• Róisín Dubh: A Love Story

    July 25, 2016 - By 

    My first gig in the Róisín Dubh was late November 2005. Back when the Róisín Dubh was still a ground floor only musical abode, not the imposing three and half storey stacked westend behemoth that Eoghan MacNamara AKA Gugai, Kevin Healy, Simon Heaslip & co. present it as today. That gig was Giveamanakick with Redneck Manifesto. I had seen Redneck Manifesto in The Chapel at IADT a few weeks earlier and was blown away by what I’d witnessed. So when my quirky friend Shaw mentioned their upcoming gig in Galway, I jumped at the chance to catch the show again. It’s…

  • MMOTHS, Toby Kaar & Daithi @ Roisin Dubh, Galway

    July 25, 2016 - By 

    I was really looking forward to this gig. Between them, Toby Kaar, MMOTHS and Daithi released some of the most exciting Irish releases of the past twelve months, each of them showcasing the versatility and dedication that exists amongst the country’s young musicians who ditched guitars and drums for adventures into electronics. In the context of these artists’ significance to the country’s music scene, that versatility is paramount, from Toby Kaar’s disjointed, franticly emotive beats, to MMOTHS’ encompassing soundscapes, to Daithi’s infectious, melodic floor fillers. So on paper this bill looks terrific right? What I guess I forgot was that…

  • Saul Williams @ Roisin Dubh, Galway

    July 4, 2016 - By 

    We’re very good at pretending nothing’s wrong. Rather, we’re excellent at grunting a few times about how shambolic everything is before sauntering to the bar and quickly changing the subject. Of course we are! We’ve become so resigned to the radical shitness of so much that goes on both far from home and right outside our doors that half the time we just sigh a little and tweet a GIF of a cat that somehow represents how doomed everything is. Sometimes though, we have a tendency to surprise ourselves with our potential. Every once in a while something gives us…

  • Sea Pinks @ Roisin Dubh, Galway

    March 15, 2016 - By 

    I sometimes wonder how often, if ever, bands think about how the sound they craft in a studio translates to a live stage. Some groups are simply ‘studio bands’ – they sound better when they can endlessly and obsessively tinker with the sonic possibilities of technology. Others see the live setting as a different set of circumstances altogether, something with the living potential for a more sensory collective experience, something that can become a genuine reason to senselessly roar at your friends in a smoking area. While this is all pretty vague stuff to be beginning with, I promise it…