• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds w/ Patti Smith @ Royal Hospital, Kilmainham

    June 8, 2018 - By 

    In this hyperbolic age, the phrase “gig of the year” gets tossed about far too flippantly. Every experience must be the best as anything less than perfection is worthless. The thing is though, most concerts couldn’t lay claim to that title. But very occasionally, there is a lineup that makes your jaw drop and forces you to question whether or not this could be the one. On 6 June 2018, Kilmainham played host to one of those shows: Patti Smith supporting Nick Cave. Either of these artists could have been the headliner and no one would be disappointed. They each…

  • Ty Segall @ Tivoli Theatre, Dublin

    June 7, 2018 - By 

    It is as if the drawn out, cloudless evenings knew that Ty Segall was coming to town. A gloriously heady concoction of 60’s proto-punk, garage rock, glam, psychedelia and heavy metal,  Segall’s music is something that may seem at odds with a wonderfully sun drenched weather front, but one that makes perfect sense when listening to his back catalogue. Over the course of his ten solo LPs, numerous collaborative albums, and countless other releases, Segall has managed to prove he can effortlessly combine his love of melody with a raucous sound that can go off on a zig-zagged tangent at…

  • LCD Soundsystem @ Malahide Castle, Dublin

    June 8, 2018 - By 

    In spite of the nation’s frequent protestations about our weather, you couldn’t really ask for a better day for an outdoor gig. It’s the Tuesday after bank holiday Monday. The crowds are spent from the long weekend. Surveying the grounds of Malahide Castle, punters are littered around soaking in as much of this wonderful Midsummer glow as they can before they lose their minds and soul. Tonight LCD Soundsystem are making a return to Dublin for what will be, in frontman James Murphy’s words, “the second longest show [they’ve] ever played”. When Murphy and Co. walk out, the sun is…

  • Arcade Fire @ 3Arena, Dublin

    April 10, 2018 - By 

    Having played a massive show at Malahide castle last year, Arcade Fire return with the Infinite Content tour, sardonically named to jibe at the social media age, just one of the many tactics deployed throughout the promotion around their current album, Everything Now. Tonight, in keeping with that off kilter theme they’ve created a show ‘in the round’ – complete with a boxing ring and Michael Buffer style announcements of their accolades as they appear from the far corner of the 3Arena, air-punching alongside flashing ironic graphics of infomercials and ‘tale of the tape’ biographies appear on the 360 degree…

  • Young Fathers @ The Academy, Dublin

    March 30, 2018 - By 

    To describe Dublin’s Academy as packed would be an understatement. Bodies have been piling in in rapid succession after a slow trickling start. The main floor is shoulder to should with sweating teeming masses barely able to contain their anticipation for the Scottish hip-hop trio Young Fathers‘ arrival. The crowd tonight is beyond hyped up. There’s an intense positivity within all the anticipation that fuel some of the night’s most powerful moments. Thirty minutes after the opening DJ finishes his surprisingly enjoyable set of chipmunk soul and reggae cuts, the house lights dim and stage beams with white light. Three…