Articles by James Hendicott
Author of 173 posts.
Five years in writing has seen James ramble and ruminate on the eclectic music that graces his stereo, which still blasts the punk rock he grew up on, alongside a more recent love of anything from indie-shoegaze to folk; electro to soul. James' interview resume features the likes of Manic Street Preachers, Bloc Party, Ash, Tinie Tempah and Basement Jaxx, and he averages over a hundred gigs a year. When he's not musically engaged, James also writes on travel, having made contributions to Lonely Planet and Museyon's Music and Travel guidebook. His favourite place on earth? Glastonbury.
Website:http://www.state.ie
Friday headliners Arcade Fire prove a disappointing draw, at least in terms of pure numbers. Perhaps it’s the twin attractions of Fatboy Slim and Simian Mobile Disco (or, heaven forbid, David Guetta) scattered across the site, but there can’t be more than 5,000 watching the Canadians tuck into their hits. The campsite rumour that -only…
Arriving on site for the second day of Ireland’s annual rain fest, State find the conditions have slipped over the edge from mild marshland to full on, inch thick muddy quagmire. In front of the main stage, at least, where The Stranglers are opening proceedings with various oldies but goldies, there are a few areas…
Oxegen, predictably, is raining. How the dull weather and spatterings of rain still surprise punters after all these years is beyond us, really, but today the site is suffering from a light coating of mud and gray clouds touching both horizons. Never ones to turn down the chance to discover new music – or the…
Limerick’s Thomond Park is a magnificent setting for a concert. With the sizable festival stage dwarfed by the twin arched stands and flanked by a colourful flags shipped in for the occasion, this is a great spot for a singular Bob Dylan Irish show for 2010. Before the living legend rolls back the years, though,…
When State was randomly passed a review copy of Flea Market Poet’s sparkling debut album Dirty Days… back in October, little did we know that our love of the unusual, summery tunes would eventually land us – sweating and swaying – in the front row of one of Munich’s premier rock clubs. Life, though, moves
Keane and State go back a long way. We first bumped into the band in the early part of the new century, when Dubliner Dominic Scott had just left his role as guitarist, and a full three years before debut album Hopes And Fears… bought the band national and international radio play. Back then, Keane
When The Magic Numbers arrived on the scene with their self-titled debut back in 2005, it was a combination of heartwarming songwriting, touching harmonies and summer-ready hits that made us sit up and listen. There was something a little unique about the pair of siblings that touched a nerve, chilled out and poignant, yet instantly…
Whoever thought mixing acid house and country could even edge towards a good idea? Alabama 3, clearly, though to be fair they have edged a fair way from their original remit these days. Marking their eighth effort in 13 years, Revolver Soul… sees the super-group (well, considering all those extra contributors) in dingy, irrepressibly funky
By the time Sounds Of System Breakdown released their self titled debut album earlier this year, the electronic-edged Dubliners had been flitting around the periphery of the Irish music scene for some time, picking up their own fan base without every really threatening to make their way out of the city’s smaller venues. Their enticing…
Fresh from playing State’s park-themed -intervention’ and emerging on stage around 30 seconds after England’s humiliating Word Cup draw against Algeria (no coincidence, we’re sure), Turin Brakes‘ Whelan’s show quickly demonstrates their status as a genuine British cult band. The Whelan’s crowd tonight consists of at least a third -Brits on the road’, and with…
A Suzanne Vega gig, apparently, is a game of two halves. Opening her show in that distinctively laid-back and pensive style that’s helped forge a career spanning a quarter of a century, Suzanne’s first half-dozen tracks have an air of top-notch lounge music. It’s mellow to the point of sleep-inducing yet – from opener -Marlene…
Predictably politically-fuelled and thoroughly space-aged. Littered with hits that – love them or loath them – have become staples of what the world believes it is to be Irish. Full of Bono’s rants and a 97,000 capacity stadium’s raves: U2′s latest live effort – first broadcast as YouTube’s first live concert in Autumn last year…
It’s all too easy for the casual observer to equate Nerina Pallot with her hippie pop-rock anthem -Everybody’s Gone To War’ and leave it that. After all, the track represents her only notable single success, summed up a political mood of the time in a memorable (if slightly throwaway) little ditty, and – despite being…
‘We never said we’re a Drum and Bass band. If three guys from Western Australia can crack their scene, surely the scenesters can do the same? Whatever, I don’t really care’
The words of Pendulum DJ Paul -El Hornet’ Harding – speaking when State last caught the genre-fusing band at South Korea’s Seoul World DJ…
