• Foals w/ Everything Everything @ 3Arena, Dublin

    February 12, 2016 - By 

    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…

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

    February 1, 2016 - By 

    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…

  • LAU @ Duncairn Arts Centre, Belfast

    January 31, 2016 - By 

    There’s something about Edinburgh tables. JK Rowling’s scribblings at one in an Edinburgh café gave birth to Harry Potter and world literary domination. Likewise, when accordionist Martin Green, singer-guitarist Kris Drever and fiddler Aidan O’Rourke jammed at a table in Edinburgh in 2004, little did they know that those would be the first steps towards taking the folk world by storm. Twelve years, five critically acclaimed albums and a slew of BBC Radio 2 Best Folk Band awards later, LAU find themselves in demand at festivals, clubs and concert halls the length and breadth of the UK, in North America…

  • Donum Dei w/ So Long Until the Seance, The Organ Grinders and Cavehill @ The Pavilion, Belfast

    January 25, 2016 - By 

    If you ever needed proof of just how varied the heavy music scene is in Northern Ireland you need only to check out last Saturday night’s Distortion Project gig lineup. Set in the Pavilion bar, it featured groove rock, punk rock, glam/horror metal and modern metal. Impressive, eh? First up were aforementioned groove rockers Cavehill (below), who are forgiven for their slightly too loud snare mike and late bass issues when we discover that due to the rugby match being shown, only the headliners had time to soundcheck. Rock and roll, man… their catchy brand of groove-heavy bluesy rock is…

  • The Night Beats w/ September Girls, Twinkranes @ The Grand Social, Dublin

    January 25, 2016 - By 

    It is safe to say that the initial seeds of psychedelic infused garage rock originated in the United States in the mid to late 1960’s. Most of these bands ended up releasing the odd single or if they were lucky an album, before disappearing back into obscurity. Fortunately with the likes of Lenny Kaye’s invaluable Nuggets compilation as well as the Pebbles and Back From The Grave series, these bands have found new audiences with modern-day artists such as The Black Angels, Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees and tonight’s headliners The Night Beats, continuing to bear the psych and garage…

  • Rabid Bitch of the North (Single Launch) w/ Astralnaut & Erosion @ Voodoo, Belfast

    January 20, 2016 - By 

    It’s a gig that’s been a long time coming: Rabid Bitch of the North’s single launch for ‘Green Eyes’. Plagues by distribution issues (record label Alone Records hit problems with both Record Store Day and the crumbling Greek economy), invitations for preorder were went out in March last year but the vinyl single (and accompanying anthology CD) didn’t actually arrive until around Halloween. A posse of bands was duly assembled (with Caustic God sadly having to drop out last minute) for the launch gig scheduled for January 16th in Voodoo. First up, Caustic God’s replacements Erosion stepped onstage. Having been…

  • Motionless In White w/ Silent Screams and New Years Day @ Mandela Hall, Belfast

    January 19, 2016 - By 

    Queen’s University student union complex: students by day, emos by night. Yep, it’s a case of ‘another underage gig in Mandela Hall’; this time goth metalcore heroes Motionless In White are back in town on their first run as headliners in the UK. Cue many, many black-clad, eyeliner-heavy teenagers descending on the cold streets of Belfast. Up first it’s another metalcore act, Coventry’s Silent Screams. The house lights abruptly drop and a heartbeat sound washes over the crowd, who respond noisily with a “Silent Screams! Silent Screams!” chant. Almost from the first note an emo moshpit breaks out (safer, less…

  • Hozier, Wyvern Lingo @ Liverpool Empire Theatre

    January 14, 2016 - By 

    There are many grand theaters in Liverpool, a city where they come ten to the penny. With a dozen or so within spitting distance that would work, tonight is about the splendour of a proper neoclassical master. Bathed in tons of marble and acres of velvet The Empire sets the scene for the 2400 odd that have packed in to a sold out show. Sandwiched between the Panto and Priscilla Queen of the desert, tonight’s show has a very Wicklow bent. I say this as I was asked on numerous occasions if there was a local support act, there wasn’t……

  • Glen Hansard @ Ulster Hall, Belfast

    December 21, 2015 - By 

    Glen Hansard stands at the edge of the stage, his dark attire all but blending in with the darkness, giving the strange appearance of a floating, disembodied head. He sings ‘Grace Beneath The Pines’, unamplified and accompanied only by a swelling string section, and his voice ghosts all around the interior of the concert hall. It captures the spirit of Josef Locke or John McCormack, namechecked by Hansard later on in the show, and as openings go, it is certainly an effective one. In fact, it sets the tone for the whole evening, which is more subdued than one might…

  • Happy Mondays @ Vicar Street, Dublin

    December 18, 2015 - By 

    As soon as you step into Vicar St tonight, it is clear Dublin is in the mood for a party. Shaun Ryder and his merry gang of oddball Mancs are here to celebrate the anniversary of their seminal Pills ‘N’ Thrills and Bellyachesø album reaching the quarter century mark and they’re ringing it in in the only way they know how. Those in attendance might be a little older than the last time our unlikely heroes rolled into town but the baggy shirts and fisher hats are still present and accounted for. The atmosphere inside is warm with loose endorphins floating…