Live Review
Christy Moore – Live At South Bank, London
The question you tend to ask yourself when observing a Christy Moore gig is: how many more years will the man continue to revel in the live arena? To watch Moore perform is to witness a troubadour who has been on the road for nearly half a century. Respectably upholding the great tradition of...READ »
Pop Will Eat Itself – London
With only one original member left, grebo gurus Pop Will Eat Itself are perilously close to being defined as a tribute act, but tonight’s performance in the Electric Ballroom is shot through with the irreverent energy that the group were loved for, and not solely nostalgia. Formed in 1986 in Stourbridge, England, the Poppies...READ »
The Frank and Walters – London
At the height of their powers in the early 1990s, a visit to London for The Frank and Walters would have perhaps included a television slot on Top of The Pops. In 1992, for example, an unknown band from Oxford, launching their debut album, Pablo Honey,… supported The Frank and Walters for the duration...READ »
Spiritualized – Dublin
Writing as one who has seen Spiritualized countless times over the years, this evening’s performance can be characterised as one of their more unusual gigs. For a start, it has been rescheduled from last October, first to last month, then to tonight, just as the release of new album Sweet Heart Sweet Light… has...READ »
Drake – Dublin
Lil’ Wayne, Rick Ross, Andre 3000, Kanye West, Nicky Minaj, The Weeknd, Timbaland, The-Dream, Justin Timberlake, Swizz Beatz, Rihanna. These are but a few of Drake’s high profile collaborators but on his Club Paradise Tour, it’s all down to the man himself. This means that all your favourite Drake songs get cut to shreds;...READ »
The Rubberbandits – Live in NYC
If the appearance of a comedy hip-hop act in America’s capital of culture does one thing, it brings out hordes of Irish expats. Half of tonight’s crowd is made up of the Irish and the Irish-ish of the Big Apple, supping Guinness and putting their dubious Limerick slang into overdrive. The other half, natives...READ »
The Civil Wars – Dublin
Back in September 2011 the duo, Joy Williams and John Paul White, from Californian & Alabama respectively, performed to a small crowd in The Sugar Club in Dublin. Six months later, with two Grammys under their belts, they are bringing their brand of American folk to a sold out adoring crowd in The Academy....READ »
Lisa Hannigan – Dublin
A mere week after losing out on the Choice Music Prize to Jape for the second time, Lisa Hannigan returns to Vicar Street for yet another sold-out show – proving yet again that what she lacks in Album of the Year awards on the mantelpiece, she more than makes up for in live prestige....READ »
Wallis Bird – Dublin
What better way to celebrate an album release day than with a sold-out show in The Academy? The ink is barely dry on the album sleeves of her eponymous third studio album and Wallis Bird is out to give the tracks a good airing with a full band. The album is progressive for Bird,...READ »
The Maccabees – Dublin
It’s been a great start to the year for The Maccabees. Their new release Given To The Wild… has received many very positive reviews and is their highest-ranking album in UK charts so far, their shows are selling out and summer festivals are battling to get them on their line-up. Tonight in Dublin, they...READ »
Lambchop – Dublin
For a troupe who once claimed to be “Nashville’s most fucked up band”, Lambchop know how to sprinkle some zen-like calm over a room. It’s Saturday night and the hens and stags are piggy-backing around Temple Bar, but Vicar Street is a safe-house just a few minutes up the road. As they open with...READ »
Sleigh Bells – Dublin
This time last year, buzz-band of the moment Sleigh Bells took to the Whelan’s stage with nothing to lose and absolutely everything to give. With a wall of large amps stacked onstage as a backdrop it was clear in advance that it was going to be one hell of a raucous ride along with...READ »
Rammstein – Dublin
There are no less than ten trucks crammed into The O2′s loading bay tonight; the German hauliers’ details emblazoned on their sides leaving little doubt as to whose cargo they’ve transported here. Around them, a swarm of meticulously turned-out crew members – complete with hard hats and hi-vis vests – are hard at work...READ »
The War On Drugs – Dublin
Hot on the heels of last Sunday’s visit by fellow traveller Kurt Vile to the same venue, Adam Granduciel’s The War on Drugs roll into town. First of all, it has to be said: what a great name for a band. Is that The War on Drugs, or The War on Drugs? The one...READ »
