Live
State @ SXSW 2010 – Day 1
The gauntlet has been thrown down. South by South West is upon us once again. Over a year, the impact of this massive music festival in Austin, Texas can diminish since your last visit, but oh lordy, make no mistake, Austin is the music town. Amongst 2,000 bands, 12,000 official attendees and the many…
Ellie Goulding – The Academy, Dublin
She might be a mere 23 years old and technically still a mid-degree gap year student (can anyone really see her going back?), but Ellie Goulding is already a controversial topic at State HQ. The traditional “review up for grabs” email a week before tonight’s show was greeted with comments that ranged from “I…
The Waterboys Present: An Appointment with Mr Yeats -The Abbey Theatre, Dublin
Mike Scott, Steven Wickham and an international mix of talented musicians planted their roots firmly in the historic Abbey Theatre. The setting is apt as a conscious homage to the master poet William Butler Yeats. A selection from at least twenty five of Yeats’ poems and plays, spanning both famous and lesser known works,…
Fionn Regan – Vicar Street, Dublin
When State met Fionn Regan a few weeks ago, we found him to be utterly and inarguably charming. Disarmingly so, in fact, though evidently not quite to the extent that he can sell out a sizable Dublin venue on the same day as a big Six Nations rugby match. Still, the two-thirds-full hall that…
Yeasayer – KB, Malmo & Vega, Copenhagen
We took a little trip to keep up with Yeasayer’s tour as it hit Malmo and Copenhagen. A pleasant surprise was the support band, who happened to be one guy – and he was also manning the merch stand. Hush Hust – a tall and skinny, retiring, bearded type who, together with some backing…
Panda Bear – Vicar St, Dublin
It’s hard not to think of Panda Bear as a “them” or “they”. Though widely known to be the solo project of Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox, the multi-vocal layering and abstract pop arrangements of Person Pitch made Panda Bear feel like a mirror of Animal Collective. A softer, more melodic group. However standing centre-stage…
Power Of Dreams – Whelans, Dublin
Fifteen years after their last outing in the capital, Dublin pop-rock outfit Power of Dreams are back to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their debut album. Immigrants, Emigrants and Me was the album released when the then trio were plucked from rainy Ireland to (a probably equally rainy) London, where the streets were paved…
Passion Pit – Green Spheres, Cork
A thousand-odd punters lined up outside the Savoy Theatre on a chilly Friday evening in Cork for much-hyped Boston electronic act Passion Pit. There was a sizeable crowd as early as 6 o’clock – though the show wasn’t due to begin until 10 – and their enthusiasm was only slightly dampened by the unscheduled…
Lynyrd Skynyrd – O2, Dublin
“In the words of my older brother Ronnie Van Zant, which tune is it you want to hear tonight Dublin?” FREEBIRD! No one could accuse Lynyrd Skynyrd of failing to put on a show, and the generation-spanning crowd that’s flocking to the O2 clearly knows exactly what to expect. The Luas ride features comic…
Local Natives – Academy 2, Dublin
There’s an expectant crowd in Dublin’s Academy 2 for Californians’ Local Natives second visit here, with the majority of the capacity crowd drifting in during a fine set by support act, Peggy Sue.
The Californian five-piece take to the stage without much fanfare..
Serena Maneesh – The Lexington, London
It’s near ten o clock by the time Serena Maneesh arrive on stage as the final act upstairs in the Lexington tonight. And while support acts are sometimes a good opportunity for the lesser known bands to be given a chance, tonight they were given too much leeway and took the piss.
To begin…
John Cale & The Heritage Orchestra – The Royal Festival Hall, London
While he may have started out as one of the founding fathers of trashy art house rock, it’s with gentle reverence that John Cale arrives this evening, accompanied by the Heritage Orchestra to perform in full the legendary, Paris 1919.
Ocean Colour Scene – Olympia Theatre, Dublin
It’s been a full ten minutes of chanting, flag waving and riotous noise when the lights raise and a lone figure clutching an acoustic guitar emerges stage-front from the Olympia mist. Simon Fowler, Ocean Colour Scene’s front man, takes a second to soak up the applause, before breaking into a timeless tune, pausing sporadically…
Field Music – Crawdaddy, Dublin
Crawdaddy is buzzing as State takes its seat in the gallery for tonight’s sell-out show. Why wouldnt it be? Having returned from a self-imposed hiatus, Field Music’s stunning new album has mouths a-flapping both sides of the Atlantic. From the get-go, the Brewis brothers and their hired hands are all about the music tonight,…
