AU's Sixth Birthday Tour feat. ASIWYFA, Adebisi Shank & more

AU Magazine

THE AU SIXTH BIRTHDAY TOUR

ASIWYFA AND ADEBISI SHANK GEAR UP FOR MAJOR IRISH JAUNT

To celebrate six years of publishing, AU is teaming up with Livewire Promotions to take two of the best Irish bands from north and south on a tour across Ireland. The first two weeks of July will see the tour hit Tralee, Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Derry and Belfast. Representing the north, we have the mighty And So I Watch You From Afar. They’ve barely been off tour all year, bringing their seismic brand of instrumental rock to fans across the UK and Ireland, and the AU tour comes hot on the heels of European dates with stoner rock legends Clutch.

Joining ASIWYFA is another loud, intense instrumental band, the frankly astonishing Adebisi Shank. Last seen in Belfast as guests at ASIWYFA’s huge album launch gig at the Mandela Hall, the Wexford trio infuse their mathy, technical sound with a large dose of punk energy, often at the risk of injuring themselves as guitarist Lar and bassist Vinny leap around – and off – the stage. Each gig on the tour will also feature local support, while rising stars the Panama Kings will fill in for Adebisi at the final date in Belfast.

ASIWYFA guitarist Tony Wright reckons that the importance of the north-south link-up and an Irish tour is not to be underestimated. “It’s great to finally have things building up between the north and south and starting to get a gig network going,” he says. “It’s been long overdue and I think it’s really positive. That’s all we try to do – anything in a positive way, and the more connections that open up between the north and the south, the better. An infrastructure for a gig network – it’s ridiculous that we don’t have more stuff in place. So this is an absolutely golden opportunity – we can’t wait.”

“It’s really important,” adds Adebisi drummer and Richter Collective (BATS, Not Squares, Enemies) label boss Mick Roe. “For a long time, there seems to have been a Northern Irish music scene and a southern Irish music scene. Bands would go up and down but there’d be no real communication like there seems to be starting now, with the State and AU clubs and other stuff like that. I think it’s starting to take off, anyway.”

The two bands have played together before, notably at the first ever Club AU in Belfast last year, and are good friends. The AU Sixth Birthday Tour, however, will be the first ever time the bands have been out on the road together, and Mick is audibly excited when we ask him about the prospect. “We’ve never toured with them before,” he admits. “We’ve only played a couple of one-off shows in Dublin and Belfast, but never got out around Ireland. We’ve been meaning to do it for quite some time but never round to it yet. It’s gonna be fun!”

Tony agrees: “It’s great because I get to watch a band that I absolutely adore and jump about and go nuts, and then I can jump about and go nuts with my own band!”

THOSE DATES IN FULL
WHERE AND WHEN TO GET YOUR ROCK ON

Thursday, July 2
ASIWYFA, Adebisi Shank & support
Club Head Bang Bang, Tralee

Friday, July 3
ASIWYFA & support
Lower Deck, Dublin

Saturday, July 4
ASIWYFA, Adebisi Shank, I’ll Eat Your Face, Burn Us Both, Trev Moran
Pine Lodge, Cork

Sunday, July 5
ASIWYFA, Adebisi Shank, I’ll Eat Your Face, My Mothers Son
Baker Place, Limerick

Thursday, July 9
ASIWYFA, Adebisi Shank & support
Mason’s, Derry

Friday, July 10
ASIWYFA, Panama Kings & support
trans Festival, The Waterfront Hall, Belfast