Live Review
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...READ »
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...READ »
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...READ »
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...READ »
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...READ »
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...READ »
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....READ »
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...READ »
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,...READ »
Choice Music Prize – Vicar Street, Dublin
6/1 shot Adrian Crowley stole the Choice Music Award headlines on an emotional night at Vicar Street, securing the vote of assembled media experts in the final two minutes of deliberations. Crowley’s fifth album Season Of Sparks… won the mellow Galway star a pot of 10,000 Euro and the title -Irish album of the...READ »
Brendan Benson – Vicar Street, Dublin
There’s always been something mildly melancholic and definitively downbeat about Brendan Benson. Could be his mournful-yet-cosily genial vocal timbre cradled by self-pitying tales of bitchy girls and under-achievement, or maybe it’s the fact that his knack for a knock-out power pop tune has been entirely undermined by his association with one of the most...READ »
Girls – Whelan’s, Dublin
Bounding on to the scene last year with -Lust For Life’, San Franciso’s Girls provided a forever-young and sun-drenched pop-gem. This was followed by the Album… which lived up to the hype with fuzzed out lovelorn fables and hazy guitar pop. The group, in particular lead singer Christopher Owens, have a pretty fascinating back...READ »
CODES, The Delays – The Academy, Dublin
State must admit to getting a bit of a shock when we noticed the calibre of support act CODES are bringing in these days. It’s a sure sign of their progress that the Dubliners can draw in a festival favorite like The Delays as their underlings, even if it is on their home patch,...READ »
Baby Dee, The Cairo Gang – Crawdaddy, Dublin
As Emmett Kelly, the main man behind The Cairo Gang, tip-toes onto a stage cluttered with instruments at 9pm, 26 people can be counted in Crawdaddy. Though the numbers do increase slowly before Baby Dee’s headline set, it is definitely the smallest crowd I’ve found myself amongst since Thao Nguyen in the same venue...READ »
