In line with the annual, "Gigs for…" threads, where people post reviews and have general discussion about shows they see throughout the year, I'm starting this off, as we don't have one yet.
Another concert in Malahide Castle last night .
Nile Rogers and Chic followed by Duran Duran .
Mixed age crowd genuinely surprised at the amount of young people there enjoying the music and singing away .
Very unashamedly pop night ...people dressed for the summer sitting on blankets and enjoying the sun in between bands , which shone for Nile and his neverending musical hits and his bands talented show . He looks and plays like someone half his age (72 ) and the crowd loved it dancing singing and joining in wherever and whenever we were told to ! Audrey Martells I think was the singer and she had beautiful voice , able to carry off the high notes well like Donna Summer .
There was a young group before who I didn't catch much of but they sounded promising and had a good following up front .Anybody know their name ?
Duran Duran came on stage when a dark black cloud covered the packed grounds .
Thankfully the rain held off until just 10 minutes before the end and the gig went off very well hit after hit with a couple of less well known songs . Ordinary World was lovely dedicated to Gaza and Ukraine with a mention for the Israelis just to cover all bases ;) Graphics behind were good the whole set looked far better than St Anne's Park 3 years ago . The sound in Malahide Castle is excellent for an outdoor venue .
Simon and the band were in good form if a bit older but had no problem at all running around for an almost 2 hour set .
Finished with Rio of course as an encore and everybody left happy if a bit wet at 10 .45
Great organisation at these concerts. Fair dues 👏
We were home via DART , of which there were spares waiting at the station ( no tickets checked everyone just split into two lanes for the train and ushered through ) and sitting down by 11.30 having a cuppa.. I live nearby in North Dublin City .
Did the bus on Thursday last and similarly good experience .
All in all recommend Malahide Castle Summer Concerts as a venue and they seem to have finally got the whole organization down to a tee .
Weezer in Trinity College.
82 minutes. 22 songs.
Quality over quantity.
90 quid for 80 minutes? That'll set a few off in here......
Dodgy start but weezer were excellent
BBit more acceptable when play a good number of songs at least
No tapes or holograms either…
:)
I went as a tag along. I'm not a Weezer head and thought it was a perfectly fine gig. No great showmanship.
Much prefer a tight setlist and shorter runtime than rambling inter-song monologues and guitar tuning.
Thought Weezer were excellent.
I’m a big Weezer fan and thought it was a decent gig. A bit short, they weren’t really pulling out all the stops performance wise, but also they squeezed a lot of songs into the eighty minutes, and they rose to the occasion at the end with a strong finish.
The crowd were very chill while still being into the music.
Went to see Lee Rocker from the Stray Cats at the Empire in Belfast last night! Arrived a bit earlier than planned but that meant i was able to get a seat with a great view, first time I've managed to get a seat at all in the Empire.
I also got to see the support act, local band The Sabrejets fronted by Brian Young from punk Legends Rudi who played a blinding 35 minute set.
A fantastic night, would definitely go back to see Lee if he comes back.
Had a good night on Tuesday down in Virgin Media Park Cork
Got in when Nile Rodgers & Chic were about 3 songs in. Wouldn't be a huge fan of that type of music but they got the crowd going and have to admire the talent of the band. Nile Rodgers also wrote some amazing songs. Can see why they always play here 😄 (pure disco cheese from start to finish)
Really enjoyed the main event of Duran Duran, it was very cheesy and so 80s. All still top musicians and Simon Le Bon still a great frontman. Amazing hearing 'Ordinary World', 'Hungry Like The Wolf', 'Wild Boys', 'View To A Kill (best Bond tune imo) and 'The Reflex' in person. It was the near perfect setlist and would of liked to hear 'Is There Something I Should Know ?' Instead of 'Nite Runner/All She Wants Is' and something from 'All You Need Is Now'
Overall enjoyable night,a nice one off the bucket list. Great atmosphere and sound too. I miss the bar up behind the stand and was a little annoying having to go into the standing area for a pint
Next Up is Alexisonfire and Coheed and Cambria in the National Stadium on Wednesday 9th July
Upstairs at Whelan’s last night, three bands for €15. My favourite was the middle band bbft. Listened to them yesterday morning on Spotify and they were nothing special but live, these two make some noise. Really impressed. I listened to them again on the walk home and they’re like totally different bands. What’s that all about?
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3xEsfZPXcFDrZDGaveDA0m?si=KoF73TugR3mOIzzXDiyQpA
How were Bathing Suits?
I liked them, thought the lead singer was brilliant. They gave it 110% and looked like they were going to strip naked at one stage. The rest of the band didn’t bat an eyelid. That’s English bands for you.
Savage gig by Civic in the Workmans. Old school Australian punk
Prompted by a friend, went to Laughter Lounge last night instead of a trip to Anseo to see Wild Rocket. Won’t be doing that again. Group karaoke is not funny. 🙄
Ffs. Gloomtastic and comedy night don't go together. Who saw that coming?😉
Yeah, I went for the last office christmas party. The comedians were still doing covid material and loads of crowd work. Really poor stuff.
I've definitely seen good stuff there in the past, like Stewart Lee, but last couple of trips there have been awful.
Ah here now. FYI, prior to the great hack of 2009 when we were all encouraged to re-register, I used to be called Boomtastic. 😂
🙂 Ah I like that! Why the change?
Do you remember 2009? The Boom was well and truly gone!
Hope we are out of the Gloom too now ..and think your reviews are Fan- tastic ! ????
Thanks Goldengirl. 🙏 Love getting out there, so many fantastic Irish bands.
Last night Upstairs in Whelan’s for Vendetta Love supported by Divides Unfold (I think) for a cracking night of hard rock/grunge.
Unleash The Archers at Manchester Academy tonight.
They were amazing, best gig I was at in years.
In Manchester tonight also but for ELO.
A bittersweet night, while the band and show were wonderful, Jeff Lynne struggled and towards the end was in a bit of trouble. They brought him a chair but he was unwell and barely sang the last couple of songs which the band powered through to get him off that stage.
Ill be shocked if hes on stage again tomorrow, hes two shows away from the end and just broke his hand so he couldn't play guitar and you could see he missed it in his hands.
Happy I got to see one of the greats but sad for him and I hope he is doing OK tonight and looks after himself.
That's a very nice thoughtful review .
Some would be thinking about getting their money back . Poor Jeff .
Saw some ELO shirts on the plane back to Dublin today, actually Unleash the Archers played Mr Blue Sky when they finished their set, all I could think about was doing the lotto.
Oh god. Only acoustic guitars on the stage. What have I done? 🫣
Join hands and sing Kumbaya, My Lord
It wasn’t far off. About ten in the audience. So quiet. Not my type of music at all but they love what they do.
Anyways, any night out is better than sitting on your ass watching the telly. Support live music venues! The Beat tomorrow night. 😎
