• Irish Tour: Therapy?

    December 13, 2015 - By 

    With words from Conor Callanan at the former, Ste Murray and Liam Kielt capture the mighty Therapy? at The Button Factory, Dublin and Belfast’s Limelight 1 (AAA). The Button Factory, Dublin One of the main qualities of a band such as Therapy? is their pure and unadulterated unwillingness to compromise. During their 26 year career they’ve never shied away from sticking steadfastly to their guns when it comes to releasing what they’ve wanted. No matter what the response may be from fans or critics alike. With the release of 1994’s Troublegum it seemed like Therapy? were on the cusp of something…

  • Chelsea Wolfe @ Button Factory, Dublin

    November 26, 2015 - By 

    Chelsea Wolfe fans at this corner of Europe must have been keeping a close eye on the blogs and Twitter feeds over this tour, one fraught with trouble for the singer. A date in Poznan was cancelled due to Wolfe battling bronchitis. After losing her voice onstage in Budapest, the following night’s Vienna appearance was also cancelled, but the singer managed to gain the upper hand in the battle for the bronchial tubes to honour the rest of the schedule. In The Button Factory tonight, it’s as if each note is precious, each breath a blessing. Nothing is wasted. Wolfe…

  • King Kong Company @ Roisin Dubh, Galway

    November 24, 2015 - By 

    There is no use in disputing the claim that Waterford’s King Kong Company are one of, if not the, best live act in the country now. In the past couple of years, since their grand comeback after several years off the radar, the five piece band plus dancer Trish Murphy have been crowned as lords of the summer festival, playing almost every one in the country this summer including three sets at Body and Soul. This unyielding capacity that the act have honed in the festival scenario makes it so that the exact same feeling is impossible to avoid at…

  • The Album Leaf w/ Lyla Foy, Grounds For Invasion @ Roisin Dubh, Galway

    November 23, 2015 - By 

    Winter is definitely, definitely, definitely starting to sink its teeth into Galway’s spine on this particular Thursday night. What an absolute joy it is then to shiver into the Roisín Dubh’s candlelit main room; to take a seat and allow the three acts of tonight’s Strange Brew showcase to wrap the modest but attentive audience in music that is so reassuringly warm. First up is the local Grounds For Invasion (below). The duo of multi-instrumentalist Willow Sea and vocalist Tracy Friel are visibly comfortable playing on this stage by now and this contributes nicely to the intimate, comfortable atmosphere that…

  • Stiff Little Fingers @ The Academy, Dublin

    November 17, 2015 - By 

    The last time I saw Stiff Little Fingers was when previous bassist Bruce Foxton was still amongst their ranks. With him having left the fold in ‘06, to say that tonight’s gig was something I was looking forward to would be an understatement. Entering the venue I was met by the ever familiar opening notes of the band’s ‘Go For It’, an instrumental track they’ve been arriving on stage to for many a year. Without a second’s hesitation the quartet of Jake Burns, Ali McMordie, Ian McCallum and Steve Grantley blast straight into early-era favourites ‘Nobody’s Heroes and At the Edge.  …

  • Tempered Contemporary Music Weekend

    November 17, 2015 - By 

    Whilst funding for the arts on these shores seems to be doing a gradual disappearing act, the arts themselves are as vibrant as never before. This is perhaps especially true in the sphere of Irish contemporary music, as Moving On Music’s weekend series of concerts, Tempered, amply demonstrates. There’s plenty of rock, pop and New-Trad (think The Gloaming) – that could be described as contemporary, but as a marketing label, it’s like a standard raised in a gale that proudly proclaims ‘cutting edge’ or ‘avant garde’. Crash Ensemble, whose ‘Born in The Eighties’ program opens the mini-festival on Thursday in…

  • Northern Ireland Music Prize 2015 @ Mandela Hall, Belfast

    November 16, 2015 - By 

    “Don’t stop going to silly rock and roll concerts. Don’t stop enjoying silly rock and roll… if we keep going, they can never win. Now let’s go play some silly rock and roll!” Neil Hannon, The Divine Comedy On a night that not once threatened to descend into a sombre affair, there remained a feeling of solidarity within the Mandela Hall in Belfast on Saturday night. Undoubtedly one of the most important dates in the Northern Irish music calendar, in this third instalment of the NI Music Awards we once again saw performances from some of the best acts this…

  • John Grant @ Vicar Street, Dublin

    November 12, 2015 - By 

    John Grant really loves his audience and judging by the crowd of his second sold out show of a two night stint in Dublin’s Vicar Street, the feeling is mutual. Delving straight into two tracks from his new album Grey Tickles, Black Pressure, it is not long before he’s telling us just how much. This new album might lack the consistency of quality in the tracks of its predecessors but those that he choses to play live are no doubt the strongest ones. This combined with Grant’s charisma and the addition of a four piece band and three backing singers …

  • Bully w/ The Winter Passing & Fangclub @ Whelan’s, Dublin

    November 12, 2015 - By 

    Monday is a strange night for gigs in Ireland and it shows in the mostly empty main venue of Whelan’s. Fangclub take the stage as a line forms almost as far away from the stage as possible as though the crowd are sizing these lads up which can only make for a more daunting performance. Unfortunately there is little here that appears to win the crowd over. There are elements of grunge and Britpop, both musically and aesthetically, but nothing really new is offered from this. Fangclub are tight onstage and very good at what they do but they fail…

  • METZ w/ Oh Boland @ Whelan’s, Dublin

    November 10, 2015 - By 

    It’s surprising that Toronto’s METZ didn’t come to Ireland when touring their self titled 2012 debut, given the appetite in this country for the sort of noise rock they trade in. So after a reportedly thrilling appearance at Electric Picnic this year, it’s nice to see them wrap up the current leg of their European tour behind even better follow up II with a stop off in Whelan’s. Sadly Protomartyr, who accompanied them on the UK dates aren’t present tonight, but Co. Galway’s Oh Boland more than make up for that. Their hook laden garage pop feels like it could…