Gigs Of The Fortnight

Gigs Of The Fortnight for November 2 - 15 2009

ihwright@yahoo.ie — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:15:08 GMT

Gig of the fortnight is... Yo La Tengo

Where and When?
Tripod, Dublin - 05/11

Why?
To be honest there's not a whole lot of truly outstanding stuff this fortnight. A lot less than in more recent Novembers anyway. But in almost any fortnight regardless of who else was in the country Yo La Tengo's first headline gig in this country in donkey's years would be right at the top of the list.

25 years into their careers the band still sound incredibly fresh and remain hugely commited to simply making the sort of music that they feel like doing on a particular day, be it 15 minute drone pieces, grade A indie rock freakouts or gorgeous little pop tunes that wouldn't be out of place on the third VU album.

You should note, this is a no support band 2 hour long set. So get there early.

Best of the rest

Who? Cymbals Eat Guitars
Where and When?
Crawdaddy, Dublin - 14/11
Auntie Annie's, Belfast - 15/11

Cymbals Eat Guitars might by the greatest band ever formed thanks to an ad being placed on Craigslist. The heavily overdubbed guitars of the Statan Island outfit's debut record Why There Are Mountains, one of the year's best, recalls the likes of such indie greats as Built To Spill, Pavement and The Wrens and more recent bands like No Age and it's a real treat for anyone who likes that sort of thing.

Sickeningly main CEG dude Joseph Ferocious is only about 21.

Also this fortnight

Orbital
Tripod, Dublin - 13 & 14/11

Great Lake Swimmers
Crawdaddy, Dublin - 13/11
Speakeasy, Belfast - 14/11

John Vanderslice
Whelans, Dublin - 06/11

A Place To Bury Strangers w/ Japandroids
Whelan's, Dublin - 09/11
Auntie Annie's, Belfast - 11/11

Mark Eitzel
Cyrpus Avenue, Cork - 10/11
The Village, Dublin - 11/11

The Specials
Olympia, Dublin - 14 & 15/11
St. George's Market, Belfast - 16/11

Giveamanakick
Cyprus Avenue, Cork - 14/11

Gigs of the Fortnight for 19 October - 01 November

ihwright@yahoo.ie — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:34:51 GMT

Gig of the fortnight is... Handsome Furs

Where and When?
Spring and Airbrake, Belfast - 26/10
Acadamy, Dublin - 27/10
Cyprus Avenue, Cork - 28/10

Why?
Due to the volume of their output Sunset Rubown may be the better known of the Wolf Parade side projects but Dan Boeckner's (and wife Alexei Perry's) Handsome Furs take a back seat to no band. Second album Face Control is a fantastic collection of tunes which manages to be both cold sounding and visceral feeling at the same time. This is the pair's first Irish gigs in a couple of years. Support for all gigs comes from Thomas Dybdahl.

Best of the rest

Who? Clues
Where and When?
Whelan's (Upstairs), Dublin - 22/10

When the Unicorns split up a few years ago Nick Diamonds and J'aime Tabbeur wasted no time in moving on to their next project Islands. The remaining Unicorn Alden Penner wasn't quite so fast to move on but in 2007 he and former Arcade Fire drummer Brendan Reed formed Clues. They took their time putting an album together but their fantastic eponymous debut was finally released earlier in the year.

Also this fortnight

No Age
Crawdaddy, Dublin - 24/10

Modeselektor (Live)
Button Factory, Dublin - 23/10

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
Button Factory, Dublin - 24/10
Trinity Rooms, Limerick - 25/10

Grouper / John Wiese
Filmbase, Dublin - 30/10

Midori Hirano
Whelan's (Upstairs), Dublin - 30/10

Buzzcocks
Pavillion, Cork - 22/10

Indigo Girls
Tripod, Dublin - 29/10

Gigs of the Fortnight for 5 - 18 October

ihwright@yahoo.ie — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:05:57 GMT

Gig of the fortnight is... **Thinguma*jigsaw**

Where and When?
Joinery Gallery, Dublin - 06/10

Why?
Gigs here by Norway's finest gothic folk duo have understandably become far less regular ever since the members of Thinguma*jigsaw stopped living here. This will in act be the pair's first Irish gig since February and really should not be missed if possible. Support on the night comes from Sport Murphy, Arlt and the wonderful Peter Delaney.

Best of the rest

Who? Jonathan Richman
Where and When?
The Village, Dublin - 06/10

There aren't many other words to describe the original Modern Lover's last Dublin date in May of last year aside from lovely. With 30 odd years of gigging behind him the man is now so comfortable and accomplished on stage that within minutes of starting to play he can have his audience eating out of his hand. Richman is quite simply charm personified. It doesn't hurt either that he has an amazing catalogue of material to draw from as well.

Also this fortnight

King Khan & The Shrines
Black Box, Belfast - 06/10
Whelan's (Upstairs), Dublin - 07/10

An Evening of Reading, Music & Conversation with Nick Cave
Vicar St., Dublin - 12/10

Mark Morris Of The Bluetones
Whelan's (Upstairs), Dublin - 16/10 (2 shows, early and late)

Frank Turner
Acadamy 2, Dublin - 13/10
The Stiff Kitten, Belfast - 14/10

Themselves
Whelan's, Dublin - 16/10

DÄLEK
The Lower Deck, Dublin - 15/10

Gigs of the Fortnight for 21 September - 4 October

ihwright@yahoo.ie — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:04:35 GMT

Gig of the fortnight is... The Jesus Lizard

Where and When?
Button Factory, Dublin - 22/09

Why?

There has been a raft of 80's and 90's indie rock band reunions in recent years from the likes of bands such as The Pixies, My Bloody Valentine and just this month Pavement, all of whom in their previous, younger lives had some level of success or the likes of Mission Of Burma who never really found the audience their astonishing music deserved. Falling more into the second category than the first is Chicago's Jesus Lizard who since getting back into the game earlier this year have thrown themselves into this whole reunion business with far more intensity than pretty much anyone else has. Front man David Yow is still the total nutter he was a decade ago and it wouldn't be a bad guess to estimate that he's spent a good 35% of his gigging time this year on top of the crowd or battling security guards.

I can only offer two pieces of advice with regard to this gig. The first is obvious, GO, it's going to be awesome. The other is for God's sake unless you want a half naked dude that's pushing 50 landing on your face do not stand front and centre for it.

Also this fortnight

Pixies
Olympia, Dublin - 30/09, 01/10, 02/10

William Elliott Whitmore
Cyprus Avenue, Cork - 22/09

Nodzzz
Whelan's (Upstairs), Dublin - 25/09

Kinky Friedman
Whelan's, Dublin - 26/09
The Pavillion, Cork - 27/09

Bats
Cyprus Avenue, Cork - 27/09

Zu
Crawdaddy, Dublin - 29/09
Cyprus Ave., Cork - 30/09

Health
The Village, Dublin - 01/10

Hockey
Spring and Airbrake, Belfast - 21/09
Acadamy, Dublin - 22/09

Mumford & Sons
Academy 2, Dublin - 26/09

Gigs of the Fortnight for September 7-20

ihwright@yahoo.ie — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:49:46 GMT

Gig of the fortnight is... The Tallest Man On Earth

Where and When?
Whelan's, Dublin - 11/08

Why?

Far more engaging and commanding on stage than a single man with an acoustic guitar has any right to be One of the genuine highlights of this year's Primavera Sound festifal and a firm fixture on the gig guide's MP3 player for the past 12 months The Tallest Man On Earth aka Swedan's Kristian Matsson is one of the most remarkable folk guitar pickers to emerge in years. There may be some who can't get past his obvious Dylan fetish but if you're not in that number then I can't recommend this gig enough.

Best of the rest

Who? Future Islands
Where and When?
Whelan's Upstairs, Dublin - 09/09

Dan Deacon's ensemble tour back in May enabled him to do a number of things. The most obvious of these was to realise his absurdist pop compositions with a full band as opposed to relying on samples and backing tracks. One of the others was that he was able to bring his buddies along for the ride as part of the ensemble so they could tour Europe with their bands and play to crowds they might not have done otherwise. Of the 3 opening bands to play with him in Dublin the most impressive were Future Islands who are now back on their own headlining tour.

Also this fortnight

Okkervil River
Roisin Dubh, Galway - 07/09

Sunset Rubdown
Spring and Airbrake, Belfast - 11/09
Crawdaddy, Dublin - 12/09

Dirty Projectors
Whelan's, Dublin - 16/09

The Ambience Affair
Whelan's (Upstairs), Dublin - 11/09

Silver Apples
Whelan's, Dublin - 12/09

Fleet Foxes
Vicar St., Dublin - 07/09

Daid Kitt
Whelan's, Dublin - 18/09

Times New Viking w/LOVVERS
Whelan's, Dublin - 19/09

William E. Whitmore
Whelan's, Dublin - 20/09

Gigs of the Fortnight for 24 August - September 6th

ihwright@yahoo.ie — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:42:45 GMT

Gig of the fortnight is... Wilco

Where and When?
Vicar St, Dublin - 27&28/08

Why?

Watching Bruce Springsteen and The E Street band in the RDS a few months back I was struck by the idea that in terms of conventional rock bands there might not be a better collection of musicians in a singe group than them. If there is one than it's probaby Wilco, led by one of the best songwriters of his generation in Jeff Tweedy and backed by the briliant likes of Glenn Kotche on drums and the imperious Nes Cline on guitar the caibre of musician that Tweedy has ruthlessly assembled over the years is remarkable.

Best of the rest

Who? Electric Picnic
Where and When?
Stradbaly Hall, Laois - 4-6/09

Typically for the Electric Picnic there has been a massive online bitching session over the lack of star names on the lineup. However as with every other year the best thing about Electric Picnic is the names a little bit further down the bill. In this year's case the standout names being Okkervil River, The Walkmen and making their Irish debut the brilliant Bell Orchestre.

Also this fortnight

Faith No More
Olympia, Dublin - 27/08

Heritage Centre
Whelan's, Dublin - 28/08

Redneck Manifesto
Whelan's, Dublin - 29/08

Blitzen Trapper
Auntie Annie's, Belfast - 31/08
Cyprus Avenue, Belfast - 02/09

Bats - Album Launch, late gig doors @10
ALT, Dublin - 29/08

Gigs of the Fortnight for 10 - 23 August

ihwright@yahoo.ie — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:38:33 GMT

Gig of the fortnight is... Deerhunter

Where and When?
Whelan's, Dublin - 23/08

Why?

Over the past couple of years I don't think there's been a more consistently brilliant and prolific band than Deerhunter and it's associated acts. Bradford Cox and co. really found their stride with second album Cryptograms and haven't looked back since with another couple of super albums in Microcastle and Wierd Era Cont. AND 2 EP's as well as countless other things that have cropped up for free online. And then there's the material released by Cox's Atlas Sound side project and as well as that the much overlooked but phenomenal Lotus Plaza album The Floodlight Collective by the band's guitar player Locket Pundt.

Best of the rest

Who? Low
Where and When?
St. Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny - 15/08

Low are a brilliant, brilliant band. That's about all that needs to be said about them.

Except that slowcore is a really stupid name for a genre.

Also this fortnight

Ash Grunwald
Upstairs At Whelans, Dublin - 12/08

Easy Star All Stars
The Academy, Dublin - 13/08

Gigs of the Fortnight for 20 July - 02 August

ihwright@yahoo.ie — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:30:31 GMT

Gig of the fortnight is... Bon Iver

Where and When?
Big Top, Galway - 23/07
Pavillion, Cork - 12/07

Why?

Justin Vernon and company's only Irish date this year sees them play the town that some years ago their front man spend a spell selling mobile phones. This is Bon Iver's 4th trip to Ireland touring the remarkable For Emma, Forever ago but if you've never seen them play live they're certainly more than work catching because when they're on they're spellbinding.

Best of the rest

Who? Lisa Hannigan
Where and When?
Caffrey's, Oldcastle, Co. Meath (Le Cheile festival) – 31/07
Skibbereen, Cork (Cork X Southwest) – 02/08

Fresh with a Mercury Prize nomination in the pocket of one of those flowing dresses that she is prone to wear (if they have pockets) Lisa Hannigan continues her intensive touring of Sea Sew with dates in Cork and in Oldcastle where she's playing one of the best little festivals in the country.

Also this fortnight

Sickboy, The Funeral Suits & The House Of Dolls
Whelan's, Dublin - 31/07

Mark Kozelek
Andrews Lane Theatre, Dublin - 23/07

George Clinton
Tripod, Dublin - 31/07

Gigs of the Fortnight for 06-19 July

ihwright@yahoo.ie — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:14:57 GMT

Gig of the fortnight is... Deerhoof

Where and When?
Whelan's, Dublin - 10/07
Roisin Dubh, Galway - 11/07
Pavillion, Cork - 12/07

Why?

We here at the gig of the fortnight have an unusual reltionship with Deerhoof. They're not a band that I would regularly listen to on record but live ... live I'd move hell and high water to see them. All of Deerhoof's previous Irish gigs have been as a three-piece as they took place after Chris Cohen's departure from the band. However I caught them in the 9:30 club in Washington DC with new member Ed Rodriguez late last year and they put on probably the best show I've ever seen them play. These are potential gigs of the year.

Best of the rest

Who? Bruce Springsteen And The E-Street Band
Where and When?
RDS, Dublin – 11 & 12/07

Following a brilliant 3 night stand at the same venue last year I don't think anyone could have realistically expected Brooooce and the greatest bar band in the whole world to have made it back to these shores so soon. Then again, I don't think anyone expected a new album to be churned out so quickly. 60 this year anyone who saw Springsteen and co. on the BBC's Glastonbury coverage in recent weeks knows that The Boss is showing no signs of slowing down and still puts as much into his shows as men half, or even a third his age.

Also this fortnight

!!!
Whelan's, Dublin - 08/07 (Tickets also includes entrance to afterparty in the upstairs venue)

Oxegen
Punchestown, Naas - 10-12/07

One For The Team
Stables, Mullingar - 16/07
Whelan's, Dublin - 17/07

Prefuse 73
Cyprus Avenue, Cork - 11/07
Whelan's (Upstairs), Dublin - 12/07

Lisa Hannigan
Electric Avenue, Waterford - 07/07
Kylelers, Kilkenny - 08/07
Roisin Dubh, Galway - 9 & 10/07

Land Lover (EP Launch)
Whelan's (Upstairs), Dublin - 18/07

Adrian Crowley
Whelan's, Dublin - 18/07

Neosupervital
Whelan's (Upstairs), Dublin - 19/07

Gigs of the Fortnight for 8-21 June

ihwright@yahoo.ie — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:33:14 GMT

Gig of the fortnight is... The Thermals

Where and When?
Auntie Annies, Belfast - 18/06
Academy 2, Dublin - 19/06

Why?

Just, for a second, imagine something. We're back in the early 90's and Green Day haven't yet gone all political, they're at the "Basket Case" point in their career. Now jump forward to today and try to imagine a band that still has that sound, but the songs are clever and catchy and really really good.

The band you're imagining might just be The Thermals whose 4th album Now We Can See is probably the finest collection of power pop you're likely to hear all year.

Also this fortnight

Pocahaunted/Sun Araw (early gig, doors 18:30)
Joinery, Dublin - 29/05

Julie Feeney
Crawdaddy, Dublin - 10/06

Halves
Whelans,. Dublin - 19/06

Neil Young
02, Dublin - 22/05

Gigs Of The Fortnight

Gigs Of The Fortnight for November 2 - 15 2009

Gig of the fortnight is... Yo La Tengo

Best of the rest

Also this fortnight

Gigs of the Fortnight for 19 October - 01 November

Gig of the fortnight is... Handsome Furs

Best of the rest

Also this fortnight

Gigs of the Fortnight for 5 - 18 October

Gig of the fortnight is... Thinguma*jigsaw

Best of the rest

Also this fortnight

Gigs of the Fortnight for 21 September - 4 October

Gig of the fortnight is... The Jesus Lizard

Also this fortnight

Gigs of the Fortnight for September 7-20

Gig of the fortnight is... The Tallest Man On Earth

Best of the rest

Also this fortnight

Gigs of the Fortnight for 24 August - September 6th

Gig of the fortnight is... Wilco

Best of the rest

Also this fortnight

Gigs of the Fortnight for 10 - 23 August

Gig of the fortnight is... Deerhunter

Best of the rest

Also this fortnight

Gigs of the Fortnight for 20 July - 02 August

Gig of the fortnight is... Bon Iver

Best of the rest

Also this fortnight

Gigs of the Fortnight for 06-19 July

Gig of the fortnight is... Deerhoof

Best of the rest

Also this fortnight

Gigs of the Fortnight for 8-21 June

Gig of the fortnight is... The Thermals

Also this fortnight

Gig of the fortnight is... **Thinguma*jigsaw**