• Royal Blood w/ At The Drive-In & Black Honey @ 3Arena, Dublin

    November 27, 2017 - By 

    The 3Arena plays host to a veritable smorgasbord of rock and roll tonight with a trio of acts. Riff rockers Royal Blood were joined by El Paso post-hardcore icons At the Drive-In and UK newcomers Black Honey. It caps off a busy weekend at Dublin’s arena venue, which saw Queens of the Stone Age and Queen take to the stage on the two nights previous, with many of tonight’s attendees adorned in tees from these shows. On a rainy Sinday night, this added to the feeling that tonight was somewhat of a hangover from what were undoubtedly better gigs. The…

  • Mac DeMarco w/ Montero @ Vicar Street, Dublin

    November 23, 2017 - By 

    As the doors to Dublin’s iconic Vicar Street open, a queue of eager teenagers file through in anticipation of seeing their idol take the stage. For many it would be their first gig and they embrace it with the uncontrollable excitement I remember having once upon a time; running to the barrier to get the best spot and buying as much merch as they can afford. Pints? Pfft, pints are for old people. Mac DeMarco’s allure has always enticed a younger crowd and even though his latest release, This Old Dog has seen him mellow out to a degree, he can’t…

  • The Killers @ 3Arena, Dublin

    November 20, 2017 - By 

    From the moment we set eyes on The Killers’ set at the 3Arena, we know it’s going to be a surreal experience. The stage set – a fine cross between the Vegas strip and a church altar – glitters to life as touring guitarist Ted Sablay strikes the opening chords of ‘Wonderful Wonderful’. Brandon Flowers struts on stage and dominates it. A single spotlight shines down on the pastor as he addresses 9,000 disciples. After two songs, The Killers grace us with a few lines of – admittedly cringe-worthy, scripted – banter to create that faux-rapport. It falls dead with…

  • Depeche Mode @ 3Arena, Dublin

    November 17, 2017 - By 

    Rapidly approaching 40 years in the music industry, Depeche Mode are bang in the middle of touring in support of their latest album Spirit, which marks them making synth pop music since they were teenagers to darkwave industrial titans and all the highs, lows and near death experiences in between, including recently having the misfortune of being declared “the official band of the alt-right” by all round awful arsehuman Richard Spencer (reach out, punch face) . The incomparable Dave Gahan struts down the long runway to the right of the stage with his limbs heaving and head poised like a…

  • Lisa Hannigan @ The Duncairn, Belfast

    November 6, 2017 - By 

    Lisa Hannigan and her band have just edged into the first verse of their fifth song at Belfast’s Duncairn Centre for Culture & Arts. I’ve quickly nipped to the bathroom, where I overhear this brief tête-à-tête between two gentlemen: “Some gig, isn’t it?” “I’ve only just arrived. Stuck in traffic.” “Oh, Jesus.” As I leap up the stairwell back into the venue space, it suddenly hits me: the “Oh, Jesus” immediately (and very tellingly) severed the exchange between the two strangers. When it comes to a Lisa Hannigan show, it really is in your best interests to be present from the very first note…

  • St. Vincent @ Olympia Theatre, Dublin

    October 23, 2017 - By 

    We heard it here first. St. Vincent is 80% Irish. She tells us this in a rare glimpse into a personal moment, the stage persona briefly dropped to let the audience in. So, here we all are in the middle of a meticulously constructed piece of musical theatre, and Annie Clark is talking about the first two Irish potato famines. Not even the Great Famine – the rockstar famine – but the first two. “It was always family lore that we were Irish” she smiles, and cynicism be damned, it’s actually believable when she claims Irish crowds are her favourite.…

  • Joshua Burnside w/ Ports & Little Rivers @ Studio2, Liverpool

    October 6, 2017 - By 

    Liverpool’s Studio2 is an odd sort of a place. It’s on the backstreet of a backstreet, far away from Concert Square, the main strip and the horror of the bottled Beatles, 80s bars and fake paddywhackery of Matthew St. For the non-scousers among you, don’t Google Concert Square – it’s not what you think it is. In fact, if you ever get to Liverpool avoid the place like the bloody plague. And yet here we are, among the carparks, mechanics and those kinds of places that can just afford the rent around here. This little oasis in the middle of…

  • Grizzly Bear w/ Liima @ Vicar Street, Dublin

    October 6, 2017 - By 

    Kicking off the first of a two night stay in Dublin’s Vicar Street, New York indie rockers Grizzly Bear have returned to Irish shores to promote their fantastic new album Painted Ruins. Whilst the band have preceded their show with lots of social media insights into their night before in Whelan’s checking out The Drums, we have a while to wait before they bless us with their presence. As the anticipation builds, Liima (below)perform a support slot of their brand of heavily electronict-inged indie. The Scandinavians’ set is full of energy and they’re an obvious support for Grizzly Bear with…

  • Máirtín O’Connor, Cathal Hayden, Garry O’Briain & ConTempo Quartet @ The Ulster Museum

    September 6, 2017 - By 

    The metaphoric symbolism of traditional musicians performing inside a museum wasn’t lost on button accordionist Máirtín O’Connor, fiddler Cathal Hayden and bouzouki player Garry O’Briain. “Someone will put a friggin’ glass case over us – fossils of folk,” quips O’Connor, the former De Danana and Boys of the Lough alumnus, to much laughter. “We’ll sit here for the rest of our days.” In such an unlikely event, the Ulster Museum would be exhibiting the wrong musicians, for despite deep roots in Irish folk music, O’Connor, Hayden and O’Briain have, over the course of forty plus years, embraced all manner of…

  • Holly Macve w/ Alana Henderson @ Studio 1A, Bangor

    August 23, 2017 - By 

    Far beyond providing mere entertainment, a festival has the capacity to animate everyday spaces and nudge people to perhaps see their habitual surroundings in a new light. Now in its fifth year, Open House Festival has brought Bangor’s spaces – small and large, public and private, mundane and magical – to life, via the arts in their broadest possible spectrum. The transformative nature of Open House Festival is evident in the concert of Holly Macve, the first concert held in the century-long history of the former The Good Templar Hall, re-baptized Studio 1A in April 2017, after extensive renovations and…