CLUAS Gig Reviews

Day Two Hard Working Class Heroes 2009

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 07:22:00 GMT

Oliver Cole, Escape Act & Others (live in Temple Bar, Dublin)

Review Snapshot: Day two of Hard Working Class Heroes involved quite a bit of venue shifting but was all the better for it.

The Cluas Verdict? 8.5 out of 10

Full Review:
Thankfully, my leg felt a great deal better and so venue-hopping was not going to be as much of a problem as it was on Day One of Hard Working Class Heroes 2009.

Oliver Cole - The Button Factory
Oliver Cole certainly knows how to write a tune. Tonight, Cole's set consists of songs taken from his yet to be released debut solo LP such as Little Bad Dream, A Drug Song and, the title track, We Albatri. His ear for melody is second to none and it would be impossible to watch an Oliver Cole gig without wanting to sing-a-long and tap your foot. That being said, it was such a shame that Cole was on so early as his stage presence and interaction with the crowd is much more suited to later in the night. Indeed, it's almost worth checking out Cole the next time you can just to hear the story behind We Albatri.

Escape Act - 4 Dame Lane
2009 has been a bit of a revelation for me in terms of bands from Northern Ireland. And So I Watch You From Afar and General Fiasco both blew me away at Oxegen but it was Belfast's Escape Act that started the trend earlier in the year with their excellent debut album, Loosely Based on Fiction. Tonight's set, in the gorgeous surroundings of 4 Dame Lane (why aren't more gigs held here?), consists of a mixture of tracks from that record and the band's sophomore LP, to be released in 2010. Of the newer tracks, Salt in Your Eye is my favourite but it's interesting to hear how the band have grown organically into their new sound without losing the qualities that caught my attention in the first place.

C!ties - Twister Pepper
There was a lot of firsts involved in this particular set. My first time venturing to the Northside during HWCH 2009, my first time in Twisted Pepper and my first time to see/hear C!ties. The instrumental 3 piece, from Ennis, look about 12 but don't let that fool you. Despite the number of gigs I go to, I've always thought that people who wear ear plugs to gigs just don't have the aural fortitude that I do. Tonight, I wish I had ear plugs. Perhaps it is the venue's small size, but C!ties are possibly the loudest band I've heard live. I could literally feel the sound waves emanating from the speakers. Behind the wall of sound and veil of chaos; C!ties are a band fully in possession of any number of finely crafted songs. Definitely a band to watch out for.

The Poormouth - Think Tank
I had intended on waiting around Twisted Pepper for The Holy Roman Army, but it took them so long to set up that, when they finally started, I couldn't forgive them for how poor they sounded. Maybe soundcheck the mic in future, yeah? Anyway, as luck would have it, I was told that The Poormouth in Think Tank might be worth checking out. They certainly were; the band's blend of lo-fi melodic rock was the perfect way to counter the sonic onslaught of C!ties. There's more than a hint of Bright Eyes, Neil Young and Smog about what The Poormouth do but, as influences go, they're not bad reference points by which to chart your musical journey. Indeed, The Poormouth prove to be the perfect way to end the evening.

Steve O'Rourke

It should be noted that I also saw Cutaways and Fionn Regan this evening but not enough of either to give a fair review.

Hard Working Class Heroes 2009 Day 1

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:57:00 GMT

Villagers, The Ambience Affair & Others (live in Temple Bar, Dublin)

Review Snapshot:

The Cluas Verdict? 8.5 out of 10

Full Review:
While my intention had been to make my way between various venues during the first day of Hard Working Class Heroes 2009, a strained muscle (one week before my first marathon) meant that I was restricted in my endeavours. It was clear early on that the place to be was Andrew's Lane which featured three of the four bands I really wanted to see tonight anyway. While it was disappointing not to be able to see Dark Room Notes' set in The Button Factory, the intensity of Subplots and the raw talent of both The Ambience Affair and Villagers more than made up for it.

Subplots
There was quite a chatty crowd in place as Subplots took to the stage in Andrew's Lane. The band's record, Nightcycles, is one of my favourites this year. However, I was worried that their carefully crafted songs might struggle to make an impact in a live arena. Not for the first time, I was wrong. Indeed, such was the level of intensity in their performance that those same songs I described earlier this year as being not 'instantly accessible' stood tall and screamed for both your attention and adulation. Despite this, there was a nagging sense that the band would have benefited from a later time-slot, when the audience might not have been more interested in discussing making blind dates through Facebook, but that is hardly their fault.

Dead Flags
I can appreciate pop music as much as the next person. I also appreciate comedy. Why then, did I find this band so objectionable? Perhaps it was because every song, from Too Much Love to Give through to Let's Start A Fire seemed to contain nothing but thinly veiled sexual innuendo; single entendres were the order of the day. One song, the aforementioned Let's Start A Fire was actually irritatingly catchy but so too is Take That's (a band probably never mentioned on CLUAS before now) Patience, that doesn't mean I'd be rushing out to see them live either. If Dead Flags want lessons on being a comedy band, they could do worse than check out the new(ish) Flight of the Conchord's DVD.

The Ambience Affair
Ever since I saw this two-piece playing Road Records at the launch of HWCH 2009, I was desperate to see them live again. I wasn't disappointed. Jamie Clarke and Marc Gallagher build sonic walls on stage that bands three times their size could only dream of. For those of you not familiar with The Ambience Affair, Clarke builds songs with endless looping of both his acoustic guitar and vocals while Gallagher (a contender for Ireland's best drummer) provides the heartbeat for their musical behemoth. Songs such as Fragile Things and the newly written Lost at the Start could not fail but to absorb the audience who, by this stage, seemed much more appreciative of the fact that there was a band on stage.

Villagers
It was pretty clear from 20 minutes before they came on stage that Villagers were the band to see at this year's Hard Working Class Heroes. If the pressure of being hotly tipped by almost every musical publication in the country is weighing on Conor O'Brien and his band mate's shoulders, they're doing a very good job of hiding it. Indeed, the former Immediate frontman appears to be completely at home in front of his enraptured audience; wielding his guitar like some emotional shotgun, taking musical pot shots at the souls of his faithful. Given the contrasting power and delicacy of O'Brien's voice, it can be all too easy to overlook the important contribution of his fellow Villagers. Their role is crucial here, providing the flesh to O'Brien's lyrical bones. Stand-out for me tonight is Home with its multi-part vocal harmonies and red raw lyrics. For once, believe the hype.

Steve O'Rourke

Joshua Radin (live in Dublin)

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:14:00 GMT

Joshua Radin (live in The Academy, Dublin)

Review Snapshot: It was always going to be interesting to see if Radin’s quiet yet absorbing melodies along with his whispery vocals could translate well to the stage. Unexpectedly but brilliantly, it transcended into an appreciated and intimate gig as you could hope to see, in a criminally underrated venue.

The Cluas Verdict? 9 out of 10

Full Review:
Like many others, I discovered Joshua Radin’s music playing in the background of the more touching scenes in the TV show Scrubs. (Hey, good music can be found anywhere, right?) And good music is exactly what I found; some say the answer to Elliott Smith

’s sad departure in 2003. But Radin is a breath of fresh air on his own with an addictive folk ethic on debut album “We Were Here” which is now improved by a pop-rock element on his more recent release “Simple Times”. It was quite a happy coincidence recently getting hooked on his music to discover only a couple of weeks later he’s playing in the Academy.

As “Simple Times” demonstrated a surge in Radin’s confidence, it’s fitting that he looks thrilled to be here, playing with vigor and opening with “One of Those Days”, the opening track to his latest offering. That’s soon followed by new material not due for release till next year, (unfortunately). Obvious highlights include “Closer” and “Winter” along with “Brand New Day”.

As so many of his songs would suggest but never quite confirm, Radin is a storyteller and every song is preceded by a story, the crowd charmed no doubt by his tale of playing in Doyle’s pub on Fleet Street some years ago. Quite often, Radin’s whispered, wistful vocals so commonplace on his records remain just that playing live but he has an audience to appreciate it, some being told to shut up while he’s playing when all they were doing was ordering a drink! To prove the point, he compared the audience to a

New York audience, who are never quiet during a performance, but he enjoyed the attention so much, he had his band unplug all the instruments and descend into the middle of the crowd for a song. No electrics, no mics, and the crowd never missed a beat.

Radin’s influence by Dylan also plays a part as the show goes on as new material and “Free of Me” are played with a more upbeat tempo and acoustic ring before finishing off with the entire band semi-circling 2 microphones, jamming and loving it.

Those of you don’t know should get to know Radin’s music, its delicious melodies, catchy finger-picking and unassuming lyrics are enough to capture the imagination of any serious music lover. To witness this performance in front of such an appreciative audience (not to mention the staggeringly cheap ticket price of €17) in such an intimate setting was nothing short of a thrill.

An immersive, intimate and above all else, essential gig.

Jimmy Murphy

The Frank and Walters (An Brog, Cork)

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:32:00 GMT

Review Snapshot: Cork's finest take to the stage in their home city and quite literally blow the pants off the punters and the roof off the venue...not sure if that's legal, but it's mighty craic!

Full Review: Well, what a night! Murphy’s! Magic! The Mrank and Malters! Everything began with an M! Remember M for Michael later on!

In a hothouse sauna renamed The Brog for the night, the Murphy’s Nice ‘n Nasty season continued with “Cork’s favourite sons” (© The Frank and Walters) allowing us to enter their world. Indeed, even in their 20th year, the Franks have never seemed as relevant to the masses who are force-fed Lady Gaga, Peter Andre and the Continuity Wolfe Tones (or whoever they are this week)!

Take a string quartet, 2 original Franks, a new Frank and part-time Frank, lashings of free Murphy’s and music, sweat Fred West would have worked up. Mix it all together with a touch of madness. Ta-da! A night to remember, that’s for sure!

Divided into two parts, "Nice" and then "Nasty showcased the Franks at their best – Engaging! Edgy! Entertaining! Extravagant! Excellent! The 4 lassies that made up the Murphy’s Quarter (string quartet) provided superb support to the reworking of seven of the Franks' most appropriate songs for the night. For those who attended last year’s Speigel tent celebration of the Grand Parade album, this was second helpings with Landslide, Little Dolls, Russian Ship and How Can I Exist all being reproduced to a staggering high quality. The evening kicked off with Miles and Miles and it was great to see the lead single from A Renewed Interest In Happiness being well received. Throw in the obligatory After All, the reaction of the crowd (and look on the Quartet’s faces) was classic as the anthemic choruses raised the roof! The Nice element ended with This Is Not A Song and as I queued at the bar, it was clear the crowd was in good fettle for the next half of the performance. Again, the punters went in full voice here and took the interval to have a healthy cigarette and kebab at the 4* Istanbul restaurant.

The "Nasty" session kicked off to the sound of THE best version of Fast Anthony the reviewer has heard – bar one. The one fault with the prior "Nice" set was the sound on the left of the stage was poor; methinks down to trying to keep 15 microphones in check. The second half sound never waved as Cian Corbett gave a rasta/indie keyboard effect to the speeded up Tony Cochrane. Fashion Crisis and Country Boy followed, both book ending the 20 great Franks year so far. With Darren Mullin standing in for Kevin P who was attending a wedding (calm down girls, not his own) in Italy, we knew Fight would be on the set list – and so it was! A rip-snorting animal which couldn’t be tamed was unleaded and the explosiveness of Mullin’s geetar playing mean we tripped over nicely into Colours and Indian Ocean, further proof of the greatness of the Grand Parade album. A special song then made its way onto the list and the sound of Underground completed Flood’s engineering from all those years ago – who remembers the video for this one???!!!

The last song could only be Time To Say Goodnight. There is only one song to end with Len Cremin remarked – and I agree. Again with pounding sticks-works from Drum Keating and Paul giving it all, we knew the evening was nearly at a close. The shout went up "we are... we are... we are the Frank and Walters..." as the band returned for a well deserved encore. What could it be? Remember at the start? Yep, it was Michael and with the man whom this song was written about being in the audience, I can assure you that Paul, Ash, Cian and Darren brought down the house with a fantastic version of the classic!! We Care!!

So, the DJ came on and we all carried on. A great night. Lots of regular Franks with folk coming from as far away as Manchester, London and Limerick for the concert. One fan dressed head to toe in Franks gear summed it up, "it’s before payday, I borrowed a tenner from my ma, I am going to have 10 free pints of Murphy’s this evening, I am here with 400 friends and tonight I got to see my favourite band free! Where else would you get that?" I don’t know either but it would have to be special … so f**king special!

After note: Geelong beat St Kilda to win the Australian Football League Final, and Michael and I made our ways into the sunlight sometime on Saturday morning! We care Michael, we care!

Dan Foley

Day Three Cois Fharraige

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:52:00 GMT

Live in Kilkee, Co. Clare, 13th September 2009

Review Snapshot: Due to a tyre puncture on the way back from a surf session in neighbouring Doonbeg, yours truly was unavoidably delayed en route to the evening festivities in Kilkee, arriving in the Big Top just in time to see Stereo MCs walk on stage. Whew!

The Cluas Verdict? 9 out of 10

Full Review:
Stereo MCs: Looking around at the young wans who were waving their hands in the air to dance anthems such as ‘Black Gold’ and ‘Step it Up’ it was sobering to realise that a good proportion of them probably weren’t
born when Stereo MCs released their first album. Once again the crisp, clean and loud sound mix that was a hallmark of this year’s festival proved a boon to the groovy tunes of a group who mix infectious beats with upfront, if stripped down, political statements. The only question was, why schedule them on the Sunday, when so many attendees were heading home for work on the Monday morning, instead of the Saturday night when they would have elevated an already party hearty crowd? Nonetheless, if you stayed around for them, you got yours.

The Zutons: In a nutshell, I loved this band, delivering a razor sharp performance, The Zutons ‘s unique sound nonetheless managed to channel elements of bands as diverse as the The Beatles and The E Street Band. Their note perfect, steam train rock and roll was the perfect end to what was a weekend of great music in a setting that has so much to offer, provided you don’t keep your arse parked on the grass with a pint in your hand. Yes, the Zutons duly played hits such as, ‘Valerie’, ‘Why Won’t You Give Me Your Love?’ and, as a finale, a storming version of, ‘You Will You Won’t’, but to be honest the whole set was a highlight and, yes, Abi Harding was looking particularly fine in a red dress, but it was great to hear four great musicians just go out there and play their socks off, get the crowd involved and turn the Big Top into the sort of party that Bruce Springsteen rhapsodises about. Transcedent.

Rev Jules

Cois Fharraige 2009 Day Two (live in Clare)

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 13:44:00 GMT

Cois Fharraige Day Two (live in Kilkee, Co. Clare)

Review Snapshot: There were thousands of people walking around Kilkee on Saturday sporting the latest in surf fashion but in the water at Lahinch, Spanish Point and Doonbeg you could count the surfers on two hands. Meanwhile back at the festival, The Hold Steady, Noah and The
Whale and Newton Faulkner served up some savage musical entertainment

The Cluas Verdict? 9 out of 10

Full Review:
The Hold Steady
Looking like the cast of Seinfeld decided to form a band, the anxious nerd rock of The Hold Steady proved the perfect antidote to the mellow
sunlit vibes that have blessed the festival thus far, with ‘Stay Positive’ being a crowd highlight. The band’s hard chugging sound and neuroses laced lyrics were an unusual counterpoint to a festival that, thus far, has aimed for a balance between very serious rock and music that you can drink to. If you are the sort of person who curses the sunshine and stays indoors with a book by Albert Camus then this may just be your kind of band.

Noah & The Whale
The opportunity to see Noah and The Whale perform live versions of tracks from their new album, ‘The First Days of Spring’ which the Sunday Times has described as a ‘masterpiece’, was a bona fide must see for this reviewer but for anyone expecting a game of throw the inflatable chair around the crowd to ‘Five Years Time’ then this set would have been a bit of a surprise. The band walked onstage with the confident gait that musicians adopt when they realise they may have produced an album to match ‘Astral Weeks’ or ‘Transformer’ and then, dour to the point of uncommunicative, proceeded to play the highlights of, ‘The First Days of Spring’, their only nod to their audience being to tell us their name.

Given the emotional punch and musical delicacy of Noah and The Whale’s music, I’m not sure the party atmosphere of the Big Top at Kilkee was the best forum to for this performance, the audience only engaging with them to sing along with their hit single ‘Five Years Time [Sun, Sun, Sun], but for this reviewer at least ‘Blue Skies’ was a highlight and I can imagine people who spent the day drinking down by the beach later claiming that they were here for this gig, tough if you weren’t.

Newton Faulkner
Based on the love shown to the dreadlocked Faulkner when he appeared on stage, it looks like the Irish are going to do for him what they have previously done for Chris Rea, David Gray and Josh Ritter. Mixing new tracks from his new, as yet unreleased album ‘Rebuilt by Humans’,
with favourites from his hit debut ‘Hand built by Robots’, Faulkner was clearly playing to a crowd that knew and loved his work.

Supporting himself with a variety of unusual musical instruments such as a cassette tape player and a keyboard that he played with his feet,
Faulkner’s guitar style owes more to Bobby McFerrin and Stanley Jordan then it does the standard white bloke with an acoustic guitar. It is
also fortunate that Faulkner is an excellent showman, whipping the crowd up at one point with a routine in which he asked them to imagine
themselves as a crew of pirates suffering from rabies, on a ship headed to shore, to confront their arch enemies the barbarian hordes. Having said that, Faulkner’s self penned material to date does not match the quality of his brilliant reworking of Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’ which affords him the perfect vehicle to showcase his musical abilities.

Rev Jules

Cois Fhrarraige Day One (live in Kilkee)

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:20:00 GMT

Day One of Cois Fharraige (live in Kilkee, Co. Clare)

Review Snapshot: A beautiful sunny day ended with a blistering set by epic rockers Doves, grooves from Laura Izibor and post punk larking around courtesy of The Blizzards).

The Cluas Verdict? 9 out of 10

Full Review:
Laura Izibor
Presently touring with a crack American band, Izibor delivered a pumping set of beefed up versions of the highlights of her debut album. The live setting and the crisp, clear sound gave added power to crowd favourites, ‘From My heart To Yours’, ‘Carousel’ and ‘Yes, I’ll be Your Baby’, but it was a stonking version of ‘Shine’, transformed from a feel good summer tune to a grooving, funky anthem that best demonstrated Izibor’s ability to transfer her mellow, laid back soul into a live arena.

The Blizzards
Coming on stage bathed in purple light and accompanied by moody background music, the cheeky chappies of The Blizzards wasted no time in getting the party started right. Mixing tracks such ‘Silence is Violence’ and ‘Postcards’ [dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives on 9/11] with a thumping cover version of ‘Black & Gold’, a tribute to The Specials and a sneaky riff on Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’, The Blizzards delivered a set that buoyed up the party attitude of the crowd without betraying their Ska/Punk roots.

Doves
I had never seen this band live before and was unprepared for the relentless, pounding sonic assault that they delivered. Indeed, so overpowering was their music that two songs in I realised that the thumping in my chest was not caused by my own heart but by the waves of sound coming from the speakers. In a nutshell, with live favourites including ‘Snowden’ and ‘The Last Broadcast’, Doves make music akin to a giant beating a whale to death with a tree trunk in a canyon. What
an utterly glorious epic racket. An encore that climaxed with the band all playing percussion instruments together left me staggering out into the crisp, cold night feeling dazed, confused and exhilarated.

Rev Jules

Glasgowbury 2009, Eagles Rock Co Derry

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:52:00 GMT

Glasgowbury 2009, live in Derry

Review snapshot: Two thousand five hundred music fans with a liking for mountainous flora and fauna descend upon Eagles Rock for another feast of ceol agus craic.

Full review:
Mud, sticky mud, deep mud, all very brown, and, well, everywhere. Well, it's Ireland, it's summertime, what you gonna do? Put the head down and stick two wet fingers up to it. Early Saturday, the sky's blue, the birds chirping, signs for a dry day were good. Fast forward a few hours, tents erected, first beer started and Zeus decided to fart on us. Well, macks and wellies packed, up yours Zeus

As the festival site dried out on Sunday morning, the 2500 (the first sell out) weary troopers left Eagles Rock a bit battered and the worse for wear, but happy of heart. Glasgowbury 09, the tenth festival was again, an unmitigated success.

Over 60 bands played throughout the Saturday on 4 stages. The best of the North’s burgeoning talent, along with some new pretenders, mixed with a smidgen of oldin’ goldies, including the only Irishman to play the original Woodstock, 'Sir' Henry McCullough (take a bow sir) wowed the muddy masses. And lest we forget, local dance heroes, the Deep Fried Funk ensemble provided a few late night beats and the Innishowen Gospel choir along side The Beat Initiative, the North’s carnival arts collective bringing a bit of culture to the proceedings.

As with most folk and festivals, the best laid plans and itinerarys often get slightly altered, or in this case completely reworked as a few sociable beers were shared with old and new acquaintances in the very picturesque campsite.

We eventually did make it into the festival proper; we were greeted with the dirty rock tones of Derry's Skruff. A whirlwind set of fine riffs and sky punching rock beats got the day off to a good start.

Skruff stable-mates, Here Comes the Landed Gentry took on the baton with an hour of wondrous grunt fueled rock and hillbilly blues. HCTLG have been become a bit of an institution in the north of the island and it isn’t hard to see why, the tunes, the energy, the peerless front man, Marty Doherty, aka Mort Van Cleef Dortenson and their inimitable rapport with the crowd. HCTLG will be playing Dublin's 'Hard Working Class Heroes' festival in October, go check, you won’t be disappointed.

General Fiasco have been touring extensively of late and on the back of a storming set at Oxegen, took to the main stage and showed the masses just why they have been touted for great things. They are as tight as they are confident and assured with a set of blistering pop infused rock in their youthful armoury.

And So I Watch You From Afar as this year’s headliners finished off the night, and the festival, in style. As the night sky embraced Eagles Rock, Ireland's answer to Explosions in the Sky took to the main stage with a sonic array of building instrumental rock tunes.

Nobody does loud-quiet-loud quite like these guys, and the crowd react, oh how the crowd react. This gig had everything, the tunes, a stage invasion, even some vocals (!), all lapped up by a few thousand smiling, and spoiled Irish folk... Legendary.

Roll on 2010.

Sig Doherty

Grizzly Bear, Telepathe, Bill Callahan (live in St Malo)

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:05:00 GMT

Grizzly Bear, Telepathe, Andrew Bird and Bill Callahan(live at la Route du Rock, St Malo, France)

Review Snapshot: Telepathe's cracking NY electro gets lost in a large theatre; all hail Bill Callahan; neither Andrew Bird nor Grizzly Bear have a good game.

The Cluas Verdict? 7 out of 10

Full Review:
So far we've focused on the main festival venue at the old fort a few miles outside St Malo. But there's also a second site - a hall on the seafront back in town. We decide, then, to start day three of La Route du Rock by checking it out. This isn't just a whim or for the sake of variety; we want to see Telepathe.

For the festival, the Palais du Grand Large has been rather crassly renamed after a well-known mobile phone manufacturer. It's a large, plush, modern theatre that has headphone sockets and volume knobs in the armrests. Telepathe's gear is set up compactly in the middle of the vast stage, like a small car parked on the Wembley pitch. The usher brings everyone to a seat - there'll be no dancing or young people's antics today.

Despite the slightly incongruous venue this New York pair, Busy and Melissa, are just as exciting live as on record. Telepathe exude spiky personality and robotic sang froid at the same time - for instance, they sing in unison rather than harmony and on 'Sinister Militia' Busy drums live in accompaniment to the machine beats. And in contrast to rigid Euro electro, their music has the same eclectic looseness and openness as other North American dance acts like Dan Deacon and Tiga. In a proper music venue with a dancefloor and no seats, Telepathe must be fantastic live.

Now for the classic festival dilemma: if we stay here to see Gang Gang Dance we probably won't make it back out to the old fort in time to see Bill Callahan. Though we've never followed the erstwhile Smog/(Smog) closely, we've been persuaded to see him. Gang Gang Dance get the elbow, then, and we hop on the shuttle to the main stage.

And we did good: Callahan is a revelation to us. Once you get over the usual perception of Callahan as dour and monotonous, you find that his songs are tuneful and poetic and really beautiful. His dark, soft croon is quite melodic, charged with feeling and even sexy on 'Diamond Dancer', which he starts with a bluesy solo and keeps up a slinky Stones riff throughout. His songs aren't necessarily sad but have a bruised romanticism that can't fail to move you: in particular, 'Too Many Birds' and 'Eid Ma Clack Shaw' have a gruff, world-weary tenderness to them.

Callahan's band features a violinist and cellist who supply succinct and graceful accompaniment. And the drummer is a funny guy: he keeps the setlist on a piece of paper folded in his shirt pocket and must take it out to check that 'The Wind And The Dove' is next. He calmly gives Callahan the nod; we're good to go. Lengthy retuning between several songs is the only black mark against Callahan today - he wastes at least five minutes in total and has to chop a song off his intended playlist so as to finish on time. This was the saddest thing for us, in fact.

After Callahan, our two other chosen acts seem to pale a little. Andrew Bird, for example, feels whimsical and forced. There's a stuffed toy and kitsch two-horned gramophone on a speaker stack at the back, like some indie equivalent of the old farm contraptions and roadsigns to Dingle that are meant to give character to plastic Irish bars abroad. But this is essential gear: at various points during Bird's set, the two-horned beast spins.

Dressed in denim and sporting stubble, Bird belies the foppishness usually attributed to him. He switches energetically between violin and guitar, sings forcefully and even his whistling seems functional rather than faddish. Unfortunately, he doesn't play 'Plasticities', perhaps his best-known song, but newer songs like 'Fitz And The Dizzy Spells' are still greeted warmly.

However, Bird has little charisma or stage presence. And because of this his songs, with their elaborate melodies and thesaurus-chewing wordplay, feel more like intellectual exercise than heartfelt expression. Tonight his material gives the fleeting pleasure of a witty quip rather than the enduring insight of Callahan's poeticism. (Bird offers a sprightly version of 'Cold Blooded Old Times' tonight.) Andrew Bird is likeable and his songs are entertaining, but live he reveals his limitations.

On to tonight's big name, Grizzly Bear (above right). And we must report that we find them disappointing too - more drizzly than grizzly. This isn't just the Bill Callahan after-effect again - the band don't attempt to replicate the dense, multi-layered swirl of 'Veckatimest' but merely omit the more abstract parts to leave a sparse, disjointed sound that never catches fire. 'Two Weeks', for instance, is tonight carried mainly by Daniel Rossen's electric piano and loses most of the vocal harmonies. Ed Droste's soaring voice is also a notable highlight but for much of the set Grizzly Bear come across as a muso Beach Boys. 'Southern Point', with Rossen's sun-drenched folk-pop guitar picking, is an exception and one of the rare times tonight when this band are engaging or evocative.

It doesn't help the band, of course, that this festival crowd is subdued and slightly underwhelmed, perhaps disappointed that they can't dance to Grizzly Bear. A more attentive audience of dedicated fans would surely help create a better atmosphere. Still, we suspect that their upcoming Dublin show will be stolen by their support act, Saturday's star turn here in St Malo. Those of you who prefer Department Of Eagles may have a point.

Aidan Curran

St Vincent, Papercuts, Camera Obscura (live in St Malo)

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 11:03:00 GMT

St Vincent, Papercuts and Camera Obscura (live at La Route du Rock, St Malo, France)

Review Snapshot: A sensational performance from Annie Clark is the highlight of day two and perhaps eventually the entire festival. Papercuts shore up their alt-folk sound for maximum festival effect, while Camera Obscura are sheer pop fun.

The Cluas Verdict? 9 out of 10

Full Review:
The second day of La Route du Rock promised more subtle charms than last night's sonic thunderstorm. While headliners My Bloody Valentine eventually left many people cold, today the festival's first real star appeared. More of that later.

First, though, we were impressed by San Franciscan Jason Quever and his band Papercuts. If you like the haziness of their album, 'You Can Have What You Want', you may be surprised to hear them live. On record their songs are alt-folk shuffles but tonight they have a sturdier indie-rock shape to them - the pulsing bass of 'Future Primitive', for instance, is complemented by tight riffing and a chilly synth. But Quever's voice still has a faraway dreaminess that blurs those clear lines. Perhaps they rock up for outdoor festivals and alt-folk down in more intimate venues.

No rocking up for Camera Obscura, as indie-pop as you can get without still being in Belle And Sebastian. We understand that their recent Dublin show was somewhat spoiled by Traceyanne Campbell's touch of 'flu, but tonight everyone seems in full health - their set is so jaunty and tuneful that the otherwise sedate Saint Malo crowd starts bouncing around. (Jason Quever had remarked during Papercuts' set on how quiet the crowd were. For her part, Campbell observes how "non-paralytic" the French crowd are compared to beer-frenzied UK festival-goers.)

The Scots band's live trumpet gives off a summery vibe - and a fizz of excitement passes though the crowd on the organ intro to 'Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken', still their best song and a definite crowd favourite here.

But that fizz is nothing compared to the electrifying effect of St Vincent. Annie Clark's performance is thrilling, the talk of the festival site for the rest of the evening.

Alone on stage with an electric guitar and a drum machine beside her on a table, Clark (right) stands behind a hanging black cloth that comes up to her knees. This cloth hides what we believe are pedals but may well be something far more complex and sinister - as her shredded guitar chords fade out 'Your Lips Are Red', she ducks down out of view behind the cloth and produces strange noises. You expect an assistant to whip away the cloth and reveal the singer levitating or sawn in two.

Clark is a fantastic guitarist. Drenched in reverb and effects, her sound is nonetheless piercingly direct and her playing is sparse and intense, with each note carefully chosen and clearly heard. Whether claw-picking a mix of bass and high notes, as on 'Marry Me', or tearing out the savage opening riff of 'Your Lips Are Red', Clark adds tension to songs that are already fraught with drama. By stripping her sound down to a tightly-wound electric guitar, she has recast her songs and found new ways to reveal their magic. 'Marrow', on record sounding like a Hollywood musical waking up hungover on Timbaland's couch, is tonight wiry and funky like Talking Heads or early Prince.

And her voice conveys the same directness and intensity - by not showboating or emoting, she adds sincerity and believability to the drama of her songs, as if she were an innocent bystander caught up in extraordinary turmoil. The 'actor' of her new album's title is not Clark herself but her music, which can flit in a second from doe-eyed romantic yearning to frenzied romantic despair, even within one song: 'The Strangers' starts gently but suddenly explodes like a supernova.

'Marry Me', by now an old favourite of St Vincent fans, gets the biggest crowd reaction. With deft timing Clark delivers its killer couplet: "We'll do what Mary and Joseph did / But without the kid".

As it happens, there's a district of Saint Malo called Saint Vincent. Tonight's visiting fans could be forgiven for assuming the place has only just been renamed in honour of Annie Clark. She's that good.

Aidan Curran

My Bloody Valentine, Deerhunter, Tortoise (live in St Malo)

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:39:00 GMT

My Bloody Valentine, Deerhunter and Tortoise (live at La Route du Rock, St Malo, France)

Review Snapshot: Three cult acts share an impressive bill on the Breton coast. The excellent Deerhunter continue the fine tradition of VU and Sonic Youth alt-rock. Tortoise get loud and funky but once or twice go over the head of the more party-minded festival-goers. And MBV leave mixed feelings; while impressive in many respects the whole thing feels a little stale and there's so much more to their music than bludgeoning noise.

The Cluas Verdict? 8 out of 10

Full Review:
The first day of La Route du Rock, and everyone is preoccupied by noise. The nearby village of Chateauneuf-de-Ille-et-Vilaine has been warned about the aural assault they can expect around midnight, and residents there are scowling slightly at any blow-ins collaborating with the forces of sonic blitzkrieg. On the festival site, there's a scramble for earplugs.

And in the media zone all talk is of today being dedicated to 'noisy pop', the name that French rock fans give to the genre of shoegazing. One French journalist has even been gazing at Bradford Cox's shoes and socks, and during the pre-show press conference he criticises the sartorial tastes of Deerhunter's leader. "Only in France", Cox sighs.

Despite their singer suffering from jetlag and lack of sleep, this evening Deerhunter are enthralling. For all the talk of MBV's influence on them, they're closer to good ol' U.S garage rock with a touch of Sonic Youth, though this could be because Cox in shades and pudding-bowl haircut looks like a ganglier Thurston Moore. The Velvet Underground are another obvious reference point - Deerhunter's rhythm section is tight and minimal, sometimes funky but more times steady and driving, especially in 'Nothing Ever Happened' where Cox adorns Josh Fauver's driving bassline with squally, angular riffs.

But like tonight's headliners, Deerhunter's charm is in their subtle sense of melody, especially in tracks from 'Microcastle'. Their upcoming Dublin show on 23 August is the current CLUAS Gig of the Fortnight: you should be there.

On first listen, the cerebral sounds of Tortoise appear to be out of place in this squall-fest. But while those Beach Boys-style xylophone parts sound sedate and tasteful, otherwise Tortoise (post-)rock. And they can be loud and sexy too: those funky basslines and breakbeat drums satisfy those punters who didn't come here to reflect on jazzy progressions. But perhaps the band misjudge the crowd slightly: at one point they expect us to clap along to a fairly complex time signature, 13/12 or something like that. One or two people try it but only last a bar or two. While Tortoise are impressive, by now everyone just seems to be hanging around for the main act.

Earplugs in, then, for My Bloody Valentine. Kick-off is delayed by about ten minutes due to sound problems, and when Kevin Shields comes on he first does a quick "one-two" mic check - a rather redundant gesture, seeing as we won't be hearing much of his singing tonight. The problems continue: Shields and Colm Ó Cíosóig seem to screw up the intro to 'When You Sleep' between them and must start again.

Onstage, MBV feel like two different bands stitched together. You have a drummer and bassist who put in enormous virtuosity and energy: Ó Cíosóig grimaces and flails while Debbie Googe stands side on with feet apart and bass on hip. The pair of them are sensational.

Meanwhile, the two up front are anti-rockstars. Shields comes across as a Graham Coxon-esque shy guitar-obsessed teen but Bilinda Butcher is the stereotypical shoegazer, even if she stares straight out over the crowd all night and seems constantly on the verge of tears. Shields exudes an awkward charm but Butcher is a charisma-free black hole. Also, both guitarists seem to work less than their colleagues: the two just jangle chords while the more ambient synths and effects are on playback.

Let's face it: My Bloody Valentine in 2009 are a heritage act. The festival programme features an old photo of them, and fortysomething guys in the crowd try to revisit their youth by moshing as much as their bellies and ailing backs allow. But even they realise that they're trying too hard - many people in the crowd are visibly bored and slightly disillusioned. For one thing, MBV records are fantastic for their subtle melodies and dreamy romanticism, so by reducing everything to brute noise the band are deliberately downgrading what many people love about them. (Of course, having to wear earplugs doesn't help in appreciating the music.) Also, without new material the show feels slightly cynical, especially since many people here tonight have surely already seen the band elsewhere on their reunion tour.

Yes, the 'holocaust' section of 'You Made Me Realise' is impressive but, given all the hype about it, when it finally arrives it feels as perfunctionary as when a one-hit wonder finally plays the one hit. Again, the emphasis on being the loudest feels like a hollow victory when so many of MBV's qualities are being subordinated to the decibel counter. You should see My Bloody Valentine live, but it's best to think of them as a separate entity from My Bloody Valentine on record. A corporate entity, if one were to be cynical.

Aidan Curran

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart (live in Vancouver)

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:29:00 GMT

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart (live in The Biltmore Cabaret, Vancouver)

Review Snapshot: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart put on a great show, marred only slightly by some odd song choices. The fun noise pop of the album translated excellently to their live show. Their debut is still one of my most highly recommended albums of the year thus far, and they did not disappoint in concert.

The Cluas Verdict? 8 out of 10

Full Review:
In a rather regal basement in an old hotel on the outskirts of downtown Vancouver, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart delighted and exhilarated the near-capacity crowd with their brand of indie pop. The ceilings are low and the bar sells cans. There are rugs on the floor and stag heads on the wall. The venue holds the atmosphere perfectly. The band took to the stage at eleven to greet their audience, already primed by the excellent Girls. They opened, oddly, on a track off their lesser known debut EP, leaving the crowd rather subdued until they rolled into the opening drum beat of ‘Young Adult Friction’. In an instant the crowd went wild. This frenzy rarely dampened throughout the show

The band has many of the ingredients required for a successful indie band. They hail from New York. They have an Asian girl on keyboards, a hot guitarist sporting a grungy Nirvana t-shirt and floppy hair-do and a slightly nerdy bassist. They played naturally and with great verve, with each member having more than enough presence to be capable of holding a stage by themselves. ‘This Love Is F*cking Right’ and ‘Come Saturday’ receive the rapturous reaction as expected. Judging by the response of the audience in the Biltmore Cabaret, I would expect to see their eponymous debut album reaching the higher ranks of end of year lists.

Pains also treated the crowd to new tracks that they have written for a forthcoming EP. They follow much of the same style as the previous releases, but when it sounds so glorious, I am not complaining one bit.

The show did suffer from some odd setlist selections. Both ‘Contender’ and ‘Hey Paul’ were glaring omissions, and ending on the relatively subdued ‘Teenager In Love’ was an odd decision. Nevertheless, these mistakes are bred from inexperience. What I witnessed that night was a young band with the world at its feet; a band with bags of potential and songs to soundtrack many summers ahead.

Garret Cleland

Castlepalooza 2009 Day 2 (live at Charleville Castle, Tullamore)

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:32:00 GMT

Day Two of Castlepalooza 2009

Review Snapshot: The expected rain finally hit Castlepalooza on Sunday, though it did little to dampen spirits that were still high from the day before, while the second day saw some of the best performances of the weekend.

The Cluas Verdict? 7 out of 10

Full Review:
The Hot Sprockets, mostly dull though they were, had one gift: the ability to make the crowd forget that the rain had begun. Having paid far too much attention to the style and music of early Kings of Leon (the hairy days), they are nevertheless one of the few bands in Ireland at the moment whose main ethos is good naturedness and fun, making their show pretty enjoyable if not groundbreaking. In fact, they probably couldn’t be more different from the band that followed in the HMV tent: the quite frankly bizarre Patrick Kelleher and His Cold Dead Hands. Dark, strange, and accompanied by a table of electronic instruments and gadgets – and an accordion – Patrick Kelleher and his band give the impression of people who have spent too much time together in a small room with little contact with the outside world. That doesn’t make them any less brilliant, his strange gothic-tinged music beautiful.

Sandwiched between Kelleher and Le Galaxie were the 202s, another band who made use of electronic backing tracks, though unlike Skibunny, they at least had the ability to capitalise on them. The 202’s are all catchy songs and varying sounds, and one to keep an eye on. Le Galaxie, as ever, proved themselves one of the strongest live forces doing the Dublin circuit at the moment. Their sound may be all power, created by discrete layers, but their strength really lies in their ability to interact with the crowd, at once terrifying the people in the front row by practically jumping on top of them and involving those at the back. The combined energy of any of the bands on Castlepalooza’s first day was nothing compared with the buzz from the crowd in the HMV tent for those 40 minutes.

The Chapters...well, the Chapters were alright, it's difficult to say much more than that. Inexplicably, the songs on their album, released earlier this year, are already beginning to sound dated, but unlike most acts over the weekend, the majority of their audience at least knew the songs. Robotnik, also on the Main Stage, proved to be my final act of the night, and though followed by Channel One and Noise Control, made a fantastic closing act. Though visibly nervous and unused to the imposed distance between himself and the audience, Chris Morrin quickly warmed to the situation, immersing himself in his usual antics and bizarre stage behaviour, including pelting the audience with bread during a version of Pat the Baker. To merely say Robotnik is quirky is to sell short his ability to entertain, entrance and of course create great music, strange though it might be.

Anna Murray

Castlepalooza 2009 Day 1 (live in Charleville Castle, Tullamore)

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:09:00 GMT

Day One of Castlepalooza 2009

Review Snapshot: The first day of this boutique festival was a mixed bag, a kind of rollercoaster tour of today's Irish indie. Altogether a great night, with just one or two low points.

The Cluas Verdict? 7 out of 10

Full Review:
This reviewer has always had a kind of love/hate relationship with Castlepalooza: though in all honesty, it’s not the fault of the festival. The first year it was my cheap, leaking tent and 14 hours of heavy rain; this year, the tent situation was circumvented by booking a very un-rock’n’roll B&B, it was the stomach upset, seemingly mild food poisoning from eating a dodgy chicken burger at the festival, which led to me shuffling off early on Sunday back to said B&B.

It’s hard to criticise a festival as selfless as this one. With a conspicuous lack of big corporate sponsorship (with the exception of HMV and Metro, whose presence were still unobtrusive), the whole weekend is run by volunteers and all to raise money for the restoration of the beautiful castle at which it is held. Not only that, but with the majority of all acts at the festival Irish, the organisers showed themselves to be dedicated to Irish music. On the other hand it is a boutique festival, and though eco-shops, workshops and a spa are a unique idea for inclusion in a festival, this one has begun already to descend into cheap gimmickry.

I finally reached Charleville Castle in time to catch Holy Roman Army at the HMV stage. Disappointingly for such a hotly-tipped band, they completely failed to make any kind of impression beyond leaving you vaguely questioning the point of having the sax just doubling the synth through most of their final songs. The Ambience Affair however, made a far greater impression by playing one of their best gigs so far. Some problems with sound and some beside-stage carpentry meant a delayed start, but The Ambience Affair simply and utterly absorbed the attention of the audience. A musician who has the layered structure of rock down to a fine art, Jamie Clarke’s guitar loops and samples really do create an inimitable ambience, part Final Fantasy, part small-club band.

Staying in the HMV tent after such an uplifting experience was perhaps ill-advised. The introduction promised an affair that was ‘the most deborched…and lecherous’… really The Rocky Horror Picture Show Live was nothing but embarrassing, for the people involved and everybody watching. Cue quick exit to the main stage and Angel Pier, a band with a lot of promise but a disappointing lack of stage presence. They are nonetheless a considerably stronger force than even one year ago, Angel Pier have a melody-driven pop-rock mix which is clearly still maturing.

Dark Room Notes, long a favourite of Cluas, didn’t disappoint. Even though their singer looked more trendy banker than rock god, the band is one of the few who can create an album-perfect sound without compromising live energy: energy is what DRN is all about, and while We Love You Dark Matter was one of the best releases of the year, they have definitively proven that their electro-indie was meant for the stage. Similarly, next band Super Extra Bonus Party simply live for performance. SEBP, though fallen quiet since their initial splash on the scene a few years ago, have a sound that is surprisingly refined and immaculately honed for the stage: club beats vie with heavy distortion and thumping rock basslines. In fact, SEBP would easily have qualified for putting on the best show of the weekend, were one - if not two-fifths - of the band being incredibly annoying onstage at all times (headbanging and generally cavorting in what just seemed a very contrived way).

From here, day one of Castlepalooza began to go downhill, starting with a steep dip: Skibunny. With a complete absence of a personality of any kind, the kind of lyrics that most people stop writing at age 14, some simply quite poor music and some cringey on-stage interaction, the duo’s only redeeming feature was their halfway-decent backing tracks. Never again. It was hard to fault the headlining David Kitt’s performance, but easy to fault the choice of line-up that led to his slot. As always he proved himself a brilliant musician and songwriter, assisted by Somadrone’s Neil O’Conner and playing some mean geetar. But as the build-up of heavy beats through Dark Room Notes, Super Extra Bonus Party and Project Jenny Project Jan made way for subtle grooves, loud aggression for nuance, and the crowd’s gentle inebriation for all-out pissed, Kitt simply failed to hold sway with most.

Anna Murray

U2 (live in Dublin)

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 07:07:00 GMT

U2 live in Croke Park, Dublin

Review Snapshot: Well what's more fun than 80,000 people chanting anthems in Ireland's sporting Mecca on a summer's evening? A lot if you read the papers this week. Despite worries about the stage not being fully utilised, the prospect of preaching from "St Bono's Book of Glib", and an album still seeking its place in the wider public's consciousness; it was a blistering performance musically, if a little short. U2 seized the day and won out in the end.

The Cluas Verdict? 7.5 out of 10

Full Review:

Are U2 the biggest and best band in the world? Are they a corporate entity living on past glory? Or are they an incredible group of perennial live performers who don't know when to quit trying to be relevant and just enjoy the show? The answer is probably a little of each of the above. This reviewer doesn't believe the much written garbage from certain elements of the Irish media who slate the latest offering as useless. No Line on the Horizon is not without its merits and contains a number of tunes that could live comfortably with any of their contemporaries.

The crowd are predictably various in age. It makes for an interesting atmosphere. There is a large multinational presence with flags from all corners in the crowd. U2 are global, like no other. The first thing that struck this reviewer was the impressive stage structure. The gargantuan orange fingers of the "Claw" jutted out of different points in the crowd. Unfortunately the second thing that struck me was the empty grey concrete stand of the Hill behind the stage. Despite what others may say, it did take away from the aesthetics and visual impact of the stage structure, especially if you had a pitch vantage.

Dublin's four most famous living people take to the stage at 8.50. "Breathe" kicks off the night. It's an energetic and curious opener. The song itself is average on the record, but as with U2, live it gets a new lease of life. Plus, Bono's voice is in great nick. The title track from the new record follows. From a personal point of view, this should have been a single from the record. It's in the chorus of "No Line..." that the crowd starts to buzz. Admittedly there isn't very much "singing along", indicating the intentions of the crowd to hear the choice cuts from the U2 songbook.

"Get on your Boots" while probably not one of the bands strongest hits, gets a boost live. People are jumping. Its meandering guitar riff and thumping rhythm get the capacity crowd going. "Magnificent" is up next and as widely perceived as the highest point on the new record it goes down a storm. It's clear the band are extremely well rehearsed and there are no hitches. Bono's voice comes to the fore and there is a sense of purpose in his voice. "I was born to sing for you" he says and the fans believe it.

U2 have never been a band to shirk from selling their wares, and have the guts to try new things. Hence the opening four tracks coming from the Luke-warm received (critically) new album. It's sort of ironic that the next track "Beautiful Day" is the song that brought the band back in from the half empty stadiums of the POP tour.

Its infectious melody lifts the spirits of everyone there and it is indeed, beautiful!

"This song is dedicated to Sinead O Connor", Bono says as the Edge lays the opening wah wah lick of "Mysterious Ways". The entire stadium goes nuts. Taken from the band's richest phase creatively it reminds everyone of why U2 are history makers.

Bono even serenades a young Chilean fan who asks cheekily where he lives…."It's in Kiliney, speak to the missus, she's very understanding" he says to laughter and cheers. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" begins and falls into "Stand By Me". The atmosphere is beginning to peak. It's an 80,000 plus karaoke session. "Angel of Harlem" with a hint of Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop T'il You Get Enough" continues the mass sing along. "In A Little While", a gem from "All You Cant Leave Behind" rings out. It's a beautiful little tune and it leads into the loudest screams of the night. "The Unforgettable Fire" burns a hole in the night sky. It's a poignant moment for many older members of the crowd. It's impressive stuff. Bono is in full flight. The ramps at the sides of the stage are used to full effect. "City of Blinding Lights" and "Vertigo" follow with a bongo ridden remix of "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight".

The stadium was electric. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is rung out to the visuals of protests in Iran. The fans go wild. It's a wonderful song and the most popular one of the night so far. Bono ad libs "Rock The Kasbah" through the end of the song which gives it added punch.

And that's when it happened. One hour and twenty minutes in, and Rock Star Bono took a breather for a cigar and a rum and coke while St. Bono emerged. Every charity this side of Rio was sound, checked. A video played showing Burmese democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi who is under house arrest. The cause is admirable, and it's well meaning on U2's part. However getting people to walk around a stage at a rock'n'roll show they paid a lot of money to see, wearing masks is outrageous and crass. It got worse. St Bono wouldn't leave it at that. The "One" organisation got its dues. And then a recorded message from Desmond Tutu (no I didn't think he was in U2 either) followed. It's part of U2's fabric and this reviewer appreciates that, but flogging your charity at people during a rock'n'roll show is crass, inappropriate, and nearly ruined an otherwise impeccable performance.

"Walk On" and "MLK" followed, and St Bono took a hike. Good riddance.

Rock Star Bono was back. "Where the Streets Have No Name" rejuvenated the deflated crowd. The bass line still sends shivers up and down this reviewer's spine. "One" illuminates the sky and it's a rock n roll love in. All is good and beautiful.

The band came back on for the encore. An old school mike was lowered to Rock Star Bono. He dragged on it, swung on it and paraded the showmanship and vocals that made him cool back in 1992. Oh and "Ultra Violet" was the tune! For this reviewer, this would have been a fine point to leave off on. "With or Without You" had to be played for the die hard fans though. And respect is due for the purpose and sincerity the band managed to convey during it too.

However "Moment of Surrender" while certainly one of the highlights of the band's latest offering, was most definitely the pin in the balloon for many. As the stretching vocals reached climax in the chorus, folks began to think about where they were off to for a jar.

Like I said, U2 were never ones to shirk from selling their new wares. Still, the vocals were flaweless and the band sounded tight and very polished. The stage show was immense. U2 continue to be the world leaders in live show performances, but Bono is doing his best to spoil this for the rest of the band with his peddling of personal agendas ahead of doing what he does best.

Kevin Coleman

Bruce Springsteen live in Dublin

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:18:00 GMT

Bruce Springsteen (live in the RDS, Dublin)

Review Snapshot: A rain soaked, recession obsessed city is lit up by the thundering guitar of an American hero. Bruce was in town last weekend for a two night stint at the RDS. Working on a Dream, the latest offering by the Boss has done the business commercially, and there is more than a few stand out tunes to sing along to. Inevitably it's the old favourites, belted out by the show-stopping, jet-flying, limousine-riding E-Street band that folks come to see. And even in the grey & damp confines of the RDS, Bruce lit up the sky for 3 hours 20 minutes.

The Cluas Verdict? 9 out of 10

Full Review:
I must confess the first time I was fortunate enough to see Bruce Springsteen live was as late as 2005 in the Point. It was the tour supporting the collection of Pete Seeger songs he recorded that year. It was excellent stuff too; pure blue grass with a tint of rock and roll and a collection of flawlessly talented, if varied, musicians. I must have been alone in my personal satisfaction as in the gents, grunting lads of a certain age were growling "Where's Born to Run?", and "I paid for Jungleland, what's this shite?" It was then that it dawned on me. Bruce's albums sell well, even the new releases. But when it comes to Bruce live, people buy tickets, regardless of what album or cover collection he is supporting. It's a sort of religion. It was last year I began to understand this when I saw the E-Street band for the first time.

So, with tickets obtained at the last minute, we went along to "The Boss". As usual, no support act. 8pm on the button, "No Surrender" is played to screams, chants of 'Bruuuuce!' and whistles of appreciation. Straight into "Badlands" and the entire stadium feels like it's moving. As I said before, it's sort of like a religious celebration. The crowd is a mixed bag as to be expected with a FOUR decade spanning career. "Lucky Day", "Outlaw Pete" and "WorkinG on a Dream" follow from the new record. The place is still buzzing. Remarkable, especially considering he is playing some of the "new stuff". But like his live shows, The Boss' new stuff is still pushes the right buttons for many.

A surprising rendition of "Proud Mary" leads into the 9/11 inspired "Waiting on a Sunny Day". Strangely the song takes on a temporary literal meaning in the recession gripped misery that is the modern Irish summer. Bruce then sound checks some famous Dublin spots. Burdocks & O'Donohues were amongst them. Two and a half hours in and "Born to Run" tears strips off the night sky. It's difficult to believe as he bounces around the stage like a teenager that this is a 59 year old man performing.

The encore as with the show I had attended last year was a frenzied, screaming, dancing manic affair. “Dancing in the Dark”, “Jungleland”, “Glory days” really blew the top off the place and the entire stadium was dancing, jumping and screaming. It was pandemonium. A surprise cover of “Twist and Shout” meant Bruce and the lads could be subject to a fine for rolling past the council curfew. Never mind Bruce, I’m sure there are many who would be more than willing to chip in and cover whatever fine will be handed out!

Kevin Coleman

The Decemberists (live in Vancouver)

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:29:00 GMT

The Decemberists (live in The Vogue Theatre, Vancouver)

Review Snapshot: The Decemberists are an unusual band. They have a knack for integrating theatre into their music in a way that many bands attempt to, but few actually accomplish with the same gusto as the Portland outfit. Far too often this merging of ideas tends to take away from one or the other and more often than not it is the music that suffers. The audience that packed into The Vogue Theatre in downtown Vancouver last night, however, were treated to a feast of over the top storytelling and live music.

The Cluas Verdict? 8.5 out of 10

Full Review:
An anticipative crowd queued outside the arena in the unforgiving Canadian sunshine for a good two hours before being admitted. The Vogue is an intimate venue and perfect for a band as interactive as The Decemberists and was comprised of a ground floor and balcony, both of which were seated. In relation to Irish venues it was only slightly bigger than the Academy, but boasted better sound and easy access to the bar.

The headline act appeared to attract a fairly motley bunch. A number of people nestled quietly into their chairs with a good book, some casually played Nintendo DS, whilst others sat decked head to toe in Decemberists inspired clothes (the Winter Queen was in attendance, sporting a crown fashioned from leaves) and waited patiently for the show.

Up first were support act Blind Pilot who played a short set to a surprisingly receptive response. They were proficient players, but none of their songs were out of the ordinary. My cousin commented that it was music you would listen to on a train going somewhere you didn’t really want to go. Comparisons were immediately struck with Damien Rice, though Blind Pilot certainly lacked a Blowers Daughter or Volcano.

The Decemberists quickly followed and their opening set was comprised of their latest album, The Hazards of Love. The album was done as a story and the tale was re-told live for about an hour, pretty much non stop, with the exception of brief pauses for sips of wine or the changing of tambourines. It did however drag along at times, and just as I was about to borrow a DS from the girl in front of me for a quick game of Pokemon, the set ended and they retreated for an intermission.

Those who had raced to the front of the stage retreated to their seats and took out the bookmarks. There really is nothing quite like getting a good read of Twilight in while your waiting for your favourite artfully theatrical alternative indie band to resume. The band’s second set contained tracks from earlier albums, including the hits O Valencia and We Both Go Down Together. It was frantic and made all the more enjoyable by lead singer Colin Meloy’s witty crowd banter. 16 Military Wives was arguably the best received song of the night, particularly when Meloy divided the room and assigned each section with singing duties.

The show finished with an entertaining re-enactment of the founding of Vancouver, which involved band members entering the crowd and standing on drums, pretending to be Native Americans and Norwegian sailors. All in all it was an unforgettable performance by one of the great theatrical acts around today.

Kevin Boyle

Oxegen 2009 Day Three (live in Punchestown, Kildare)

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:21:00 GMT

Day Three of Oxegen 2009

Review Snapshot: While I didn't get to see as many bands as I would have liked to on Day Three of Oxegen 2009, those that I did see continued to impress. From a purely musical point of view, Oxegen 2009 ended on a high with one performance in particular standing out.

The CLUAS Verdict? 8.5 out of 10

Full Review:
Rarely Seen Above Ground (Red Bull Music Academy)
On paper, going to see a drummer play along to a backing track doesn't sound too appealing. It certainly doesn't help when that drummer arrives on stage over 20 minutes late. However, when the drummer in question is Jeremy Hickey, better known as Choice Music Prize nominee Rarely Seen Above Ground, you know it's well worth the wait. Hickey is a very talented multi-instrumentalist and his performance is accompanied by a screen showing a virtual band who are, in reality, all Hickey. What is rarely mentioned about RSAG is the quality of Hickey's vocals. All in all, it shouldn't work as well as it does, but fans of Organic Sampler really have to see RSAG live to appreciate the level of talent here.

White Lies (The O2 Stage)
White Lies are not a band I'd generally pay much attention to but, seeing as I was hovering around The O2 Stage, I thought I might as well stay and have a listen. Opening with A Place to Hide, what surprised me most was the quality of Harry McVeigh's vocals, comparable with Paul Banks of Interpol. As expected, To Lose my Life and Farewell to the Fairground provoked the best reception from a sizeable crowd. While there is nothing particularly exciting about White Lies, their performance was more than competent and I can think of worse ways of spending 30 minutes on a wet Sunday afternoon.

Foals (Heineken Green Spheres)
There are probably few things more fun in music than seeing a musician, who is clearly off his face, putting in an incredible performance when all the time you're wondering how he's even able to stand. Such was the case with Yannis Philippakis whose foray into the crowd, and the vacant look on his face as he walked by me, was one of the highlights of my weekend. Unsurprisingly, Foal's set consisted almost exclusively of tracks from Antidotes but the band's lack of a meaningful discography didn't stop them putting in a great performance. The crowd responded in kind and really got into the set in a way that only Republic of Loose had managed (of the bands I'd seen) at Oxegen 2009.

Jason Mraz (Heineken Green Spheres)
After Foals' set finished, I had intended to go and watch The Specials but a massive downpour meant that I stayed in the relative dryness of the Green Spheres tent. However, two songs in (one of which was an instrumental cover of Andy Williams' Music to Watch Girls By) and I'd had enough. This is, I'm afraid, music that teenage girls (and, in fairness, my friend Joanna, who really should know better) probably consider to be 'fab' and Mraz himself is probably 'like, OMG, so good' but, no, it's not for me. As I made my way to the IMRO tent (easier said than done considering the mud) I heard Ghost Town, which sounded great and made me wish I had braved the rain earlier.

Wintersleep (IMRO New Sound Stage)
If I'm honest, the only reason I went to see Wintersleep is because I wanted to secure a good spot for Villagers who would follow them on the IMRO Stage. However, I was surprised by how good the band actually were. Fair enough, the lyrics to The Archaeologist, might be a bit odd (Belly of a whale???) but they are a very tight unit and, as word of their performance spread, they got the IMRO tent dancing. The highlight of a relatively short set (only 2 minutes longer than their soundcheck) was the exceptional Weighty Ghost, a song whose chorus is still running around my head this morning.

Villagers (IMRO New Sound Stage)
Some time ago, in perhaps my first opinion piece for CLUAS, I wrote that I believed The Immediate were more than the sum of their parts and that their break-up could lead to bigger and better things. It's not often that I get to say this, but I was right. Conor O'Brien is, and I don't use this word too often, special. There isn't another songwriter in Ireland today who can provoke the same emotional response in me as O'Brien and his Villagers can. This was, undoubtedly, the act I was most excited about seeing at Oxegen 2009. Indeed, in conversation with fellow CLUAS writer Jan Ni Fhlanagain I stated that if I was any more excited I'd have to cover my lap with my coat. Of course, I wasn't that excited but when Villagers arrived on stage and launched into Down, Under the Sea, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. This was the defining performance of Oxegen 2009 for me, culminating in the epic Pieces and the first chants of 'One more tune' I'd heard all weekend. It was a privilege to be there.

Dark Room Notes (IMRO New Sound Stage)
Dark Room Notes, with their edgy blend of keyboard driven indie, are an exceptionally gifted band. They have in their arsenal an array of songs that most bands would cut off their left ear for. It's a pity then that their set clashed with Nine Inch Nails, Manic Street Preachers and The Killers. Still, they managed to wow those of us that did make the effort to brave the conditions of the IMRO tent (think World War 1 trench with less death and more Abrakebabra packaging) with a set consisting exclusively of tracks from their fine debut, We Love You Dark Matter. Shake, Shake My Ceiling and Broken Nail were the standouts for me in a great performance, what a shame that more people weren't there to witness (see what I did there?) it though.

Steve O'Rourke

Check out Steven's reviews Oxegen 2009 Day 1 and Oxegen 2009 Day 2.

Day Two Oxegen 2009 (live in Punchestown, Co. Kildare)

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 08:50:00 GMT

Review of Day Two of Oxegen 2009

Review Snapshot: Day Two of Oxegen 2009 was all about rain, rock and roll. Despite the weather, or maybe because of it, the majority of acts seemed to up their game and reward their audiences with performances that defied the best efforts of the elements to ruin everyone's day.

The Cluas Verdict? 9 out of 10

Full Review:

Red Light Company (The O2 Stage)
They might be more than a little obsessed with Broken Social Scene but Red Light Company appear to have perfected the art of daytime festival performance. Think Feeder. Considering the impending weather the crowd were in good spirits and were rewarded with rousing renditions of Scheme Eugene (name check Broken Social Scene) and Arts & Crafts (Broken Social Scene Label). Perhaps a little too sameish for my liking but still, not a bad start to day two.

General Fiasco (IMRO New Sound Stage)
Having arrived in the IMRO New Sound Stage to see Angel Pier, I was told that they had swapped slots with Northern Irish band, General Fiasco. Initially, I was disappointed as Angel Pier had been one of the bands I really wanted to see. However, General Fiasco soon proved themselves to be more than capable replacements. Any band that can manage to sound as melodic as Vampire Weekend and as edgy as Therapy? are going to do well. Definitely a band I will be checking out again.

Eagles of Death Metal (The O2 Stage)
While it might not be full on cock rock, Eagles of Death Metal come close. There are some good tunes in there (Cherry Cola being my particular favourite) but EODM appear to be a band that are more intent on entertaining than on showcasing their own songs. A cover of Stuck in the Middle with You had the audience dancing in the rain. Jesse Hughes is a charismatic frontman and constantly thanked the audience for braving the rain just for them. I'm not sure why but I was expecting Spinal Tap, turns out Eagles of Death Metal offer so much more.

Regina Spektor (Heineken Green Spheres)
And now for something completely different. I'm very much a casual follower of Regina Spektor's career, indeed it was my wife that suggested we watch the Russian born American. Not for the first time, she made the right call. There was a lot of fun in this performance and, despite the awful ground conditions in the tent, Spektor had the majority of the audience dancing to her melodic brand of anti-folk. Eet, On The Radio and Us going down particularly well.

TV on the Radio (Heineken Green Spheres)
After a brief foray into the backstage area to interview C O D E S for their Oxegen diary, I made my way back to the Heineken Green Spheres tent to catch what appeared to be everybody's 'must see band' of the weekend. This meant there was a good mixture of fan boys and casual observers in the tent when the band launched into Golden Age. Musically, the performance was well above par but as energetic and vibrant as it was, it would have been so much better if I had been able to hear anything other than muffled vocals. Sometimes soundmen have a lot to answer for.

Director (IMRO New Sound Stage)
By the time I got in to the IMRO tent the ground was as muddy inside as out. This led to the security guys having to restrict the amount of people who could enter. The folks outside mightn't think so, but this was certainly the right decision. As for the gig itself, Director were excellent. Diving head first into Play Pretend the band got better and better as the gig went on, culminating in a brilliant version of Reconnect. The first of my trilogy of Irish bands had gotten off to a great start.

C O D E S (IMRO New Sound Stage)
Fresh from penning a deal with EMI, C O D E S managed to draw a great crowd, despite the fact they were clashing with The Pet Shop Boys. Previewing tracks from their forthcoming debut record; This is Goodbye, Cities and the sing-along Algebra were my favourites. I've written before that this band have a sound that are destined for greatness and, once more, they've proven themselves more than capable of living up to those lofty ambitions.

And So I Watch You From Afar (IMRO New Sound Stage)
I have a feeling that the quality of music coming from north of the border will play a huge part in my overview of Oxegen 2009 (to be published on Wednesday July 15). And So I Watch You From Afar will almost certainly feature. This was one of my favourite performances ever, not just this weekend. It's my job to try and put into words what I see and hear before me but with ASIWYFA that is easier said than done. It is heavy instrumental rock, well that's what it says on the label. It is so much more than that though. There is melody here that simultaneously makes your hair stand on end and punches you in the face. If it ain't broke, break it and The Voiceless (dedicated to 'the quiet one in The Pet Shop Boys) were my favourites but only because they were the only tracks I knew beforehand. However, I have a feeling I'm about to become a lot more familiar with the rest of And So I Watch You From Afar's catalogue.

Steve O'Rourke

Check out Steven's reviews of Oxegen 2009 Day 1 and Oxegen 2009 Day 3.

Oxegen 2009 (live in Punchestown, Kildare)

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:01:00 GMT

Day One of Oxegen 2009

Review Snapshot: There must have been something in the air in Punchestown as at least 3 bands invited members of the crowd on stage during the first day of Oxegen 2009. There might have been an overwhelming feeling that there were less people here than in previous years but that didn’t stop the bands from putting in some great performances.

The Cluas Verdict? 8 out of 10

Full Review:
When you wake up on the first morning of a festival and hear nothing on the radio but people forecasting 6 day traffic jams and rain, the likes of which hasn't been seen since Noah worked for Harland and Wolff, you have to wonder if it is worth making the effort at all. However, the first piece of good news was that the traffic was almost non-existent, perhaps helped by the fact that, being relatively local, I know some alternative routes into Punchestown. Also, the rain, which began as I parked the car, was gone in little over an hour. Maybe this would be a good weekend after all.

Jape (Red Bull Music Academy)
I’ve been very lucky with Oxegen as this is the second year in a row that the first band I’ve seen has put in a brilliant performance. Choice Music Prize winner and possibly the busiest man in Irish music, Richie Egan, operating as Jape this weekend, wowed a very mixed crowd with an energetic set showcasing his critically acclaimed Ritual. During Streetwise, Egan became the first act of the weekend to invite a member of the audience on stage to sing the chorus. It didn’t work very well at first and the girl was booed off before being replaced by a much more competent audience member. Egan finished his set with a rousing rendition of I Was A Man.

Fight like Apes (Heineken Green Spheres)
Despite their much hyped debut album and recent Glastonbury performance, when Fight Like Apes launched into Something Global, the tent can’t have been more than one third full. Despite this (and, in fairness, the place did fill as the gig went on) Fight like Apes tried very hard to impress their audience. When they concentrated on making music the band were a joy to behold, Two news songs they played sounded excellent, as did a brilliant version of Jake Summers. However, a Fight like Apes gig is never just about the music. Try as they might to be 'random', you can't help but feel that their gimmicks are a bit, well, gimmicky. Climbing speaker towers and beating chairs against railings (professional wrestling style) felt more petulant and childish than daring an edgy. A great band when they remember that they are supposed to be making music.

Duke Special (The O2 Stage)
Having to walk from one side of the Oxegen campus to the other meant that I missed the start of Duke Special's performance. When I arrived there again seemed to be far less people than I would expect for an artist of Peter Wilson's calibre. Initially, The Duke's set seemed disjointed and meandering, not helped by the fact that Wilson and band took up less than 10% of The O2 Stage. However, things soon picked up and Wilson ended on a high with Our Love Goes Deeper Than This, Last Night I Nearly Died (But I Woke Up Just In Time) and the gorgeous Freewheel. It's a pity more people weren't there to see/hear it. It was beauty personified.

Iain Archer (Red Bull Music Academy)
At this stage I was starting to wonder if there was actually anyone at Oxegen. This was Iain Archer, the bloke that used to be in Snow Patrol and, with Flood The Tanks, responsible for one of Northern Irish music's true masterpieces, and yet, here he was playing to a tent that was no more than 20% full. Not everyone could have been watching The Script could they? Archer seemed unperturbed by the small audience and produced a lively set consisting mostly of tracks from his new record, To The Pine Roots. While I was disappointed not to hear Mirrorball Moon, my favourite Archer song, highlights of the set included Canal Song, Streamer On A Kite and Archer finishing his set with his parents on backing vocals.

Heathers (IMRO New Sound Stage)
I only managed to catch 5 songs as the IMRO Stage seemed to be running off schedule (same problem as last year) but I'm still not convinced by these two. Sure they are young and can still go some way to prove me wrong, but I can't help but think that they could do with listening to a few more records before writing their own songs. Having influences is fine, so is wearing them on your sleeve, but having such a small range of influences just makes you sound like a tribute band.

Republic of Loose (Heineken Green Spheres)
After a wasted trip over to the Red Bull Music Academy to see Ladyhawke (still no explanation for her non appearance at time of going to print) I found myself worshiping at the alter of Republic of Loose. I wasn’t the only one either as the Green Spheres tent was packed. As I posted on Twitter, there was lots of dancing here, the likes of which was never seen in Billy Brennan’s barn. Shame, Comeback Girl, The Steady Song and a brilliant rendition of Michael Jackson’s Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ were the standout tracks in a set full of energy and audience interaction. There are few bands who entertain more than Republic of Loose.

Blur (Main Stage)
Initially, I was very excited about seeing Blur live for the first time. However, after the exuberance of Republic of Loose, this performance felt flat. Opening with the slow burning She’s so High was never going to be the best way to get the crowd enthused. Girls and Boys, the second song, would have been enough to spark the set into life had it not been so tuneless and followed by the awful Tracy Jacks. There’s no doubting that Damon Albarn is a consummate showman, but he’s not the world’s best singer. Dedicating The Universal to the late Joe Dolan was a nice touch but, despite my initial excitement, I left Day One of Oxegen 2009 feeling quite cynical as to the reasons for Blur’s comeback and wishing I’d gone to see 2 Many DJ’s instead.

Steve O'Rourke

Check out Steven's reviews of Oxegen 2009 Day 2 and Oxegen 2009 Day 3.