• Pixies w/ SPRINTS at Custom House Square, Belfast

    August 31, 2024 - By 

    In June 2013, just a day after it was announced that Kim Deal had left Pixies, nine years into one of the unlikeliest of reunions (yes, maybe even more than you-know-who), The Breeders stopped off at the Limelight in Belfast. In my review, I noted that the latter alt-rock heroes—helmed, of course, by Deal and her sister Kelley—delivered a “momentous, altogether unforgettable trip into the recent past.” Fast forward to 2024—on the very day Pixies return to the city after five years, with their latest bassist, Emma Richardson, in tow—news of Deal’s long-awaited solo debut LP lands in my inbox.…

  • Pulp at St. Annes Park, Dublin

    June 13, 2023 - By 

    Is this the way they say the future’s meant to feel? Or just 20,000 people standing in a field? Well, it was both on Friday night as, nearly thirty years after the practically perfect Different Class was released, that future became the present for the thousands of people in St Anne’s Park in Dublin. And this time round we really understood what the feeling was – utter joy that Jarvis Cocker hasn’t changed at all and Pulp with their ‘This is What We Do for an Encore’ tour, delivered exactly what we wanted. Full of promise from the minute it’s…

  • Parquet Courts at The Helix, Dublin

    June 14, 2022 - By 

    As the stage crew carry out the last of their tasks, the countdown to Parquet Courts’ arrival draws imminently closer. The stage of Dublin’s Helix is bathed in a low red hue, which gives off more of a dance club aesthetic to proceedings, as opposed to the fact it is about to host one of Brooklyn’s foremost indie bands. With the crowd beginning to gather, the club vibe is emphasised even further as the sounds of Todd Terje’s take on M’s ‘Pop Muzik’, and a remix of Timmy Thomas’ 1970s’ song ‘Why Can’t We Live Together’, pulsate from the PA.…

  • Arborist at First Presbyterian Church, Belfast

    May 2, 2022 - By 

    On any day, Belfast First Presbyterian Church offers a quite spectacular setting for a concert. It’s even more so the case when the event organiser, namely Arthur Magee, decides to use the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival to honor the memory of former parishioner Thomas McCabe, who opposed the formation of the Belfast Slave Ship Company in 1786. In lieu of the usual opening band, the audience was offered an excerpt of the forthcoming play Sugar! by actor/writer Cillian Lenaghan. In his play, Lenaghan imagines Thomas McCabe’s visit to his church on the day after he prevented the formation of the…

  • HousePlants at Cyprus Avenue, Cork

    April 5, 2022 - By 

    The brainchild of electronic music wunderkind Daithí and Irish rock veteran Paul Noonan of Bell X1, HousePlants formed during lockdown and, through back and forth emails and messages, quickly started knocking out tunes. Their debut album Dry Goods is full of songs I couldn’t wait to see live while being churned around in a sweaty crowd at 2am at some backwoods music festival. So I was somewhat surprised by the relaxed atmosphere in Cyprus Avenue just before the main act took to the stage. Did the good people of Cork not know that there was dancing to be had tonight?…

  • Big Thief at the National Stadium, Dublin

    March 1, 2022 - By 

    Carrying five albums in just seven years under their belt, Big Thief weigh in at the endearingly well-worn National Boxing Stadium with the towel very much not-thrown. Following warm-up act KMRU’s opening platform of ambient environmental sounds the stage set-up is minimal. Additional instrumentation of fiddle, jaw harp, and piano featured on Big Thief’s latest album are nowhere to be seen tonight. This is a group with full confidence in the intimacy and connectedness of its core membership. Adrianne Lenker and guitarist Buck Meek are at opposite ends of the stage. James Krivchenia’s drums are positioned centrally and he is…

  • Damien Jurado w/ Dana Gavanski @ Ulster Sports Club, Belfast

    March 2, 2020 - By 

    It takes a great deal of skill or charm – or a combination of the two – to silence a room. And yet this evening Belfast, so often plagued by inconsiderate gig-talkers, sees this filled-to-capacity venue fall under the thrall of a reverend quiet for both support act and main draw and remains submerged in that snow for the entire duration of the gig. It is a wonderfully unnerving experience to be somewhere so hushed that you can hear the person next to you breathing or respectfully supping at their pint but it is testament to not only the calibre…

  • Richard Dawson @ Empire Music Hall, Belfast

    February 26, 2020 - By 

    After recuperating from crossing freezing Scandinavia and France, Richard Dawson ended his rest period by performing in Belfast for the first time since his appearance at the Black Box in 2017. This time the setting was the Empire, a venue with music hall origins befitting Dawson, a performer who folds together the antique and the modern. His ability to draw such a sizeable crowd is an encouraging sign for any lovers of folk music, particularly because his style is at the less accessible end of the spectrum. Along with Dublin’s Lankum, another abrasive, brilliant group, Dawson’s recent work has done…

  • Lee Fields & The Expressions @ The Button Factory

    January 20, 2020 - By 

    Born in 1951, North Carolina native Lee Fields’ musical CV has amassed an extensive number of impressive notches over the years; he released his first single back in 1969, has worked with the likes of BB King, Kool & the Gang and Dr. John, he helped carve out careers for Sharon Jones – a former backing singer of his – and Charles Bradley, while he had his vocals used in the 2014 James Brown biopic Get On Up, and has had his songs sampled by the likes of J. Cole and Travis Scott. On top of all that he is…

  • Goodbye Quiet Arch @ Empire Music Hall, Belfast

    January 13, 2020 - By 

    From the moment it was announced last month, it was clear that Goodbye Quiet Arch was never going to be your everyday swansong. Too monumental to call a gig; much too highly-charged to truly deem a farewell (Quiet Arch suddenly ceasing to exist? Not a hope.) In truth, it all felt a little unknowable. Momentous, yes, but also laced with the strong hint of something yet to emerge. This morning, suspicions and worst fears lodged in the back of one’s mind were sadly confirmed. Lyndon Stephens was gone. With all the heaviness of Bowie and Blackstar, the timing was heavy but, in…