Friday, June 22, 2012

Funeral Suits live at Bourkes , Limerick 21/06/12


The longest day of the year consisted of a mad dash not to miss The Funeral Suits play Bourkes on a miserable wet June night. I arrived just in time to see off the warm up band of Ghost Estates. Pity I missed the whole set but the last two songs sounded great, will hopefully catch them again.

Next up later than billed thank god were the excellent headliners, They had cancelled their last gig here so tonight was there rescheduled gig. I had been waiting three years to see this band live again, after a super support slot to Franz Ferdinand in Dolans in 2009 (Review). I knew they were destined for big things upon hearing them back then and their 'Eye Spy' EP release has been on playlist ever since, It has also taken those years to produce their very long awaited debut album 'Lily of the Valley' which was released at the start of the month. In the intervening years they have gigging a crazy amount and its clear the difference in their appearance from three ago to tonight on stage. The battled hardened lads haven't changed that awesome electro rock sound that's clear its the funeral suits sound. Splashes of Vampire Weekend and MGMT but on a whole they are unique for this Dublin/Limerick outfit.

The band were playing musical chairs with the instruments tonight and interchanged throughout the set, They played a blistering set of tracks from the brilliant debut album. I have been listening to the album constant over the last few weeks, this one is one to get! Another cracking night in a packed Bourkes, Looking forward to catching them live again very soon, Cheers!

Friday, June 15, 2012

The Minutes live at Bourkes, Limerick 14/06/12


After a trashing against the Spanish in the euros what better way to end the night of sporting misery with a great gig in Bourkes, The small venue was jam packed in anticipation of the Dublin headliners, the gig had been rescheduled twice in the past so tonight we were finally going to witness this live beast up close and personal, I haven't had the pleasure of catching them live yet but their 2011 release "Marcata" is a regular on the pod.

Local band 'Moscow Metro' opened up proceedings with a nice short set of tracks, The lads have been busy gigging around the country since I last saw them and their set seems to grow in quality each time. They are making great in roads in the music scene securing high profile gigs here and there, The band play the Body & Soul Festival at the end of the month. Looking forward to a release from the lads soon. Keep an eye on them here.


The Minutes arrived on stage to the Irish soccer anthem 'Put 'em under Pressure' with the crowd shouting Ole Ole! Clearly the 4-0 defeat behind us the band lashed into a high energy twelve track set. The album is superb and certainly one to get but live they added another dimension of greatness. The three lads were belting through the set full of sweat and delivering everything I had expected from the furious rock album 'Marcata'. The drummer Shane Kinsella was a joy to watch, kitted out in a paddy cap and wife beater top literally putting all his might into his drum kit. They seemed to be really enjoying themselves as the lead singer Mark Austin pounded his guitar against the over head beams and wandering into the crowd throughout the night. Its amazing to have this good a band play in a small pub in town with free entry, The band had just played the download festival at the weekend and have a crazy gig schedule lined up for the rest of the year which takes in support slots for Bruce Springsteen in Hyde Park, The Stone Roses in the Phoenix Park and Foo Fighters & The Black Keys in Belfast. Ill let the videos below do the rest of the blabbering. One of the best gigs for awhile, Cheers to Bourkes for a great night!

Set List:
Highway 51
Gold
Believer
Meet me in the Morning
Supernatural
Black Keys
Fleetwood
Black & Blue
Guilt Quilt
Heartbreaker
Secret History
I.M.T.O.D.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Calling all bands!



Ballyhoura Community Radio which is based in Charleville, Co. Cork is running a songwriting competition. These kind of competition are run all the time but this one has a big difference, the prize!
You will basically be working with the cream of the crop in Ireland in terms of Recording, Mastering, Video production, Website design and so on. The video below explains all really. Good luck!



Albums Worth Listening to in June 2012


L-R
The Riptide Movement - Keep on, Keepin on
Julia Stone - By The Horns
Funeral Suits - Lily Of The Valley
Angus Stone - Broken Brights
The Hives - Lex Hives

Rumer - Boys Don't Cry

Suggestions very welcome