Tips: Whelan’s Ones Two Watch 2011

Ones Two Watch January is a bleak, harsh motherflipper of a month and heading into a year with a silly name like 2011 on the back of the constant barrage of bad news that was 2010 is even more miserable. Luckily, the good people at Whelan’s, State.ie, The Ticket and Tickets.ie have put their brains together in a blender and the juices that flowed out were the makings of a... Read More

Janelle Monáe – Tripod – Photos

Janelle Monáe - Tripod I’ll by-pass all the unnecessary details about the snow-related chaos that potentially threatened the arrival of Janelle Monáe and her fans to Tripod on a Wednesday evening when Dublin once again fell to pieces. Despite all these issues, the venue was well-filled when I arrived in during support act Brian Deady. I found his style of music to be like a... Read More

State vs AU – Mercantile – Photos

Grand Pocket Orchestra - State vs AU - Mercantile Great night in The Mercantile on Friday as a big crowd came in to get good value for their free entry and see three wonderful live acts in cosy quarters. Cloud Castle Lake kicked it all off with yet another performance of breathtaking beauty. The Lowly Knights followed with an energetic set that had the crowd eating out of their... Read More

Spoon – Academy – Photos

  Spoon - Academy   I was a bit worried that this gig might have turned out to be one of those awkwardly unpopulated affairs, considering the noticeable push for ticket sales in the week leading up to the event. When I arrived, O Emperor had just begun their set to a fairly standard crowd for that time of the night. Another overwhelming advertising push made sure I was... Read More

Local Natives – The Village – Photos

Local Natives - The Village I had felt bad about being unable to attend Local Natives‘ previous gigs in Ireland, sure I had missed out on something wonderful. It’s still entirely possible that I did, but during Monday’s gig in The Village, when the band thanked the fans for bringing them there “after that awful Academy 2 thing…” I began to think... Read More

M.I.A. – Tripod – Photos

M.I.A. - Tripod She made it. That’s one thing that rates this gig above M.I.A.’s other attempted Dublin gigs. Despite having finally managed to schedule a Dublin show without cancelling, there was less excitement about the event than one might imagine. A mixture of the poor ticket sales (due to an off-putting price tag) and the less than glowing reviews of her shows... Read More

The Cat Empire – Academy – Photos

The Cat Empire - Academy During the summer I caught up with The Cat Empire in Calgary and got the chance to interview keyboardist Ollie McGill. That interview went up on State last week ahead of their first ever gig in Ireland, which took place last Friday night. My review of the gig can also be found on State and there’s a selection of photos below with a few more over... Read More

HWCH 2010 – Saturday – Photos

  HWCH 2010 - Grand Pocket Orchestra   Having been unable or unfit to enjoy the sideshow attractions that HWCH has to offer on the first two days, I started early on Saturday by sampling the HWCH & The City free gigs and the panel discussions. I thought the “Futuregazing” panel was really entertaining and it remained surprisingly focused on the topic, with... Read More

HWCH 2010 – Friday – Photos

  HWCH 2010 - Futures Apart   With the biggest home game of Ireland’s current qualifying campaign getting underway down the road at the Aviva around the same time as the first bands are tuning up at day two of HWCH, allegiances are questioned and friendships torn apart. Me, I’ve got my Ireland jersey on and intend to view as much of both as possible. Luckily... Read More

HWCH 2010 – Thursday – Photos

  HWCH 2010 – Sleep Thieves So it began. The 2010 Hard Working Class Heroes festival, notable mainly for its notable absentees, began presenting their showcase of the new breed while I was still at home. That didn’t matter though, I had a list and it started at 8pm and, by god, I was going to make it. Arriving at Filmbase to pick up my pass, the place was already... Read More