Check out my review of Mark
Lanegan at the Sugar Club Wednesday 6th November over at DublinConcerts.ie
Thursday, 7 November 2013
Monday, 16 September 2013
LEKMK Promotions Launch Night
Saturday evening and the venue was the Wicked Chicken venue in the
Cuckoo’s Nest on Dublin’s Southside. The
event was the launch night of a new promotions company in LEKMK Promotions.
Joint organisers Phil Kealy and Mick Cummins have been doing this for nearly a
year but have now put their stamp on the venue market and will host a number of
gigs at the Cuckoo’s Nest venue.
The first band of the night Penrose, are the type of band
who will get the real benefit of a venue on their doorstep. There are plenty of
bands out there just looking for this opportunity but the stage was not there.
But thanks to LEKMK the opportunity may finally come knocking.
3 Piece band Penrose from Dublin have recently transformed
from a guitar duo comprising of Darragh McGrane and Philip O'Luanaigh who began
their journey in 2012 to more recently adding a drummer (Jeff) to add the final
piece of the puzzle. Penrose have a deep mid 90’s Brit-Pop sound
comprising of several discernible influences of the era. The place was full by
the time Penrose came to the stage to warm the crowd up for what was to follow.
Kicking off with the first of several originals including ‘Your Past’, ‘Feel
the Love’ and the sublime ‘It Ain’t Country’. They may be a bit rough around the edges but
that’s to be expected considering the recent addition, but there is this
glimmer from the band, mainly from frontman Philip O'Luanaigh and his tireless vocals
that make you stand up and take notice.
Late City Edition were next to the stage. Having
only been together for a few years, their fluidity and tightness on stage was
something to behold. The vocals of Richardson and their all-round musicality was
immense. LCE’s sound is again very Brit-Pop but with the addition of 80’s
Mods and modern Rock it gives them the full rock sound. The band has an obvious
following which was evident as the dedicated crowd sang along to ‘Forever Now’
and ‘Everything you thought you had’. Late
City Edition are all set to release their next single ‘She Saves My Soul’
in early October.
The main act of the evening was none other than Meteor award
winning Paddy Casey. Accompanied on the piano he played a 2 hour
acoustic set which was unsurprisingly faultless. Paddy was banging out
the hits like ‘Addicted to Company and ‘Lucky One’ early on, to really get the
crowd in the mood for more. Keeping the
fast pace going with the groovy ‘Not out to get you’ which really got the
dancers at the front in full swing. Encouraging the crowd, Casey played
the choruses of the not so well known or new tracks to get people to sing along
at the vital times, to keep the party atmosphere going. This set was not surprising,
it was perfect in its execution but we’d accept nothing less from this big name
on the Irish music scene.
In summary this was a brilliantly organised event by LEKMK.
No doubt their date books will be full very soon. One thing is for certain, if Phil & Mick
can put on more nights like tonight then the will have nothing to worry about.
Penrose: www.facebook.com/penroseireland
Late City Edition: www.latecityeditionmusic.com
Paddy Casey: www.paddycasey.ie
LEKMK: www.lekmk.com
Friday, 30 August 2013
Miriam Watson Single Launch - Bewley's Cafe Theatre - In aid of Enable Ireland
It was single release night for singer-songwriter Miriam Watson at Bewley's Café Theatre as she played her first ever headline show. The single is in aid of Irish charity Enable Ireland.Support on the night came from a young North County Dublin band Mitchell & The Crew. The quartet performed covers including Kodaline and Bastille and the self written 'Closer to Home'
Watson took to the stage and kicked off the night
with an original song ‘Nothing Is Permanent’ (Free Download) The night continued with a
cover of Naughty Boy's "La La La" for which the crowd showed much appreciation.
The Balbriggan native continued the night with several originals including the
B-Side to the single 'Now I’ve Learned’ and covers like the sublime
'Firework' by Katy Perry. To finish off her set, Miriam was joined on stage by
musician Ben Pyne to accompany on piano for a stripped back version of her
debut single ‘Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained’.
Miriam returned to stage for an encore and invited Mitchell and the Crew back up on stage for one last song, a rendition of Kodaline's 'Love Like This'.
The single is available from iTunes, Bandcamp and Amazon at just 99c. You can watch the video to 'Nothing Ventured,Nothing Gained' and some shots from the gig below.
You can find out more about Miriam from the following
Official Website: http://miriamwatsonofficial.webs.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MimzW13
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/miriam23-1
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheLittleOnexx
Mitchell & The Crew
Thursday, 15 August 2013
Wednesday, 14 August 2013
O Emperor - Vitreous
Having already wowed Irish punters aplenty, Waterford lads O Emperor are set to release their second studio album Vitreous to audiences further from home. Vitreous is set for UK release this coming Monday 19th August.
Alternative music has needed a bit of a shake up in recent times and O Emperor have set out the stalls with this latest release.
The album opens beautifully with 'Grandmother Mountain', but it doesn't take long to hear the humour in the lyrics (get me back to my gutbucket bedsit where I can smell the shit in the city air)
The album continues with hints of Fleet Foxes in 'Whitener (Part1)' to certain 60's influences in 'Minuet'
Vitreous is quite a short album, just coming in shy of 30 minutes for the 9 tracks. But there are plenty of stand out tracks to rave about. The wonderful vocals on 'Soft in the head' and the raw energy of contact. But I could not leave this review without mentioning the closing track 'This is it'. This track shows the bands maturity from their debut album.
You can buy Vitreous over on their official website www.oemperor.com
Thanks for reading
Pat
IM Blog
Tuesday, 30 July 2013
Colour The Atlas - Building Skyscrapers
If you like your music pounding, epic, eerie and beautiful all at the same time 'Colour The Atlas' are for you. Reminiscent of 'the xx' with improved vocals, Colour The Atlas are all set to release their second EP 'Building Skyscrapers'. Their self titled EP released in 2012 was an accomplished success reaching no.2 on iTunes singer/songwriter chart.All hailing from Swindon, Jess Hall (vocals), Alex Stone (guitar, vocals), Andy Vincent (Bass) and Stef Pysanczyn (Drums), Colour the Atlas are sure to attract plenty of attention with this release.
The EP begins with 'Paper Wings'. A wonderful acoustic intro followed by the hard hitting drums bringing the song to life. Next up is electronic influenced 'Revolutions'. Superb vocals from Jess Hall with backing vocals and harmonies coming from Stone.
As a big fan of 'Iron & Wine' (Love and Some Verses) and 'Bon Iver'(Skinny Love, For Emma), you can really hear their influence on the third track of the EP 'Blue Eyes'. Lead vocals this time coming from Alex Stone. The EP closes with the acoustic 'Rise'. Once again Hall showing her fantastic vocal ability.
Reading this today will probably be the first you hear of Colour the Atlas but it certainly wont be the last I can assure you of that.
For more information about Colour The Atlas check out their Official Site / Facebook / Twitter
For more information about Colour The Atlas check out their Official Site / Facebook / Twitter
Monday, 29 July 2013
A look at Tom Mitchell....
 |
(photo by Tom Sparey)
|
Bristol support guitarist turned singer songwriter
Tom Mitchell has finally released his eagerly awaited debut album 'New World'.
A year in the making, Mitchell has come a long way since his 5 track EP
'Ruthless Thing', further perfecting his own sound.
As Tom says himself, he was helped with the
creation of this album by "2 awesome musicians' in the form of harmonious
vocalist Sarah Proudfoot and on harmonica, Henry Slim.
Slim's harmonica most notable on the opening track
of the album 'Hammock'.
This album swings from genre to genre, folk to
indie to pop and back to folk. A really good mixture and shows the versatility
of Mitchell
One thing that really stands out about Tom's song
writing is how personal it is to him. Each song with it's own little journey.
The stand out track for me is 'From Experience'. I nearly got up and had a
dance around the living room listening to it!
New World is available from his official website here priced
at only £5. You can find out more about Tom on Facebook and Twitter and his official
site.
Pat
IM Blog
Friday, 19 July 2013
FullSet - Whelans - 17/7/13
Review of Irish Traditional Music Group 'FullSet' in Whelan's on Wednesday 17th July for Dublin Concerts
Support on the night from Caroline Keane and Tom Delany. See my review and photos from Tudor Marian on www.DublinConcerts.ie
Pat
IM Blog
Monday, 15 July 2013
Codes - Workman's Club - Friday 12/7/13
Codes played the Workman’s Club in Dublin on Friday night
supported by Rachael Boyd. Check out my reviews on DublinConcerts.ie. Photos on the night by
Shaun Neary
Rachael Boyd Review: www.dublinconcerts.ie/rachael-boyd-at-the-workmans-club-photos/
Pat
IM Blog
Tuesday, 9 July 2013
Monday, 8 July 2013
Gig Preview - Week Starting 8th July
The week starts off with 'The Weeks' live at The Grand Social tonight (Monday). I'm attending this myself and it should be a cracker. The Mississippi band signed to Kings of Leon record label are also supporting KoL on their world tour. Not one to miss.
On Tuesday we have Rockabilly princess Imelda May live in the Marquee in Cork. She also plays in the Iveagh Gardens on Thursday. Tickets for both shows available at Ticketmaster.
Wednesday sees the return of Justin Timberlake to Irish shores. JT is currently touring his 'The 20/20 Experience' album released earlier this year. Phoenix Park is the venue and there are still some tickets left via Ticketmaster.
Thursday sees former Roxy Music lead singer Brian Ferry to the National Concert Hall. This is a sold out show.
The weekend shows are all about the Phoenix Park gigs. The Killers headline on Saturday evening with support from Frank Ocean, Two Door Cinema Club and Haim. On Sunday it's the turn of English Folk band Mumford and Sons with support on the night from The Vaccines, Ben Howard, Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros. Tickets available on Ticketmaster.
For more details on Gigs this week see http://www.dublinconcerts.ie/concerts/this-week/
Thanks for reading. You can contact me on twitter @illusionalmusic
Pat
IM Blog
Monday, 1 July 2013
Album in the Car.....4
For this installment of Album in the Car (AITC), we have another Irish Folk act. I must be in some sort of 'folky' mood at the minute seeing as the last 2 AITC's have been folk artists.
So this time around it's singer/songwriter Lisa Hannigan and her second studio album 'Passenger'. Released in 2011, the Choice Music Prize nominated album was preceded by the clever video for 'Knots' (which you can view below).
The album contains a duet with American artist Ray LaMontagne, 'O Sleep'. Their voices complimenting each other so well like Hannigan had previously with Damien Rice as a member of his band.
The stand out tracks for me on the album are 'Little Bird' which would bring a tear to a budgie's glass eye and the beautifully upbeat and lyrically clever 'What'll I Do'. Overall, this is a sensational album and one of my 'desert island discs' albums.
Album can bought from Lisa Hannigan Official Store
Thanks for reading
Pat
IM Blog
Pat
IM Blog
Thursday, 27 June 2013
Little Green Cars - Absolute Zero
I've started writing this as I listen to 'Absolute Zero' for the second time. I must have been in a hole somewhere not to have heard of these before the last couple of weeks. Well, I had heard 'The John Wayne' but nothing else.
I'm really impressed with this album. It reminds me a little of Arcade Fire without all the bullshit. Straight forward great music without the hidden meaning.
From Faye O'Rourke's amazing vocals on 'Please', to the very weird sound of 'Red and Blue', to the fantastic harmonies of 'The Consequences of Not Sleeping', this album has everything.
Stevie's calming quivering vocals set alight songs like the opener 'Harper Lee' and the album closer 'Goodbye Blue Monday'. I've never been sold on bands with more than one vocalist. But O'Rourke and Appleby seem to have this down to a tee. The song to listen out for is 'The Kitchen Floor'. It is sublime.
7/10
Thanks for reading. Leave Comment below or @illusionalmusic
Pat
IM Blog
Tuesday, 25 June 2013
Anne Williams Golf Day Fundraiser
Hope for Hillsborough (HFH) charity campaigner Anne Williams, who
passed away in April, worked tirelessly in the pursuit of justice for nearly a
quarter of a century. Anne who lost her 15 year old son Kevin in the 1989
disaster never gave up despite being knocked back so many times by the powers
that be.
A group of fellow campaigners and supporters will come together at
Huyton and Prescot Golf Club on the 12th of July for the Anne Williams Golf Day
Fundraiser. All 18 holes have been sponsored by different businesses and
individuals and all 40 places have been filled for what is promising to be a
fantastic day.
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The day has been organised to raise much needed funds for the HFH.
The organisers have put some items on ebay to try and raise as much as
possible.
http://bit.ly/19VTgK0
Liverpool programmes and various Liverpool items
http://bit.ly/12ZgqO0 Vouchers for Anfield tour and golf
More fundraising items on the sellers ebay page.
There is also a YouCaring donation page set up HERE to raise funds. Please give as much as you can to support this worthy cause.
Justice for the 96
Pat
IM Blog
Monday, 24 June 2013
Gig Preview - Week Starting 24 June '13
A few decent looking gigs this week kicking off tomorrow night with Blondie at the Olympia theatre (€44.05). Wednesday night sees a host of good gigs around Dublin which would have me fretting over which to see. In The Academy is the controversial '212' singer Azealia Banks (Sold Out). Down the quays to the O2 sees the return of Indie Pop trio 'The xx'. (€32.50) After selling out the Olympia last time out they'll be sure to impress on the bigger stage.
Jamie xx of the xx will be playing a DJ set to a sold out crowd after the bands O2 gig in the Button Factory at 11pm. Earlier in the evening in the Button Factory is the extremely talented 'freak folk' sensation Devendra Banhart(€19.90). The American born Venezuelan, is touring off the back of his EIGHT studio album 'Mala'
Have a good week and thanks for reading.
Click on the prices to take you to tickets for that gig.
Pat
IM Blog (@illusionalmusic)
Saturday, 22 June 2013
A Night for Christy - Review
I have been to several benefit nights over the years. Some similar to last night where other artists come and sing their favourite song by that artist. Nine times out of ten they are a dull affair but last night was that one out of ten time. The atmosphere in the Olympia Theatre last night can only be described as electric.
The night began with the showing of the Aslan Documentary, 'Please Don't Stop'. At about 8.30, Guggi - who was MC for the night - introduced the band members of Aslan to the stage.
The first guest of the night was Paul Walsh of Royseven. Paul gave a fantastic rendition of 'Gotta Make It'. A good start to the night to get the crowd warmed up. Followed by Riptide Movement and the exciting newcomer to Irish music scene Gavin James with his version of 'Chains'.
Judging by the screams, there were a lot of people looking forward to the next act. When the MC came on and said "And now for something completely different" the whole place screamed. Jedward came onto the stage and if I'm honest, surprised me as they nailed 'She's So Beautiful'. The biggest cheer of the night so far.
The night continued with performances from Steve Wall, The Coronas lead Danny O'Reilly and Original Rudeboys. Mentor from the TV show The Voice, Bressie came out and sang a decent version of 'Angie', supported by a very willing crowd.
The first half continued with songs from Jerry Fish, Gavin Friday and Ryan Sheridan, who flew in from his tour in Germany especially for this gig. Adrian Kennedy came on stage and said a few words about Aslan, Christy and viewers from across the world. The last act before the interval was the Dublin Gospel Choir with 'Down on Me'.
The second half began with Horslips with 'Different Man' followed by Damien Dempsey on the big screen from his studio in London performing 'Bullets and Diamonds'.
Next up was the legend that is Paul Brady with an amazing version of 'We Did'. As her son had done earlier, Mary Black came to the stage, along with Don Mescall to perform a song written by Mescall 'Too Late for Hallelujah'. Former Westlife singer Mark Feehily came on stage and showed the crowd his vocal ability on 'Where's the Sun'.
Don Mescall came back on stage, this time with Christy's daughter Kiera with a strong performance of 'Catch Your Fall'. Today FM DJ Tony Fenton came on to talk about the struggle he shares with Christy, their joint battle with Cancer. He talked about having Billy from Aslan in the studio during the week and talking to him about Christy. Billy remarked to him that Christy not being there was like 'Soldiers missing their Commander in Chief'.From sadness to laughter as Tom Dunne took the stage. He proclaimed playing with the Aslan band was like 'Cheating' and like 'Driving someone else's car'. Billy shouts over to him, 'At least you can sing a decent song for a change'. The whole place erupted in laughter. Tom sang 'Rainman' and certainly did it justice.
Next to be introduced by the MC Guggi, he tells us all that 2 of the best bands ever, just so happen to come from North Dublin, and here is one of them. The big screen comes on again and Bono appears. U2 live from Electric Lady Studios in New York with 'This Is'. I wouldn't be the biggest fan of U2 but it was superb. Kiera Dignam came back on stage, this time supported by everyone there on the night for a spine tingling rendition of 'This Time'.
As the night came to a close, everyone left the stage and the lights dimmed. Appearing from the darkness was Christy himself. He came on to thank everyone for their contribution to a great night. His suit jacket then came off as the opening chords of 'Crazy World' blasted out. With his theatrical hand movements detailing everything in the song, it was just like the Christy of old. What a wonderful end to the evening.Overall, it was a fantastic night enjoyed by all. To put it mildly, the place was hopping from start to finish. Was great to see Christy back on stage again. Get well soon Christy and hopefully we'll see you back on stage soon doing what you love with the people you love performing with, Billy, Alan, Joe and Rodney.
More photos of the gig can be seen here. Setlist below.
Pat
IM Blog
First Half
Paul Walsh – Gotta Make it
Riptide Movement – Lucy Jones pt1
Gavin James – Chains
Jedward – She’s So Beautiful
Steve Wall –Pretty Thing
Danny O’Reilly – Hurt Sometimes
Original Rudeboys – Lucy Jones pt2
Bressie – Angie
Jerry Fish – Rock’n’Roll Suicide
Ryan Sheridan - Wish You
Were Here
Gavin Friday – Five Years
Adrian Kennedy
Dublin Gospel – Down on Me
Second Half
Second Half
Horslips – Different Man
Damien Dempsey – Bullets and Diamonds (From a Studio in London)
Paul Brady - We Did
Mary Black & Don Mescall
- Too Late for Hallelujah
Mark Feehily – Where’s the Sun
Kiera Dignam - Catch Your
Fall
Tony Fenton
Tom Dunne – Rainman
U2 – This Is (Live from Electric Lady Studios NY)
Kiera Dignam with All other Acts –This Time
Aslan - Crazy World
All images © 2013 Pat Byrne
All images © 2013 Pat Byrne
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