ICEAGE: The Workmans Club, Dublin, Tonight, €15 Danish band Iceage still look frighteningly young, even though they’ve been knocking punk into odd shapes for 10 years. Frontman Elias Bender Ronnefelt left school at 16 to lead […]
Category: Gig previews
Here’s your top 10 for Electric Picnic
Not exactly full of hot takes here, just bang-on dependable acts, from alt-rock to full-on techno, life-affirming hip-hop, politically-engaged electronics and industrial ultraviolence. Death Grips (Rankin’s Wood, Sunday, 9-10pm) California trio Death Grips are one […]
Electric Picnic off the beaten track
For years, Electric Picnic has been pointing out that it’s more than just a music festival, and every year they double down on this USP as Ireland’s main music and arts festival that rivals any […]
GZA leads the Irish gigs highlighter
GZA/GENIUS: The Sugar Club, Dublin, Sunday, Monday & Tuesday, €27.50 The number of side projects, solo albums and guest appearances in the Wu-Tang Clan universe is head-melting, but GZA’s 1995 album Liquid Swords is one […]
Public Image Ltd is John Lydon’s real legacy
In an interview recently, John Lydon somewhat ambitiously told me he’d been in the music game for over 40 years – and he’s still got 40 years left. And even though for many he’ll always […]
Slum Village lead the Irish gigs highlighter
SLUM VILLAGE, Monroes Live, Galway, Thursday, €20; The Sugar Club, Dublin, Friday week, €20 Detroit act Slum Village have one of the richest legacies in underground hip-hop, as the late MC and genius producer J […]
Ariel Pink leads the Irish gigs highlighter
ARIEL PINK: Button Factory, Dublin, Thursday, €22 Ariel Pink says his work is “a weird art experiment”, which is the most perfect description for the genre-flitting left-field indie hero. The LA singer-songwriter has released 12 […]
All Together Now elbows its way into festival season
It takes some nerve to start up a new festival in Ireland these days, but even with all the moans of over-saturation, there’s still room for one more if it’s done right. All Together Now […]
Beatyard is the easy way out this bank holiday weekend
When it comes to the August bank holiday weekend it really is a punter’s market, with almost too much choice, and Beatyard up against veteran festivals like Castlepalooza and Indiependence, and the new venture All […]
Caribou lead the Irish gigs highlighter
Caribou, Festival Big Top, Galway, tomorrow There was a time a few years ago when Caribou were going down the Nile Rodgers over-saturation route, playing every festival on the circuit while still admittedly being pretty […]
Bryan Ferry beyond the white tuxedo
When I told a mate during the week I was going to see Bryan Ferry he responded with a simple: “Jesus lad,” and an emoji somewhere between sad and bewilderment. He followed it up with: […]
Burning Inside: Al Jourgensen and the black heart of Ministry
Ministry is the band that just won’t die. For starters, ringleader Al Jourgensen has bounced back from being declared dead three times from drug overdoses, and he starts his sick fuck memoir The Lost Gospels […]
Ladies and gentlemen: Miss Grace Jones
“I smell something burning… are you on fire?!” Grace Jones’ intro at Exit Festival in Serbia last weekend was less stage banter, more a strict command from the fiercest woman in pop history. The short […]
Here’s your top 10 Longitude acts for this weekend
One of the funniest Twitter rage storms of the year was the huffing over the Longitude line-up — with the ‘real music’ brigade moaning that there were no proper bands on the bill. These lads […]
Paul Simon’s Homeward Bound for good
Paul Simon’s latest tour hammers the point home that this really is the last time. If he’d just called it the Homeward Bound tour we’d get it, but Homeward Bound: The Farewell Tour spells out […]
Moo Kid 