• Rusangano Family w/ Bantum @ Dolans Warehouse, Limerick

    December 29, 2016 - By 

    To label this piece as a concert or gig review would be a disservice. This was not a simple performance, but in fact a stunning political rally, challenging all conflicts and controversies that arose from the wretched 2016. It’s hypnotic to watch a crowd, lined wall to wall of Dolan’s Warehouse, chanting and raving to these ballads of change. But however mesmerising the sights of the crowd were,  taking place on stage was an even more enthralling show of shouting and a dance of rhythmic stumbling, begging you to question how their throats could withstand such passion, or their limbs…

  • Lisa Hannigan @ Empire Music Hall, Belfast

    December 21, 2016 - By 

    Whether it’s the respite from the heady daytime rush or simply the nature of taking stock of the twelve months just gone, there’s something about this time of year that resonates so strongly with the deeply reflective craft of Lisa Hannigan. Having played a brace of fondly-recalled Christmas shows in the city back in 2011 and 2009, that association goes that little bit further for many in Belfast’s packed-out Empire Music Hall tonight where, comfortably edging into the realm of dewy-eyed, quasi-festive tradition, fans – both seasoned and new-fangled – assemble to bear witness to an artist unquestionably at the peak…

  • Enemies Final Show @ Vicar Street, Dublin

    December 20, 2016 - By 

    For Enemies’ final show to land at this stage of an already turbulent year for Irish independent music felt significant. Throughout the course of a Sunday night in Vicar Street there was a sense of one era’s gradual end and another’s step further to the fore permeating the venue. Looking back on a year that saw more than a fair share of independent acts bow out gracefully from the scene, to have this gig as somewhat of a bookend for that felt meaningful. It re-instilled the importance for a band or artist to always act on their own terms, to…

  • Irish Tour: Super Furry Animals

    December 3, 2016 - By 

    Cathal McBride and photographers Aaron Corr and Dee McEvoy capture the return of Welsh psychedelic rock legends Super Furry Animals to Dublin and Belfast. Olympia Theatre, Dublin Photos by Aaron Corr Limelight, Belfast Photos by Dee McEvoy Despite not releasing a studio album since 2009’s Dark Days/Light Years, 2016 has been a busy year for Super Furry Animals. Having returned last year from a hiatus that saw frontman Gruff Rhys continue his solo career as well as establish side project Neon Neon, the band’s renewed activity has seen a new one-off single, ‘Bing Bong’, for Wales’ Euro 2016 team and a…

  • Meltybrains? @ The Academy, Dublin

    November 28, 2016 - By 

    The underappreciation of musicians and bands is a hot topic at the moment. The fact that creative output is criminally undervalued isn’t news but it seems that, here in Dublin at least, we’ve reached a moment. The fact that bands are openly citing financial and commercial difficulties as a reason for stop doing what they love should be a harrowing distant possibility rather than the hard truth that it is. Yet, as a fan, as a gig goer it’s often hard to keep in focus just how thankless the “job” can be. Just look at Zaska’s well deserved successful fund…

  • Le Guess Who? 2016 @ Utrecht, NL

    November 28, 2016 - By 

    It’s been a weird year for the ‘Boutique’ festival market, with ATP coming to an official end following a string of debacles, but in its tenth year, Utrecht’s Le Guess Who? somehow does it. Across four days, it ties together seldom-seen legends, a pocket of essential esoterica, and today’s most boundary-pushing acts, the lineup this year curated by Wilco, Suuns, Julia Holter & Savages. Utrecht is the sophisticated, civilised, more communal sister city of Amsterdam, located just half an hour south of the capital, and in a city with the Rietveld Schröderhuis built in 1924 it houses the kind of forward-thinking…

  • Dinosaur Jr @ Vicar Street, Dublin

    November 21, 2016 - By 

    Not least since their much-heralded 2005 reunion, Dinosaur Jr shows have always been something of a foregone conclusion in that the following facts will almost always hold sway throughout: it will be “should-really-have-brought-earplugs” loud; the band probably won’t verbally interact with each other and – perhaps most assured of all – those who kneel at the altar of J Mascis will spend the entire mass show gawking at the frontman, agog, often open-mouthed and expectant of the next face-melting solo. Having had its doors darkened by many a revered figure this year, Dublin’s Vicar Street is no exception to that trifecta tonight.…

  • Irish Tour: Ash

    November 14, 2016 - By 

    Downpatrick alt-rock legends Ash performing as part of their 1977 anniversary tour at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre and Belfast’s Mandela Hall. Photos by Moira Reilly and Alan Maguire, words by Justin McDaid. The Olympia Theatre, Dublin Photos: Moira Reilly 1977, now, just seems like one of those albums that slots into the drawer in the mental filing cabinet marked ‘halcyon days’. It’s hard to believe that Ash’s debut album proper is a spritely twenty years old – not much older than Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray were when they released it; ignited by the roar of a TIE Fighter and…

  • Irish Tour: Jimmy Eat World

    November 16, 2016 - By 

    Arizona alt-rock legends Jimmy Eat World live at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre and Belfast’s Limelight 1. Words by Loreana Rushe, photos by Sara Marsden and Pedro Giaquinto. Olympia Theatre, Dublin You’d be forgiven for thinking it’s the early 2000s. A time when dragging the hems of extremely wide trousers adorned with bike chains through puddles was a given and people were daft enough to spend money on Limp Bizkit albums. Mention the term Emo and you’re sure to instigate mockery and jokes about MySpace fringes, but ‘Emotional Hardcore’ is it so widely associated with this image now and a far cry…

  • Football As Never Before @ The Strand Arts Centre, Belfast

    November 8, 2016 - By 

    A ninety-minute avant garde documentary about George Best, set to live music and performed in an art deco cinema, might sound like something from the 1970s alternative arts scene, particularly when only one of the footballing superstar’s goals is featured.  But this is Belfast in 2016 and the catalyst for this future-retro Best tribute is Dublin composer/musician Matthew Nolan, who specializes in putting music to silent/avant-garde films. The film in question is “Football Like Never Before”, shot by German film-maker Helmuth Costard in 1970 and released the following year. Eight 16mm cameras tracked Best for the full ninety minutes of…