• Mega Man Legacy Collection (Capcom, PC / PS4 / Xbox One)

    November 25, 2015 - By 

    Hailing from a golden age before multiple lives and replenishing health bars turned gamers into passive ninnies, the much loved Mega Man series offered a real challenge to masochists and tough-nuts alike. Much, much less forgiving that Super Mario or Sonic, the argument being that Eastern players preferred their titles to be more difficult, Mega Man combined tight controls with pixel perfect platforming, meaning that every jump, run or slide was crucial for making it through a level. Any wrong decision could see you landing on spikes or falling into pits, and that measly ration of three lives quickly ran…

  • Wretched Little Brat @ Sean O Casey Community Centre, Dublin

    November 25, 2015 - By 

    Premiering just two decades after decriminalisation and less than a year after marriage equality, Brian Merriman’s Wretched Little Brat marks a dramatic shift in Irish attitudes toward homosexuality. In a recent interview with Dublin Inquirer, the founder of Dublin’s Gay Theatre Festival remarks how years ago, straight performers balked at the idea of taking on queer characters. Reflecting on the eclectic makeup of his cast, Merriman notes that now ‘they’re delighted to play gay roles’. Wretched Little Brat explores an area central to 20th-century homosexuality, and Merriman’s own fascinations: the life and lovers of the flamboyant Oscar Wilde. While innovative…

  • 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…

  • Beowulf: The Blockbuster @ Project Arts Centre, Dublin

    November 20, 2015 - By 

    Donning the name of one of literature’s most famous epic poems, Bryan Burroughs’ Beowulf: The Blockbuster packs its quaint tale with an emotional punch worthy of the title.  Burroughs, the playwright and star of his own one-man show, premiered this one act two years ago at Dublin’s own fringe festival before taking it on the road across Ireland, the UK, France, and even as far as Australia during which time he’s claimed several honours and esteemed recognition.  Now the work triumphantly returns to Dublin for another limited and popularised engagement. The show begins with a small spectacle of lights heralded…

  • 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.  …

  • Kurt Vile w/ Lushes @ Vicar Street, Dublin

    November 17, 2015 - By 

    As a preface-turned-thinkpiece, it’s probably important to note that I suffer from epilepsy and although I have my suspicions that this correlates with my connection to music, that hypothesis is probably, at best, pseudo-science. But then again, Neil Young – fellow epileptic – has, before even the diagnosis, been this writer’s favourite musician of all time, connecting in a way no other has before or since. Apart from, perhaps, the first time my teenage self heard Appetite For Destruction. That may seem a roundabout way of introducing a Kurt Vile review, but there’s an inescapable influence on those who channel…

  • 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…

  • The Matchmaker @ The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin

    November 16, 2015 - By 

    Showcasing two talents of Ireland’s most celebrated comedic actors, the Gaiety’s production of John B. Keane’s The Matchmaker delights audiences in its old-school, but enduring comic tropes. Adapted from Keane’s novella by Phyllis Ryan, the play tells the story of Kerry-raised matchmaker Dicky Mick Dicky and the would-be romantics seeking his help to find a partner. Each character is given a series of letters performed in monologue throughout the two acts, with Dicky and the males played by funnyman Jon Kenny and Dicky’s sister Marge and the females by boisterous leading lady Mary McEvoy. This elderly array of rustic Irish…

  • 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…