FREDDIE GIBBS, Button Factory, Dublin, Tuesday. Freddie Gibbs last played Dublin in 2014, with a 2016 appearance at Forbidden Fruit cancelled after an arrest for rape — a charge that was eventually dropped with no evidence. So […]
Peter Hook won’t ever take it lying down
In an interview a few years ago, Peter Hook told me his aim with his band The Light is “to try and play every song I’ve ever recorded and written at least once live, before […]
Queens of the Stone Age really shouldn’t have ended up here
Listening back to Queens of the Stone Age’s first few LPS, you wouldn’t have bet on them landing arena headliners in Ireland, and recording an album with a blockbuster pop and R&B producer. Their 1998 self-titled […]
Irish gigs round-up
MULATU ASTATKE: The Sugar Club, Dublin, Monday & Tuesday. You might think Ethiopian jazz is down some obscure rabbit hole you’d never stumble on, but there’s a good chance you’ve come across the work of Mulatu Astatke […]
With Dopplereffekt you never want to solve the equation
A Dopplereffekt performance carries more weight and baggage than almost any other in underground electronic music circles, with the enigmatic electro duo returning to Dublin for the first time in eight years. Dopplereffekt is the […]
‘It could be hate as far as I can see’: Public Image Ltd – Metal Box (1979)
What’s left to say about Metal Box? It’s one of those ‘canon’ records weighed down with too much baggage, wrung free of any objectivity. You’re told it’s one of these sacred slabs of vinyl that influenced […]
Mango & Mathman interview: ‘Grime isn’t alien music in Ireland anymore’
When it comes to street art in Ireland, the North’s politically-charged pieces have always got the headlines, but a recent mural of Stormzy that appeared in Dublin dragged the pop culture discourse down south. Back […]
They’ll make you a believer: Depeche Mode live in Dublin
At a Depeche Mode gig you can spend an outlandish amount of time working out your favourite Dave Gahan dance move – and he’s got dozens. After their 3Arena show I’ve a shortlist: Jesus pose; […]
Let’s hope Mac Demarco doesn’t shove a drumstick up his ass this time
There’s been plenty of begging on social media in the last few week for tickets to this latest sold-out Mac Demarco show, but there aren’t many diehards who’ll part with one. The Canadian is one […]
Irish gigs round-up
PUSSY RIOT, Button Factory, Dublin, Thursday. It’s impossible to simply focus on the music of Russian feminist punk collective Pussy Riot, and try to ignore the infamous scandal of three members arrested in 2012 after performing in […]
Going the Distance: Columbia Mills interview
Columbia Mills have just released one of the late-stage Irish albums of the year, their debut A Safe Distance To Watch. The album builds on their previous EPs, — melancholy shoegaze and electronica with a […]
Irish gigs round-up
ANDREW WEATHERALL, Wigwam, Dublin, tonight. In an interview with The Star years ago, Andrew Weatherall told me he prefers smaller club gigs so he “can see the whites — or the reds — of people’s eyes”, […]
Real Gone is a bit of an outlier – even for Tom Waits
Tom Waits is a heritage act who doesn’t really play ball with the nostalgia crowd. Whenever there’s a rare news bulletin from Waits HQ I get a naive jolt of hope that he’s going on […]
You can easily forget how huge Depeche Mode are
When Depeche Mode started their European tour in May they shared a video as a reminder that they’re the biggest band in the world – in some parts. It was a clip – since shared […]
Irish gigs round-up
COM TRUISE, Button Factory, Dublin, tomorrow If you have enough internet time on your hands you can literally find thousands of synthwave and retrowave artists online, a vast underground community of electronic producers in thrall to […]
Moo Kid 