’s not just surprising – it is brave. There’s not just the danger of potentially alienating their existing fan-base but the risk of their flirtations with experimentation failing miserably, leading to retreats with tails between legs. It is with this thought in the back of our in mind that we approach the debut headline show of Oh Volcano, the highly anticipated new guise of ex-General Fiasco band members, Owen and Enda Strathern,…

  • Coldplay – Ghost Stories

    May 23, 2014 - By 

    Setting aside the fact that their sixth studio album coincides particularly poignantly with a very public ‘conscious uncoupling’, from the opening notes you are left in little doubt that Ghost Stories is Coldplay‘s ‘break up’ album. This is an album that is, if you will pardon the pun, haunted by failed relationships. When you are eating ice cream by the pint and stalking the Facebook profile page of the one who broke your heart, this album will certainly provide the appropriate soundtrack. A deeply personal, introspective and at times, self-indulgent record, Ghost Stories comes prepared to offer you music to…

  • Haim @ The Olympia, Dublin

    March 13, 2014 - By 

    The Thin Air is packed into the standing section of Haim’s sold-out show in Dublin and we are very excited. For the best part of the last year, the music of the Californian sororal trio has dominated our music library; stubbornly refusing to let us tire of debut album Days Are Gone. Any niggling concerns that the live experience will disappoint disappear instantly as the coltish Haim sisters march on stage to an enormous Irish roar. They jump straight in, starting with ‘Falling’, and thus begins a show which does not ask for but rather grips your full attention.  Delivering…

  • The 1975 @ Ulster Hall, Belfast

    February 21, 2014 - By 

    “Do you like cabbage and bacon?” and “Will you go to my formal with me?” are just a sample of the rather odd questions posed to Matthew Healy and Adam Hann from The 1975, by a giggle of teenage girls. The Thin Air was at a local radio station to see a private acoustic set prior to their headline slot in the Ulster Hall. We were the oldest people there. While the band played quite beautiful acoustic versions of their singles ‘Sex’ and ‘Chocolate’, their fans snapped photos excitedly, making us slightly sad that their full attention wasn’t focused on what…