Saturday, December 3rd
So I turned up late to the party. I’d like to call it fashionably late, but the truth is getting tickets for two nights of Other Voices was beyond my wildest expectations, and that they happened to coincide with non-salaried days was quite a bonus, too. I’d never set foot in Kerry…

Having broken into mainstream consciousness with their long-awaited self-titled debut in 2010, The Drums quick-fire return quickly subverts the summer-pop anthems that helped make their name. Back in December, the band lost founding member Adam Kessler in a split that looked less than amicable from the outside. The loss was met with near-despair by the…

Since first appearing on our radar back in summer 2009, Girls have – superficially at least – appeared to ignore their sobering back-story and skip along to the same happy-go-lucky beat. Listen harder, though, and even the likes of routine-basher ‘Hellhole Ratrace’ saw an upbeat gloss disguise far dingier lyrical undertones. Father, Son, Holy Ghost…

Perhaps the most surprising bit of music news recently came with the announcement of Derry man Ciaran Gribbin as the new lead singer of iconic Aussie band INXS. Formerly performing under his own moniker ‘Joe Echo’, Gribben has also worked with Madonna and Snow Patrol in the past, but was nevertheless an unexpected replacement for…

There can’t be many better times to explore a new city that the outgoing, open-minded and welcoming events on offer during Culture Night. With the event having newly expanded to almost every corner of the island of Ireland (and even across to London), we found ourselves strolling the dimly lit streets of central Cork, navigating…

Since launching in 2009, Arthur’s Day has done a great job of establishing itself on the Irish musical calendar, with affordable performances from well-known bands – especially those in intimate venues – difficult to turn down for the money-conscious music lover. For all its obvious merits – price, surprise factor at the pub gigs, exposure…

If you buy into the idea that a musician’s tracks are the sum of their life experiences, Is Tropical – named after their desire to get near anything even vaguely warm at a time when the band lived off the grid as part of a London squatter scene – should be weaving some of the…

Ah, Tommy. If rock operas had to be born – and they did – it’s only fitting that they should enter the arena courtesy of one of the genre’s true standout bands, and feature a character that’s lived a life that can only be described as monumentally fucked up. Tommy’s early experiences lead to such…

20 years after releasing their first album, Northern Irish rock superstars Therapy? are still churning out album after unpredictable album, each stacked full of tracks that draw their influences from all over the music shop. The chart hits may have dried up but there’s no doubting the passion for music of all styles that still…

Viva Brother – 2FM Hot Press Academy Stage
Sure, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but Leonard Newell and his band are certainly no roses. With all the strutting and the collection of ludicrously-patterned shirts, we could hazard a guess that he’s heard the phrase ‘peacocking’ a few times. Still, with…

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Primal Scream – Heineken Green Spheres Tent
How often do you go to a gig knowing exactly what’s going to be performed, and mostly in what order? Primal Scream can get away with that kind of stunt, especially when the album in question is Screamadelica…. The crowd might be congregating elsewhere, but Bobby Gillespie

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Foo Fighters – Main Stage
Rock and roll legends don’t come much more ‘larger than life’ than Dave Grohl. Growling, flicking his mane back and forth and firing his way through a frantic selection of Foo Fighters classics, the front man is on absolutely top form. His early set promise to “play until we’re asked…