OUT of all the hyperbole and PR spin about transcendent gigs and should’ve-been-there moments, St Vincent’s show at Electric Picnic 2013 with David Byrne is always recalled — a real sickener as I missed it. […]
Author: Conor McCaffrey
Gigs round-up: July 3-9
NEIL DIAMOND, 3Arena, Dublin, tonight & Sunday Most people who think Neil Diamond is just a big cheeseball in a diamante shirt clearly haven’t seen him blowing everyone off the stage with a swagger in Martin […]
True Bromance: Avicii hits Dublin
GARDAI and Ticketmaster don’t often release a specific press release offering amnesty for any under-age ticket-holders to get a refund to avoid being turned away. The refund offer was only one aspect of the Garda release […]
Gigs round-up: June 26-July 2
MASTODON, Academy, Dublin, tonight, & Savoy, Cork, tomorrow, & Ulster Hall, Belfast, Sunday Mastodon are the closest thing to modern crossover metal gods these days, with enough scope to kick the mainstream’s back doors in without leaving hardcore […]
Forty years Done Dirt Cheap: AC/DC back in Dublin
WHEN the punk manifesto of ‘here’s three chords, now form a band’ was nailed to the mast in 1977, AC/DC were probably the uncoolest band in the world. Sleazy blues rockers led by a squealing […]
Gigs round-up, June 19-25
SEA SESSIONS, Bundoran, Co Donegal, today till Sunday, SOLD OUT The air will be a hell of a lot fresher in Bundoran than in the fields of Westmeath for Body & Soul. Sea Sessions has billed itself […]
If you go down to the woods today: Body & Soul preview
IF YOU’VE been on Facebook this week your head’s been wrecked by two things — hundreds of annoying OMG posts about the Game of Thrones season finale, and pleas for Body & Soul tickets. It’s […]
Quite contrary: Elysia Crampton – Petrichrist
At first this new track by ‘epic collage‘ artist Elysia Crampton may have you wincing at its contrary elements. The trap hi-hats, digital snake hiss, cartoon cackling and 8-bit boss level warning horns can clutter […]
What a way to make a living: KEN mode – Success
As a teenage metaller/grunger in the 90s, I’d get springboards to new music from T-shirts the kingpins of the day would wear in Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Hit Parader and Raw. Ah, there’s Kurt in a Tad T-shirt, […]
Lurking within tent: Cork Live at the Marquee preview
LIVE At the Marquee is marking 10 years of the Cork city festival, and looking back over the line-ups, we’re stumped to think of a more eclectic motley crew of acts anywhere. Since the event […]
Gigs round-up: June 12-18
TELEVISION, Academy, Dublin, tonight, & The Limelight, Belfast, Tomorrow New York’s Television were always on the more cerebral end of the punk spectrum. Their 1977 debut Marquee Moon is still held up as one of the defining records of […]
To Die for: Ghostface ft Raekwon – Let the Record Spin
I’m still feeling a bit short-changed over Wu-Tang’s headliner at Forbidden Fruit in Dublin last week — down a few bodies, cutting the set short and jumping into the back of the van with the cheques […]
A riot of our own: Vic Mensa – U Mad ft Kanye West (video)
Last year I saw Vic Mensa pull off a daft support slot in Dublin with Danny Brown – hip-hop cliche bingo every time he asked everybody to say ‘hell yeah’, split the crowd to see if left or […]
Gigs round-up: June 5-11
ASH, Whelan’s, Dublin, Sunday & Limelight, Belfast, Monday LET’S be honest, Ash were the biggest ringers on the Slane bill last week — standing out from the earnest dude-rock of Foo Fighters and Hozier’s sullen […]
Hard-core: Forbidden Fruit kicks off Irish festival season
When new festival Forbidden Fruit was announced for Ireland in 2011 many thought it was as crazy as it was brave. In the few years after the recession, the first belt hole to tighten was our […]
Moo Kid 