Arthur's Day - Dolans Warehouse Guinness 250 Celebrations Review

While all eyes were on St.Jame’s Gate in Dublin for the celebrations of Arthurs Day, Dolans were putting on their party to honour the great man’s 250 year lease. The pub was nicely packed when I arrived and tucked into my first Guinness around 7. The warehouse was to host 3 bands while upstairs was hosting the 18th instalment of the Green & Live Sessions. In an ideal world I would have witnesses both but I opted for the warehouse well for at least most of the night.

The first band to adored the stage was “Alphastates”. Surprisingly as everyone had expected the lesser known band 21 outs to play first. I later heard that Alphastates had arrived very late for the event and had to go on first has they had nothing set up in terms of speakers and so on. The band tonight were reduced to two, due to one member breaking his leg during the week and an other being sick. We witnessed the pair having a rushed sound check while they were only hooked up to the two main speakers. The sound throughout remained poor and it was unfortunate as im sure with the full band they are a great live act. The two soldiered on and gave a short but great 6 song set. The lead singer Catherine Dowling had given birth 11 weeks pervious and looked great I must say! Ill look forward to catching the full effect of Alphastates hopefully in the future. Alphastates Set List: Taste The Record Machine Addicted Astronauts Champagne Glass Angel Kiss

Next up were “21 Outs” . This young band are amazing live, they are so energetic on stage and give it their all. The crowd in the warehouse was getting bigger and louder, probably due to the nice amount of free Guinness being handed out. The Galway band relished the crowd’s energy and played a blinding set. I was very impressed by these guys and cant wait to get my hand on some of their material. They clearly gig an awful lot and are so comfortable with being on stage, 21 Outs are one band to watch out for! 21 Outs Set List : Wastin Time Doormat Wait For Nothing Anonymous Slander One of Those Bunny Boiler Blues Just before Jape took to the stage I ran upstairs hoping to catch a glimpse of the 18th Green & live Sessions. When I arrived Walter Mitty & the Realists were in full swing and just hitting into my favourite song on their album “Red is the Number”. The video below just shows how brilliant they were, unfortunately I had to leave after that but was quite satisfied to have seen them at all. Walter Mitty & the Realist Set List: Restless Endless Sucker Punch My Inner Childs a Drum Kit Lie in The Summer Buy for 4 Bones Oh The Shame Red is the Number The Raptor Instantly Nothing Green Light Go

Last up was “Jape”. There was such little advertising for this gig and I couldn't believe jape were playing at this when I heard. I am going to see Jape next Saturday again as part of the Coors Light Peak events in Galway and I thought the gig in Dolans would spoil the surprise of seeing him live. It did nothing of the sort if anything it fuelled the excitement. Jape aka Richie Egan is just incredible live, He gives a performance nothing short of brilliance. I have his 2009 Choice Music Prize Album Ritual for quite some time now and listened to it here and there, Buts its live on stage where his music lives. Listening to the album now has a whole different meaning/dimension and it just all comes together and works. I can completely see why this guys award winning and probably one of the best Live Irish acts today. If you haven’t witnessed Jape live make it your mission this year. The crowd were just short of bonkers throughout the set with many a crowd surfer and even people on shoulder moments. The warehouse was transformed into some sort of crazy Guinness festival and it was amazing to watch from the balcony. A man named Brian from Clonlara, Co.Clare was horsed on stage by Jape to partake in “Street Wise” (Video Below). Apparently he had sang with him for the same song at electric picnic. Nearing the end of the set he was joined once more, this time by two crazy girls who just wanted to dance. The night was amazing; at the end it included Richie diving into the crowd twice for a nice surf around the warehouse courtesy of the limerick crowd(Pic Above). What a night! To Arthur!! Here is a video playlist of Jape from the night