As I headed across Dublin to join the queue for Paul McCartney’s second Irish gig in the space of six months I had an underlying fear of if could this gig possibly be as amazing as the one in The O2 in December and would it take away from the memories of that brilliant night if it wasn’t. However it was an unnecessary fear as in some aspects this gig proved to be even better.
Having decided on buying a standing ticket due to cost, queuing for this gig was essential. However to our delight on arriving outside the RDS we found ourselves listening to what turned out to be most of the sound check! As Paul McCartney is renowned for sound checks that include songs which won’t be sung during the gig I was only too happy to listen to this and sing along. I was especially pleased to hear Penny Lane in the sound check as it wasn’t played during the actual gig. Other songs played in sound check that we didn’t hear later included Celebration, San Francisco Bay and Ram On.
On entering the RDS I had only one thing on my mind and that was to have a spot leaning on the barrier. Having the seating between us and the stage made this even more essential and thankfully it was mission accomplished. We had the comfort of something to lean on and a clear view of the stage. I was very happy when The Coronas were announced as support for the gig as not only do I like them it was also good to have live music while we waited for the gig to start. They didn’t disappoint and played a good set including Far from Here, San Diego Song, Listen Dear and Heroes and Ghosts. We were also treated to a brand new song which they haven’t even named yet! Their delight at being the support act to Sir Paul McCartney was plain to see and lead singer Danny O’Reilly voiced this on more than one occasion.
At exactly 8pm we were treated to a massive montage on screens either side of the stage. While it does include excellent images of The Beatles and 1960’s Liverpool after 25 minutes we were very impatient for it to end and the show to start! Just before 8.30pm we got our wish and McCartney and the band came out on stage to loud cheers from the audience. Launching straight into Venus and Mars/ Rockshow it was high energy from the start. This was followed by Jet and All my Loving. Playing an impressive 35 songs there are many highlights to choose from but my favourite moment was during Blackbird. There is something sublime in the simplicity of this song which gives me goose bumps when I hear McCartney sing it live. It was also the 1st song which appeared to get a big response from the majority of the crowd.
The biggest reaction of the night was during Live and Let die where a lot of people got a fright when the fireworks and pyrotechnics kicked off. Darkness had arrived just at the perfect time and the scene was stunning with the addition of a display on the roof of the stage and also the theatrics along the front where we could even feel heat of from our position! The sing-a-long which followed for Hey Jude was pretty magical too. Other musical highlights included when McCartney performed Something, although a Beatles song it was the first song written by George Harrison to appear on an A-Side of a Beatles single. It was a touching moment during the concert along with when he played Here Today which he wrote for John Lennon. I also enjoyed hearing Give Peace a Chance. Other songs played during the night included Eleanor Rigby, Band On The Run, My Love, I’ve Got A Feeling, Let It Be and Yesterday, all of which sounded amazing.
McCartney was in incredible form throughout the whole show with lots of crowd interaction and his attempts at Irish! It brought a smile to our faces when he announced “Is mìse Paul McCartney, in case any of you don’t know”! It was quite funny when someone shouted up “you the man” to whom McCartney replied, yes he is the man but so is every other man! He spoke about trying to avoid reading banners during singing songs as it can be quite distracting but on seeing a banner reading “I’m gonna bang this chick tonight” he couldn’t help but read it and be distracted. The chick in question was the banner owners’ wife! At one stage during the concert a section of the crowd starting singing Happy Birthday to the amusement of McCartney in which he started singing back thanks but it isn’t until Friday!
Throughout the show there was a very impressive back drop at the back of the stage. We were treated to various different images throughout the night including candles for Let it Be, Beatles images during Something and a sunset during the final song of the night Sgt Pepper. The band were in excellent form and seeing Abe Laboriel Jr playing the drums with all his might on the big screens gave me a warm feeling. It is plain to see that they all feel privileged to work with McCartney, especially when he thanked them at the end of the gig.
It didn’t take long for the fear this gig wouldn’t live up to The O2 to disappear. It is a magical feeling to be in the proximity of a Beatle and hearing songs we have listened to all our lives and that inspired a musical generation. McCartney and his band were brilliant and I have no complaints there whatsoever. However I did feel the gig lacked the atmosphere we had at The O2. I put this down to the seating in front of the stage with standing behind. It really took until Live and Let Die for the audience to really come alive. But that aside this gig did live up to expectation in every other way and would I go again? In an instant!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Sir Paul McCartney 20/12/09
Sunday December 20th 2009 will be forever etched in my mind as the date that music royalty came to town. While the word ‘legend’ is a term used for many artists that are exceptionally good it has become rather overused and therefore not worthy as a title for Sir Paul McCartney. Music royalty seems a much more appropriate term of affection for someone that has transcended everyone else in the business and there can’t be many people who were lucky enough to be in The O2 Arena Sunday night that would disagree with this.
This being only Sir Pauls second solo appearance on Irish shores meant that this was a highly anticipated gig. There was no support on the night and at exactly 8pm we were treated to a massive slideshow of The Beatles and various other images of Liverpool in the 60’s, on huge screens either side of the stage lasting just over 20 minutes with some Beatles remixes playing in the background. While this was enjoyable to see the crowd were starting to get impatient and once the lights dimmed there was a massive roar as Sir Paul and his band came out on stage. Starting with ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ with psychedelic images on a massive screen spanning the entire width of the stage, they were on top form right from the start.
The set list was a mixture of his solo music mixed in with some Wings tunes and of course the obligatory Beatles songs that got the loudest cheers of the night. Highlights of which there were many included excellent renditions of ‘Blackbird’, ‘The Long and Winding Road, ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’, ‘Live and Let Die’, ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘Yesterday’. There were tributes to the late John Lennon and George Harrison where McCartney played the ukulele. This was one of at least 5 different instruments that he played. The others included Bass, Guitar, Mandolin and Piano. He also paid tribute to former Wings member Henry McCullough who was in the audience and dedicated ‘My Love’ a song he wrote about his deceased wife Linda, to him.
Contrary to reports I read that suggested that McCartney had very little crowd interaction at recent gigs, the opposite can be said to be true at this gig with there being a constant banter going on between a lot of the songs. Included were his attempts at Irish, ‘Cead Mile Failte’ and ‘Nollaig Shona Duit’. He also spoke about various songs he sang and their origins. Of interest was when he described how the melody for ‘Yesterday’ came to him in a dream and how it took him a few weeks to realise that he it was actually his tune!
Music aside we were also treated to an amazing backdrop behind the stage of various images during the entire gig, an amazing pyrotechnic display during ‘Live and Let Die’ and some fake snow for the season that’s in it at the end of the show. The band were outstanding during the entire show and when McCartney was thanking them at the end the joy on their faces to be lucky enough to be actually playing for him was plain to see.
Only very once in a while do I feel extremely lucky and privileged to be seeing someone in concert. This was one of those rare occasions and to finally have being able to see a Beatle live in concert has being a long time dream come true. Often when we desire something and then get it, it can be a massive disappointment but not here. This concert and seeing Paul McCartney live lived up to every expectation and more besides. It ticked every box and while it is a habit of mine to try and find some constructive criticism this is one gig where that has being impossible and the happy memories of will give me a warm feeling inside for a long time to come.
This being only Sir Pauls second solo appearance on Irish shores meant that this was a highly anticipated gig. There was no support on the night and at exactly 8pm we were treated to a massive slideshow of The Beatles and various other images of Liverpool in the 60’s, on huge screens either side of the stage lasting just over 20 minutes with some Beatles remixes playing in the background. While this was enjoyable to see the crowd were starting to get impatient and once the lights dimmed there was a massive roar as Sir Paul and his band came out on stage. Starting with ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ with psychedelic images on a massive screen spanning the entire width of the stage, they were on top form right from the start.
The set list was a mixture of his solo music mixed in with some Wings tunes and of course the obligatory Beatles songs that got the loudest cheers of the night. Highlights of which there were many included excellent renditions of ‘Blackbird’, ‘The Long and Winding Road, ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’, ‘Live and Let Die’, ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘Yesterday’. There were tributes to the late John Lennon and George Harrison where McCartney played the ukulele. This was one of at least 5 different instruments that he played. The others included Bass, Guitar, Mandolin and Piano. He also paid tribute to former Wings member Henry McCullough who was in the audience and dedicated ‘My Love’ a song he wrote about his deceased wife Linda, to him.
Contrary to reports I read that suggested that McCartney had very little crowd interaction at recent gigs, the opposite can be said to be true at this gig with there being a constant banter going on between a lot of the songs. Included were his attempts at Irish, ‘Cead Mile Failte’ and ‘Nollaig Shona Duit’. He also spoke about various songs he sang and their origins. Of interest was when he described how the melody for ‘Yesterday’ came to him in a dream and how it took him a few weeks to realise that he it was actually his tune!
Music aside we were also treated to an amazing backdrop behind the stage of various images during the entire gig, an amazing pyrotechnic display during ‘Live and Let Die’ and some fake snow for the season that’s in it at the end of the show. The band were outstanding during the entire show and when McCartney was thanking them at the end the joy on their faces to be lucky enough to be actually playing for him was plain to see.
Only very once in a while do I feel extremely lucky and privileged to be seeing someone in concert. This was one of those rare occasions and to finally have being able to see a Beatle live in concert has being a long time dream come true. Often when we desire something and then get it, it can be a massive disappointment but not here. This concert and seeing Paul McCartney live lived up to every expectation and more besides. It ticked every box and while it is a habit of mine to try and find some constructive criticism this is one gig where that has being impossible and the happy memories of will give me a warm feeling inside for a long time to come.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Green Day October 21st Review
October 21st was a very apt date to be seeing Green Day in concert for their 21st Century Breakdown album tour. Having been a fan since the release of Dookie and having never seen the band live this was one gig I was really looking forward too. I wasn’t to be disappointed in what was a 2.5 hour spectacular performance by the kings of punk.
After a bizarre few minutes of someone dressed as a pink bear dancing to YMCA at 8.03pm Green Day entered the stage to the sounds of ‘Song of the Century’ blaring out on the loud speakers. This was to be followed by the song ‘21st Century Breakdown’ and also ‘Know Your Enemy’ and ‘East Jesus Nowhere’. All songs from the new album, and following in the footsteps of U2 in opening a concert where all the opening songs are new! The fans however were very happy with this with loads of hands in the air and most people singing along. For the entire concert there was the most amazing backdrop behind the stage which had changing images throughout the gig. It began with the New York skyline and other images included war pictures, roads, skulls and much more!
After those first four songs from the new album it would have seemed logical to start singing some of the older stuff. We would have to wait a while longer for that however. Next up was ‘Holiday’ from ‘American Idiot’. In fact the first 10 songs were made up entirely of the last two studio albums. The last in this section is my personal favourite Green Day song, ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’. There was an amazing image in the back ground of the New York skyline with clouds billowing overhead during the song. During the song I found it very poignant when Billie Joe Armstrong walked from one side of the stage to the other while singing the lyrics ‘I walk a lonely road....’
Just after this Armstrong screamed ‘Are there any oldskool Green Day fans here?’ This caused the crowd to go wild screaming in delight as the band launched into what would be the oldest song of the night, ‘2000 light years away’. This middle set was made up of songs from the albums ‘Kerplunk’, ‘Nimrod’, ‘Dookie’ and ‘Insomniac’. Some fan favourites including the legendary ‘Basket Case’ were all well received while we were transported back to our teenage years and where the newer fans could appreciate the music that made this band the band it is today. There was also melodies of ‘Ironman/The Boys are back in Town’ and ‘Shout/Saints are Coming/Teenage Kicks/Shout’. Along with their own songs these were also well received.
The encore saw a return to songs from ‘21st Century Breakdown’ and ‘American idiot’. After performing the song ‘American Idiot’ to an excellent backdrop of a screen filled with loads of televisions, Armstrong announced that the final song would be ‘Jesus of Suburbia’. This song itself is like listening to a few songs as it is made up of a number of different parts. We would have been happy to leave at this stage having being treated to most of our favourites. However this was not the end. In what would turn out to be one of the nights highlights, Billie came back out and did a solo acoustic set of ‘Last Night On Earth’ from ‘21st Century Breakdown’, ‘Wake me up when September ends’ from ‘American Idiot’ and the final song and another oldskool favourite ‘Good Riddance’ from ‘Nimrod’.
While Billie Joe didn’t really interact that much with the rest of the band and session players it should be noted that they done an excellent job. Armstrong did introduce us to each of the band nearing the end of the night but most of the time he was too busy being a crazy fool and keeping us entertained. One of the bands highlights was seeing the drummer Trè Cool trying on one of the bras!
The music aside this concert had so much more that made it a great night. Billie Joe Armstrong is as crazy now as he was when Green Day 1st came out. He spent much of the concert acting the fool but it had us in hysterics laughing. When I first booked tickets I was very put out that I couldn’t get general admission tickets as I always prefer standing as close to the stage as possible. However I was actually grateful when Armstrong started soaking everyone at the front with water hoses and even a huge water gun. He also had a contraption to shoot t-shirts into the crowd. This crazy stunt was followed by something which unrolled bog roll into the crowd. During this and various other parts of the gig he enlisted the help of willing people from the crowd. One of the few lowlights of the gig involved Armstrong performing some kind of religious ritual on a child. This did not make for comfortable viewing and I could see I wasn’t alone in feeling like this. On lighter note however he also pulled fans on stage to help with singing some of the songs. One of these fans was really impressive and gave it his all.
During many stages of the gig Armstrong would wrap Irish flags around his shoulders. During one such moment the entire crowd started singing ‘Ole, Ole’. He responded to this by saying that is why the Irish are so much better than the Americans. This needless to say had the crowd cheering wildly. He even simulated at one stage wiping his ass with an American flag! After making a comment that he had never seen so many bras’s being thrown up on stage someone threw up a pair of jocks which Armstrong promptly put on his head. Another spontaneous moment saw him moon at the audience!
All the above packed into the 2.5 hours made for a totally enjoyable evening. Every time I go to the refurbished O2 I always impressed with the layout and how this time being a distance back we still had an excellent view. As we left totally fulfilled I was wondering if the rumours are true and will they headline Slane next year. One thing is for sure if they do I will be there.
After a bizarre few minutes of someone dressed as a pink bear dancing to YMCA at 8.03pm Green Day entered the stage to the sounds of ‘Song of the Century’ blaring out on the loud speakers. This was to be followed by the song ‘21st Century Breakdown’ and also ‘Know Your Enemy’ and ‘East Jesus Nowhere’. All songs from the new album, and following in the footsteps of U2 in opening a concert where all the opening songs are new! The fans however were very happy with this with loads of hands in the air and most people singing along. For the entire concert there was the most amazing backdrop behind the stage which had changing images throughout the gig. It began with the New York skyline and other images included war pictures, roads, skulls and much more!
After those first four songs from the new album it would have seemed logical to start singing some of the older stuff. We would have to wait a while longer for that however. Next up was ‘Holiday’ from ‘American Idiot’. In fact the first 10 songs were made up entirely of the last two studio albums. The last in this section is my personal favourite Green Day song, ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’. There was an amazing image in the back ground of the New York skyline with clouds billowing overhead during the song. During the song I found it very poignant when Billie Joe Armstrong walked from one side of the stage to the other while singing the lyrics ‘I walk a lonely road....’
Just after this Armstrong screamed ‘Are there any oldskool Green Day fans here?’ This caused the crowd to go wild screaming in delight as the band launched into what would be the oldest song of the night, ‘2000 light years away’. This middle set was made up of songs from the albums ‘Kerplunk’, ‘Nimrod’, ‘Dookie’ and ‘Insomniac’. Some fan favourites including the legendary ‘Basket Case’ were all well received while we were transported back to our teenage years and where the newer fans could appreciate the music that made this band the band it is today. There was also melodies of ‘Ironman/The Boys are back in Town’ and ‘Shout/Saints are Coming/Teenage Kicks/Shout’. Along with their own songs these were also well received.
The encore saw a return to songs from ‘21st Century Breakdown’ and ‘American idiot’. After performing the song ‘American Idiot’ to an excellent backdrop of a screen filled with loads of televisions, Armstrong announced that the final song would be ‘Jesus of Suburbia’. This song itself is like listening to a few songs as it is made up of a number of different parts. We would have been happy to leave at this stage having being treated to most of our favourites. However this was not the end. In what would turn out to be one of the nights highlights, Billie came back out and did a solo acoustic set of ‘Last Night On Earth’ from ‘21st Century Breakdown’, ‘Wake me up when September ends’ from ‘American Idiot’ and the final song and another oldskool favourite ‘Good Riddance’ from ‘Nimrod’.
While Billie Joe didn’t really interact that much with the rest of the band and session players it should be noted that they done an excellent job. Armstrong did introduce us to each of the band nearing the end of the night but most of the time he was too busy being a crazy fool and keeping us entertained. One of the bands highlights was seeing the drummer Trè Cool trying on one of the bras!
The music aside this concert had so much more that made it a great night. Billie Joe Armstrong is as crazy now as he was when Green Day 1st came out. He spent much of the concert acting the fool but it had us in hysterics laughing. When I first booked tickets I was very put out that I couldn’t get general admission tickets as I always prefer standing as close to the stage as possible. However I was actually grateful when Armstrong started soaking everyone at the front with water hoses and even a huge water gun. He also had a contraption to shoot t-shirts into the crowd. This crazy stunt was followed by something which unrolled bog roll into the crowd. During this and various other parts of the gig he enlisted the help of willing people from the crowd. One of the few lowlights of the gig involved Armstrong performing some kind of religious ritual on a child. This did not make for comfortable viewing and I could see I wasn’t alone in feeling like this. On lighter note however he also pulled fans on stage to help with singing some of the songs. One of these fans was really impressive and gave it his all.
During many stages of the gig Armstrong would wrap Irish flags around his shoulders. During one such moment the entire crowd started singing ‘Ole, Ole’. He responded to this by saying that is why the Irish are so much better than the Americans. This needless to say had the crowd cheering wildly. He even simulated at one stage wiping his ass with an American flag! After making a comment that he had never seen so many bras’s being thrown up on stage someone threw up a pair of jocks which Armstrong promptly put on his head. Another spontaneous moment saw him moon at the audience!
All the above packed into the 2.5 hours made for a totally enjoyable evening. Every time I go to the refurbished O2 I always impressed with the layout and how this time being a distance back we still had an excellent view. As we left totally fulfilled I was wondering if the rumours are true and will they headline Slane next year. One thing is for sure if they do I will be there.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Review of James Keelaghan album 'House of Cards'
Hailing from Canada James Keelaghan releases his 11th studio album ‘House of Cards’, on October 13th. Highly regarded in his homeland having won a Juno award (Canada’s version of the Grammy’s) for previous work Keelaghan’s music is in the genre of folk and easy listening. His early influences include Irish Traditional music and Paul Brady!
The songs on ‘Houses Of Cards’ are stories of relationships, tragic loss and even the weather. The album opens with ‘Safe Home’, a song which tells the story of being away from home and describing the journey along with how he imagines the person left behind will be dealing with his absence. While it has a nice melody and good lyrics as an opening song this comes across as a little weak and may fail to capture listeners as well as an opening song should. It would have being better placed in the middle of the album with a more up tempo song as the first track.
A more suitable opening song would be song four, the title track ‘House of Cards’. This is a much more upbeat song which tells the story of how people enjoy the good times of economic stability but don’t really plan for times of recession and that while people may be wealthy they won’t necessarily be wise. It has a melody that is easy to sing along to after only a couple of listens and there is some also some great guitar playing during this song which also makes good use of wind instruments.
Perhaps the best song on the album is ‘McConvilles’. An excellent story with an excellent melody this song is on par with both Kenny Roger’s ‘Coward of the County’ and Collin Raye’s ‘Love Me’. It tells the story of a barman working in McConvilles pub where there is a whiskey brewed and the owner has a rule that the bottle can never leave the bar. The barman speaks about a man named Jimmy who started drinking there six or seven years ago but died three days previous. After the funeral he announces that he will do something that has never being done before and that he will give a bottle of whiskey to the highest bidder to raise money for Jimmy’s family. The bidding stops at £500 where Jimmy’s workmates hand over their pay-packets and then he hands over the whiskey. As he is walking home past the graveyard he can hear singing with Jimmy’s friends pouring something on the grave to help him on his way. The song opens and closes with the barman describing the pub and where to find it. Keelaghan sings this song is a slow easy tone that fits in perfect with the tone of the story, while playing an acoustic guitar. It is sublime simplicity that can only work on a ballad of this kind.
Another notable song on the album is ‘Twister’ which is at first listen seems to be a bizarre song about the weather but on closer inspection is about how like in a twister opposites don’t attract and that the same can apply in relationships. Like ‘House of Cards’ this song is upbeat with great melodies that after a few listens one will find themselves singing along to.
Looking at the album as a whole and leaving the first song placement aside, it is fair to say that it is evenly balanced and Keelaghan has as a rule linked songs together well and it is an album that flows nicely along. It would appeal to anyone into folk/easy/acoustic music. Artists of comparison would include the aforementioned Collin Raye and John Denver and also his early influence Paul Brady.
Album Rating: 7.5/10
http://www.myspace.com/jameskeelaghan
http://web.me.com/jameskeelo/Keeloweb/KEELOWEB.html
The songs on ‘Houses Of Cards’ are stories of relationships, tragic loss and even the weather. The album opens with ‘Safe Home’, a song which tells the story of being away from home and describing the journey along with how he imagines the person left behind will be dealing with his absence. While it has a nice melody and good lyrics as an opening song this comes across as a little weak and may fail to capture listeners as well as an opening song should. It would have being better placed in the middle of the album with a more up tempo song as the first track.
A more suitable opening song would be song four, the title track ‘House of Cards’. This is a much more upbeat song which tells the story of how people enjoy the good times of economic stability but don’t really plan for times of recession and that while people may be wealthy they won’t necessarily be wise. It has a melody that is easy to sing along to after only a couple of listens and there is some also some great guitar playing during this song which also makes good use of wind instruments.
Perhaps the best song on the album is ‘McConvilles’. An excellent story with an excellent melody this song is on par with both Kenny Roger’s ‘Coward of the County’ and Collin Raye’s ‘Love Me’. It tells the story of a barman working in McConvilles pub where there is a whiskey brewed and the owner has a rule that the bottle can never leave the bar. The barman speaks about a man named Jimmy who started drinking there six or seven years ago but died three days previous. After the funeral he announces that he will do something that has never being done before and that he will give a bottle of whiskey to the highest bidder to raise money for Jimmy’s family. The bidding stops at £500 where Jimmy’s workmates hand over their pay-packets and then he hands over the whiskey. As he is walking home past the graveyard he can hear singing with Jimmy’s friends pouring something on the grave to help him on his way. The song opens and closes with the barman describing the pub and where to find it. Keelaghan sings this song is a slow easy tone that fits in perfect with the tone of the story, while playing an acoustic guitar. It is sublime simplicity that can only work on a ballad of this kind.
Another notable song on the album is ‘Twister’ which is at first listen seems to be a bizarre song about the weather but on closer inspection is about how like in a twister opposites don’t attract and that the same can apply in relationships. Like ‘House of Cards’ this song is upbeat with great melodies that after a few listens one will find themselves singing along to.
Looking at the album as a whole and leaving the first song placement aside, it is fair to say that it is evenly balanced and Keelaghan has as a rule linked songs together well and it is an album that flows nicely along. It would appeal to anyone into folk/easy/acoustic music. Artists of comparison would include the aforementioned Collin Raye and John Denver and also his early influence Paul Brady.
Album Rating: 7.5/10
http://www.myspace.com/jameskeelaghan
http://web.me.com/jameskeelo/Keeloweb/KEELOWEB.html
Friday, August 28, 2009
Review of The Music Show launch with The Script
Wednesday 26th of August saw the official launch of The Music Show 2009 at the Westin Hotel, Dublin. The Music Show in association with Hot Press and 2FM is a two day event on October 3th and 4th at the RDS indoor arena consisting of live music as well as seminars, debates and an exhibition of musical equipment showcasing the best of Irish talent.
As the hottest band of the moment The Script will be unable to make the actual event in October due to prior commitments in Australia. The organisers asked them would they be able to give an interview with Stuart Clark of Hot Press in front of an invited audience of music industry professionals, musicians, music students, fans of the band and other guests. I was lucky enough to be amongst this audience as a winner of a Hot Press competition!
The event due to start at 2.30pm was delayed until 3.15pm as the organisers were hoping that the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Martin Cullen would be present but due to an emergency meeting of the cabinet he was unable to attend.
Hot Press editor, Niall Stokes took the podium and gave us an introduction of what The Music Show would consist of and explained why it was important that The Script should be part of it giving to their massive success over the last year. Their debut self-titled album has recently reclaimed the top position in the Irish charts having being released just over a year ago and has gone 8 times platinum here in Ireland. Having just arrived back for a string of gigs in the US the band are currently in the middle of a five date run in The Olympia.
Niall Stokes then introduced the band and the interviewer Stuart Clark to applause and cheers from the lucky audience. For those who may not know, The Script are a trio consisting of lead singer Danny O'Donoghue, guitarist Mark Sheehan and drummer Glen Power all hailing from Dublin. While Danny and Mark have been working together for over a decade, Glen only joined the fold in 2006. In the words of Sheehan at the interview they knew when they met Power that something just clicked & they instantly knew they would work well together.
The interview lasted approximately 40 minutes. It was well organised with excellent questions from Stuart Clark and even better responses from the especially eloquent O'Donoghue and Sheehan. Power for most of the interview sat back and listened! Areas covered included the amazing success of the last year, the years spent in the US, crazy fans and the diverse acts that The Script have being lucky to support in concert.
At first glance it may seem that The Script have come from nowhere to be this massive success story. We discovered quite a bit about their history to know that this isn't exactly accurate. Of course there is a lot of luck involved but what is not widely known is that O'Donoghue and Sheehan spent a decade in the US carving their career in the music production industry. This work leaded them to work with Teddy Riley, an American record producer, one of their childhood hero's. Up until they met Glen, Danny and Mark worked as producers for other peoples demos. This however was all about to change when Sheehan's mother became terminally ill and the band returned to their homeland and set up a studio in Sheehan’s garage. Tragically nine months later his mother died and only four months after that Danny's father also passed away. Danny was quick to point out that having hematoma meant things were also difficult for Glen at this time. During this extremely painful period in their lives the creative juices flowed and out of the emotional pain came the songs that would make up their debut album. Recorded in the garage studio with lyrics that tell stories of heartache and living in Dublin came the highly successful self-titled album. It is in my opinion one of the strongest debut albums I've ever listened to.They spoke extensively about the different acts that they have supported over the last year. The most special of these have being U2 and Paul McCartney. Danny spoke about how when U2 played Croke Park in 80's that his brother took him to listen outside the stadium as they had no money. He said it was a very special moment when he rang his brother to tell him The Script was actually supporting U2 this time! They also mentioned when they were appearing in New York that Bono sent them Guinness and champagne to make black velvet cocktails with a note attached to say New York isn't big enough for U2 and The Script so U2 were going to leave! It was an interesting story when they told us about supporting Paul McCartney at Citi Field. This is the replacement for Shea Stadium which The Beatles played both the first and last concerts at. Paul McCartney was asked would he therefore open the new stadium. The boys were quick to point out that it was them as the support act and not Paul McCartney that actually played the venue first! It was funny when they described how they were discussing what they should address McCartney as when waked into the room! During this section they described how hard it can be for some acts trying to make it in the US as with the likes of Laura Izibor being categorised into one category. They feel due to the acts they have supported including Adele, Take That and the above mentioned has meant that they are enjoying being exposed in many genres.
Stuart Clark posed a question in relation to piracy. He stated that Aslan have announced that they will no longer release new albums due to this problem and asked the lads what was their take on this. Mark Sheehan believes that piracy can actually work in favour of bands as he reckons that while one person may download the music free that the many people the person tells about the music may actually buy the album. He said that while many people will download there are many more who actually like having the album hard copy with album notes. (I'm in that later group!). Sheehan gave the example that while there has being about 300,000 illegal downloads of The Scripts album there has being sales of almost 1,000,000 copies. He believes that the way to go with music is by doing live shows and that a lot of people with piracy copies will get rid of them and buy the legal version after seeing the concert. It made me wonder was there a dig at Aslan in there somewhere!!!
Once Stuart Clark finished his interview he invited questions from the audience. Someone asked the interesting question about what was the highlight of their careers so far. Danny said that his highlight was the album getting to number 1. He said he was emotional all that day & that it was the proudest moment of his life. One of Glen's rare chances to have some input saw him describe that his highlight is touring & playing in front of big audiences. They all agreed that it is actually easier to play in front of the larger crowds because at smaller venues and especially at home there is so many close friends and family members that they feel the pressure more so at these gigs. However on this home leg of their solo tour they feel it is better for the fans to see them at intimate venues, which is why they choose to play five dates at The Olympia rather than one in The O2.
The final question of the day lead to funniest part of the interview. A lady at the rear of the venue asked how they cope with unwanted female attention. Mark spoke about a recent gig in San Francisco where there was some 'larger' women at the front of the crowd when this 'skinny' woman barged her way forward to the front and left a note at his feet asking was he interested. He pointed to his wedding ring. After the gig the woman made more attempts to get close to him. It turns out she is a police officer!! Poor Danny was in Penny's buying underwear one day in disguise when the lady at the checkouts recognised him and called everyone over to see him. He said he was never more embarrassed in his life.
There came the end to a very enjoyable interview as they had to leave in preparation for their gig in The Olympia. I’m a little disappointed now that I didn’t get tickets for these gigs. I have seen them live twice though. The first time was last August just after the album’s release when they supported Lenny Kravitz and Alanis Morissette in Marlay Park. I was also at the Take That concert in Croke Park this year.
I now wait in anticipation for The Music Show in October having already obtained my weekend ticket months ago. Confirmed artists for the live stage include The Coronas who have a single being released the same week as the show, The Republic of Loose and Imelda May. Both Christy Moore and Paul Brady will be giving seminars. Other participants include Jim Sheridan, Gemma Hayes and Vince Power. All this with more acts to be announced is an absolute bargain at €16 for a weekend ticket.
As the hottest band of the moment The Script will be unable to make the actual event in October due to prior commitments in Australia. The organisers asked them would they be able to give an interview with Stuart Clark of Hot Press in front of an invited audience of music industry professionals, musicians, music students, fans of the band and other guests. I was lucky enough to be amongst this audience as a winner of a Hot Press competition!
The event due to start at 2.30pm was delayed until 3.15pm as the organisers were hoping that the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Martin Cullen would be present but due to an emergency meeting of the cabinet he was unable to attend.
Hot Press editor, Niall Stokes took the podium and gave us an introduction of what The Music Show would consist of and explained why it was important that The Script should be part of it giving to their massive success over the last year. Their debut self-titled album has recently reclaimed the top position in the Irish charts having being released just over a year ago and has gone 8 times platinum here in Ireland. Having just arrived back for a string of gigs in the US the band are currently in the middle of a five date run in The Olympia.
Niall Stokes then introduced the band and the interviewer Stuart Clark to applause and cheers from the lucky audience. For those who may not know, The Script are a trio consisting of lead singer Danny O'Donoghue, guitarist Mark Sheehan and drummer Glen Power all hailing from Dublin. While Danny and Mark have been working together for over a decade, Glen only joined the fold in 2006. In the words of Sheehan at the interview they knew when they met Power that something just clicked & they instantly knew they would work well together.
The interview lasted approximately 40 minutes. It was well organised with excellent questions from Stuart Clark and even better responses from the especially eloquent O'Donoghue and Sheehan. Power for most of the interview sat back and listened! Areas covered included the amazing success of the last year, the years spent in the US, crazy fans and the diverse acts that The Script have being lucky to support in concert.
At first glance it may seem that The Script have come from nowhere to be this massive success story. We discovered quite a bit about their history to know that this isn't exactly accurate. Of course there is a lot of luck involved but what is not widely known is that O'Donoghue and Sheehan spent a decade in the US carving their career in the music production industry. This work leaded them to work with Teddy Riley, an American record producer, one of their childhood hero's. Up until they met Glen, Danny and Mark worked as producers for other peoples demos. This however was all about to change when Sheehan's mother became terminally ill and the band returned to their homeland and set up a studio in Sheehan’s garage. Tragically nine months later his mother died and only four months after that Danny's father also passed away. Danny was quick to point out that having hematoma meant things were also difficult for Glen at this time. During this extremely painful period in their lives the creative juices flowed and out of the emotional pain came the songs that would make up their debut album. Recorded in the garage studio with lyrics that tell stories of heartache and living in Dublin came the highly successful self-titled album. It is in my opinion one of the strongest debut albums I've ever listened to.They spoke extensively about the different acts that they have supported over the last year. The most special of these have being U2 and Paul McCartney. Danny spoke about how when U2 played Croke Park in 80's that his brother took him to listen outside the stadium as they had no money. He said it was a very special moment when he rang his brother to tell him The Script was actually supporting U2 this time! They also mentioned when they were appearing in New York that Bono sent them Guinness and champagne to make black velvet cocktails with a note attached to say New York isn't big enough for U2 and The Script so U2 were going to leave! It was an interesting story when they told us about supporting Paul McCartney at Citi Field. This is the replacement for Shea Stadium which The Beatles played both the first and last concerts at. Paul McCartney was asked would he therefore open the new stadium. The boys were quick to point out that it was them as the support act and not Paul McCartney that actually played the venue first! It was funny when they described how they were discussing what they should address McCartney as when waked into the room! During this section they described how hard it can be for some acts trying to make it in the US as with the likes of Laura Izibor being categorised into one category. They feel due to the acts they have supported including Adele, Take That and the above mentioned has meant that they are enjoying being exposed in many genres.
Stuart Clark posed a question in relation to piracy. He stated that Aslan have announced that they will no longer release new albums due to this problem and asked the lads what was their take on this. Mark Sheehan believes that piracy can actually work in favour of bands as he reckons that while one person may download the music free that the many people the person tells about the music may actually buy the album. He said that while many people will download there are many more who actually like having the album hard copy with album notes. (I'm in that later group!). Sheehan gave the example that while there has being about 300,000 illegal downloads of The Scripts album there has being sales of almost 1,000,000 copies. He believes that the way to go with music is by doing live shows and that a lot of people with piracy copies will get rid of them and buy the legal version after seeing the concert. It made me wonder was there a dig at Aslan in there somewhere!!!
Once Stuart Clark finished his interview he invited questions from the audience. Someone asked the interesting question about what was the highlight of their careers so far. Danny said that his highlight was the album getting to number 1. He said he was emotional all that day & that it was the proudest moment of his life. One of Glen's rare chances to have some input saw him describe that his highlight is touring & playing in front of big audiences. They all agreed that it is actually easier to play in front of the larger crowds because at smaller venues and especially at home there is so many close friends and family members that they feel the pressure more so at these gigs. However on this home leg of their solo tour they feel it is better for the fans to see them at intimate venues, which is why they choose to play five dates at The Olympia rather than one in The O2.
The final question of the day lead to funniest part of the interview. A lady at the rear of the venue asked how they cope with unwanted female attention. Mark spoke about a recent gig in San Francisco where there was some 'larger' women at the front of the crowd when this 'skinny' woman barged her way forward to the front and left a note at his feet asking was he interested. He pointed to his wedding ring. After the gig the woman made more attempts to get close to him. It turns out she is a police officer!! Poor Danny was in Penny's buying underwear one day in disguise when the lady at the checkouts recognised him and called everyone over to see him. He said he was never more embarrassed in his life.
There came the end to a very enjoyable interview as they had to leave in preparation for their gig in The Olympia. I’m a little disappointed now that I didn’t get tickets for these gigs. I have seen them live twice though. The first time was last August just after the album’s release when they supported Lenny Kravitz and Alanis Morissette in Marlay Park. I was also at the Take That concert in Croke Park this year.
I now wait in anticipation for The Music Show in October having already obtained my weekend ticket months ago. Confirmed artists for the live stage include The Coronas who have a single being released the same week as the show, The Republic of Loose and Imelda May. Both Christy Moore and Paul Brady will be giving seminars. Other participants include Jim Sheridan, Gemma Hayes and Vince Power. All this with more acts to be announced is an absolute bargain at €16 for a weekend ticket.
Brendan Keeley, The Moat Naas 21/08/09
Friday 21st August, The Moat Theatre was the venue for the much anticipated Brendan Keeley gig. Having arrived nice & early & enjoying a glass of wine I awaited the call that the auditorium was open. Having never being in this venue I was very interested to see what it looked like inside. Soon enough the call came & I entered the most intimate venue I’ve ever being too. Hearing the sounds of Bruce Springsteen’s The River, Hungary Heart & Atlantic City playing in the background were very pleasing on my Springsteen friendly ears.
A few minutes later at 8.20PM we were introduced to Sam Keeley, Brendan’s 18 year old son who treated us to some tunes. I was really impressed with the maturity of his singing & guitar playing as well as some excellent song writing! A song of note was ‘Paris Lights’ which he wrote after being in Paris for his 18th birthday. I enjoyed that he came across as being very at ease on stage & had very good stage presence. He even took a few swigs from a bottle of Heineken at various times during his set! While his set mainly consisted of original music he also done excellent renditions of Andreas Johnson ‘Glorious’ & The Kings of Leon ‘Sex on Fire’. After playing for approximately half an hour he thanked the audience & said he hoped we would enjoy Brendan.
After an interval of 30 minutes Brendan’s band took their places on stage to cheers from an enthusiastic audience. We could hear Brendan singing a few bars from ‘I’ll always be Lonely’ but we could not see him. Suddenly he appeared from the back of the auditorium & joined his band on stage to where they opened with ‘I can’t believe it’! (We couldn’t believe that this gig had finally arrived after months of waiting, especially after having tickets to a cancelled show in February of this year!)
Brendan than thanked his son Sam for opening the gig & proceeded to sing a song he wrote about him as a child called ‘Eyes of a Child’. Brendan introduced ‘Lady in the Painting’ by telling us the story of how his father was a second hand furniture sales man & that they had many second hand items at home including a painting which Brendan said had eyes that seemed to follow him around the room. Other songs of the first half included ‘Wishing’ & ‘After the Love’. ‘Take the Chains Away’ was dedicated to birthday lady Vera Anderson in the audience with her daughters.
Perhaps the best story of the night belonged to ‘Three o’clock Train’. Brendan spoke about how he used to get the 12.35 train to Dublin for meetings & he would see this man trying to woo a woman to no avail & he would hold an umbrella for her whenever it rained. They eventually got together & the last Brendan heard they had gotten married. Obviously the train times were different as Brendan explained 12.35 was a hard time to fit in a song. He promised us though that every other part of the story was true.
Just before the interval we discovered that ‘Does he really love you’ was Brendan’s highest chart entry before the first of two heart wrenching tributes. ‘This Woman’ was written in dedication to a friend who at the age of 33 died in a car crash leaving behind four young children. Her husband asked Brendan if he could write a song for her.
While Brendan left stage for a few minutes the band treated us to a rendition of Van Morrison’s ‘Moondance’. After this Brendan came back on stage & all the band members left the stage except for the keyboard player, Paul Skelton. They treated us to a song called ‘You Sleep with Angels’. This is from a forth coming musical that Brendan is writing. On first listen this came across as a beautiful song & I look forward to hearing more new songs & of course seeing the musical when it is released.
After this song Brendan started talking about when he was playing in bars when he was starting out. He described how difficult it was to be singing his heart out all evening & getting no attention until he announced the last song & then would get shouts for more! He told us how he would change his voice to catch people’s attention & then he treated us to a couple of examples including a very funny & convincing Christy Moore. One of my gig highlights was when he was using his guitar as a drum while he sang Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Cecelia’. During this song he was joined back on stage by the rest of the band.
Shortly after this he introduced us to each band member in turn. On backing vocals we had Lorraine Nolan & Olivia Mc Ternan. Darren Sweeney was on bass guitar with Nicky Brennan on lead guitar. The aforementioned Paul Skelton on keyboards & backing vocals & on drums was Aaron Masterson. There was excellent playing/singing from everyone in the band. It was a special moment when Lorraine & Brendan dueted on ‘Miss you Tonight’. Brendan personally believes that is the best song he ever wrote.
Between introducing the band & singing the duet Brendan paid tribute to Joe Cocker & sang his only cover of the night, ‘Unchain my Heart’. This song included an excellent guitar solo from Nicky Brennan. The second heartbreaking tribute was for a friend who was paralysed in an accident. Brendan sang ‘Heart & Soul’ for him. This song saw Brendan walking along the front of the audience with most of us now on our feet. Brendan sang it with passion & it is my personal favourite part of the gig.
At numerous stages during the gig people thought Brendan was about to sing ‘I’ll always be Lonely’, but he actually waited until the encore & it was definitely worth the wait sounding as good now as it did when it was first released in 1995. With the audience in excellent form Brendan ended the gig with repeating the brilliant ‘Take the Chains Away’ where he was joined on stage by his daughter. It was a special moment & left me with a warm feeling inside.
After the gig Brendan did a meet & greet with his audience, happily signing autographs & posing for photographs. It was nice talking to Darren & Nicky about the gig while we waited to speak with Brendan. I also had a few words with Sam where I told him I was really impressed with his musical maturity at the age of 18. While speaking to Brendan I told him it was great seeing him & thanked him for a wonderful evening.
While I had seen Brendan sing live years ago in Rose Earley’s in Newbridge I’d never seen him with a band & singing much his own material. As a fan of his music since the release of I’ll always be Lonely 14 years ago this gig was definitely worth going too. The music sounded amazing live & I loved hearing the stories behind the songs. Brendan & his band gave an excellent performance & the passion for what he does was plain to see. The Moat was a great little venue & I loved the intimacy of it all. I now await the release of Brendan’s new album ‘Under a Celtic Sky’ which is being released on September 29th.
A few minutes later at 8.20PM we were introduced to Sam Keeley, Brendan’s 18 year old son who treated us to some tunes. I was really impressed with the maturity of his singing & guitar playing as well as some excellent song writing! A song of note was ‘Paris Lights’ which he wrote after being in Paris for his 18th birthday. I enjoyed that he came across as being very at ease on stage & had very good stage presence. He even took a few swigs from a bottle of Heineken at various times during his set! While his set mainly consisted of original music he also done excellent renditions of Andreas Johnson ‘Glorious’ & The Kings of Leon ‘Sex on Fire’. After playing for approximately half an hour he thanked the audience & said he hoped we would enjoy Brendan.
After an interval of 30 minutes Brendan’s band took their places on stage to cheers from an enthusiastic audience. We could hear Brendan singing a few bars from ‘I’ll always be Lonely’ but we could not see him. Suddenly he appeared from the back of the auditorium & joined his band on stage to where they opened with ‘I can’t believe it’! (We couldn’t believe that this gig had finally arrived after months of waiting, especially after having tickets to a cancelled show in February of this year!)
Brendan than thanked his son Sam for opening the gig & proceeded to sing a song he wrote about him as a child called ‘Eyes of a Child’. Brendan introduced ‘Lady in the Painting’ by telling us the story of how his father was a second hand furniture sales man & that they had many second hand items at home including a painting which Brendan said had eyes that seemed to follow him around the room. Other songs of the first half included ‘Wishing’ & ‘After the Love’. ‘Take the Chains Away’ was dedicated to birthday lady Vera Anderson in the audience with her daughters.
Perhaps the best story of the night belonged to ‘Three o’clock Train’. Brendan spoke about how he used to get the 12.35 train to Dublin for meetings & he would see this man trying to woo a woman to no avail & he would hold an umbrella for her whenever it rained. They eventually got together & the last Brendan heard they had gotten married. Obviously the train times were different as Brendan explained 12.35 was a hard time to fit in a song. He promised us though that every other part of the story was true.
Just before the interval we discovered that ‘Does he really love you’ was Brendan’s highest chart entry before the first of two heart wrenching tributes. ‘This Woman’ was written in dedication to a friend who at the age of 33 died in a car crash leaving behind four young children. Her husband asked Brendan if he could write a song for her.
While Brendan left stage for a few minutes the band treated us to a rendition of Van Morrison’s ‘Moondance’. After this Brendan came back on stage & all the band members left the stage except for the keyboard player, Paul Skelton. They treated us to a song called ‘You Sleep with Angels’. This is from a forth coming musical that Brendan is writing. On first listen this came across as a beautiful song & I look forward to hearing more new songs & of course seeing the musical when it is released.
After this song Brendan started talking about when he was playing in bars when he was starting out. He described how difficult it was to be singing his heart out all evening & getting no attention until he announced the last song & then would get shouts for more! He told us how he would change his voice to catch people’s attention & then he treated us to a couple of examples including a very funny & convincing Christy Moore. One of my gig highlights was when he was using his guitar as a drum while he sang Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Cecelia’. During this song he was joined back on stage by the rest of the band.
Shortly after this he introduced us to each band member in turn. On backing vocals we had Lorraine Nolan & Olivia Mc Ternan. Darren Sweeney was on bass guitar with Nicky Brennan on lead guitar. The aforementioned Paul Skelton on keyboards & backing vocals & on drums was Aaron Masterson. There was excellent playing/singing from everyone in the band. It was a special moment when Lorraine & Brendan dueted on ‘Miss you Tonight’. Brendan personally believes that is the best song he ever wrote.
Between introducing the band & singing the duet Brendan paid tribute to Joe Cocker & sang his only cover of the night, ‘Unchain my Heart’. This song included an excellent guitar solo from Nicky Brennan. The second heartbreaking tribute was for a friend who was paralysed in an accident. Brendan sang ‘Heart & Soul’ for him. This song saw Brendan walking along the front of the audience with most of us now on our feet. Brendan sang it with passion & it is my personal favourite part of the gig.
At numerous stages during the gig people thought Brendan was about to sing ‘I’ll always be Lonely’, but he actually waited until the encore & it was definitely worth the wait sounding as good now as it did when it was first released in 1995. With the audience in excellent form Brendan ended the gig with repeating the brilliant ‘Take the Chains Away’ where he was joined on stage by his daughter. It was a special moment & left me with a warm feeling inside.
After the gig Brendan did a meet & greet with his audience, happily signing autographs & posing for photographs. It was nice talking to Darren & Nicky about the gig while we waited to speak with Brendan. I also had a few words with Sam where I told him I was really impressed with his musical maturity at the age of 18. While speaking to Brendan I told him it was great seeing him & thanked him for a wonderful evening.
While I had seen Brendan sing live years ago in Rose Earley’s in Newbridge I’d never seen him with a band & singing much his own material. As a fan of his music since the release of I’ll always be Lonely 14 years ago this gig was definitely worth going too. The music sounded amazing live & I loved hearing the stories behind the songs. Brendan & his band gave an excellent performance & the passion for what he does was plain to see. The Moat was a great little venue & I loved the intimacy of it all. I now await the release of Brendan’s new album ‘Under a Celtic Sky’ which is being released on September 29th.
U2 Croke Park 25/07/09
It was a beautiful sunny afternoon as we headed out to Croke Park for the U2 360 concert. We arrived outside the magnificent stadium just after 2pm & were pleasantly surprised to find the queue wasn’t as big as we were expecting. We took our place in line & were delighted to receive the coveted wrist bands to the pit area in front of the stage. From seeing the pictures of the previous night we knew that it was a very small pit area & was surrounded by a walkway with bridges connecting it to the stage for the band to walk around.
As we had a 2 hour wait before entering the pitch area we settled down to read the Friday reviews in the papers & listen to a few tunes (U2 of course) on my MP3 player. We were talking to people of various nationalities from Brazilian to Austrian to Scottish who had descended on the city to see their idols in their homeland. Irish fans seemed few & far between! We also signed up to the ONE foundation which works alongside organisations to offer relief in Africa & other places around the world.
Finally one of the moments that we had being waiting for. Doors open & time to get our first views of the mighty claw. It was awe-inspiring! Croke Park on its own is really impressive even to my familiar eyes but seeing this huge piece of art sitting majestically in the stadium was a pretty amazing sight. As we walked into the pit we were just staring up at this over-whelming structure over our heads. It was then time for more pressing matters & finding a spot where we not only had a good view of the stage but also of the ring around it & of a bridge. I spotted a gap at the side with the wall to lean on & seemingly halfway from the stage & a bridge but things are not always what they seem as will be explained later.
It was now shortly after 4pm & another couple of hours wait before the live music began but time passed really quickly & it was soon time for the last toilet visit & to top up on vital water supplies to last us until the show was over. Then camera at the ready let the show begin.
First up were Irish band Republic of Loose. Being honest I was a little disappointed by these. While the music was very good & ‘You know it’ & ‘Comeback Girl’ were great to hear, until the last song there was no crowd interaction. I wasn’t the only one to notice this & indeed Mike Pyro the lead singer himself made comments that we were at a U2 gig & why was everyone so quiet. My own thoughts were that yes we came to see U2 but the reason we were all quiet was all their doing. Another aspect of their set that annoyed me was that they had a photographer with them on stage for a good while which made taking us taking photos really difficult & it came across as somewhat amateur & unprofessional. However they were only the warm-up band so in the run of things they didn’t really matter.
Next up were The Kaiser Chiefs & here were a band who know how to perform & engage their audience. From the 1st notes of ‘Never Miss a Beat’ they were totally on form & in the words of that opening song, they didn’t miss a beat! Lead singer Ricky Wilson was full of energy & spent the set racing around the stage & once he even got into the crowd and was surfed back to the stage with the help of willing fans. Their set list included all the favourites & we all enjoyed hearing ‘Every day I love you less’, ‘Ruby’, ‘I predict a Riot’ & ‘Oh My God’. I had chosen to go to the Saturday gig because The Kaiser Chiefs were supporting & I wasn’t disappointed. They left us all with a satisfied feeling & the knowledge of knowing that U2 would be taking the stage in less than an hour which thankfully passed quite quickly.
At approximately 8.50 David Bowie’s’ Space Oddity’ blared out of the speakers and smoke started bellowing from the centre of the claw. Cheers erupted around Croke Park as a lone Larry Mullen Jnr walked out on stage up to his drum set & the first beats of ‘Breathe’ can be heard as Adam, Edge & Bono walk out on stage to deafening cheers from the crowds. From the start it is a high energy, high octane gig. Starting with 4 songs from the new album was a brave decision but one that worked as the guys went from ‘Breathe’ to ‘No Line On The Horizon’ to ‘Get on Your Boots’ & ‘Magnificent’ with barely stopping to swap guitars. They were all excellent songs which had the crowds already singing along with every word. Altogether there were six songs from the new album performed on the night.
The business end of promoting the new album opened the way for a set filled with great songs & quite a few snippets along the way. ‘Beautiful Day’ was 1st in a line of songs to get this treatment with a little bit of ‘Here Comes the Sun’. A personal highlight was when they sung ‘Angel of Harlem’ with a sample of Michael Jackson’s ‘Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough’. There was no mention of Michael Jackson but I felt it was a nice touch one month to the date he died. Just after this we had a pre-recorded video link up with the space station & the band sang ‘Unknown Caller’ while Bono made references to our claw being a spaceship.
Shortly after this there seemed the weather was conspiring against us as it started raining but as Bono said no one cared about the rain as covers were put up to protect Larry’s drums. It was a surreal moment in the night as the rain started just before ‘The Unforgettable Fire’. Fire & water may not mix but there was going to be no dampening the moment as the huge screen surrounding the inside of the claw started dropping down & separating into sections as it did. With a red glow surrounding the stage there really was a feeling we were looking at a massive fire. With the screen remaining in position & different colours flashing by we were treated to ‘City of Blinding Lights. A few songs later the rain had gone & such was the enjoyment of the gig it hadn’t caused much disappointment to anyone.
During ‘Walk On’ there was images of the Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi on screen who has being under house arrest for 20 years. Bono made an emotional plea for her release. During the song a few dozen people wearing masks of her face walked out along the pit wall. Some fans were also wearing masks that had being given out before the concert. Other similar moments included images of Iran on the screen during ‘Sunday, Bloody Sunday’ & an impassioned speech played on the screens from Desmond Tutu.
The final song before the encore was ‘One’. What is now a familiar sight at recent U2 tours saw Bono asking everyone to light up their mobile phones in what used to be where people lit their lighters with the lights dimmed. It does look amazing & ‘One’ is not only my favourite U2 song but also one of my all time favourite songs so I never tire of seeing this.
We were now nearing the end of the night & 3 songs remained but we wouldn’t be forgetting these in a hurry as Bono emerged on stage with an amazing jacket with what looked like laser lights all down the side. As it was dark at this stage it a spectacular sight. It fitted right in with the song ‘Ultraviolet’. This was followed by crowd favourite ‘With or Without You’ which had us all singing along. The final song of the night was my personal favourite from ‘No Line on the horizon’, ‘Moment of Surrender’. It sounded brilliant live & I hope that it will be released on single so everyone can get to hear it. It was then time to say final thanks & goodbye & the band left the stage to cries of people wanting more & the sounds of Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’ from the speakers. There was just time to enjoy the final views of the claw on the way out. A few more snaps before we started the trip back home.
My final thoughts on this concert are that it was great seeing U2 in concert after 4 years. They really do leave too long between tours. We were extremely lucky with where we were standing for this gig as the bridge we were ‘near’ turned out to actually be moved quite a lot & for most of the walks that the lads took it was right beside us. Having seen U23D I never thought I’d actually ever stand that close with an uninterrupted view of the band. It was an amazing feeling & made for some great photographic moments. Bono kept referring to how happy they were to be playing in their hometown & thanked us the fans for sticking with them. It makes for a very special concert when you can see that that the band is actually enjoying themselves & not just going through the motions. I have since read complaints about the gig with some fans complaining about the set list. My answer to that was that you can never please everyone & while there are songs I’d have love to have heard I feel it was a balanced set list & included songs spanning their entire career. U2 are one of the best bands in the world & any show they put in is going to be a visual spectacle with guaranteed great music. They consistently come back with excellent new music. I’ve seen them live 3 times now & while Slane will always have a special place in my heart this too was a brilliant gig. One of my thoughts as I left Croke Park was will it be another 4 years before they come back again? I sincerely hope not.
Gwen Langford, 26/07/09
As we had a 2 hour wait before entering the pitch area we settled down to read the Friday reviews in the papers & listen to a few tunes (U2 of course) on my MP3 player. We were talking to people of various nationalities from Brazilian to Austrian to Scottish who had descended on the city to see their idols in their homeland. Irish fans seemed few & far between! We also signed up to the ONE foundation which works alongside organisations to offer relief in Africa & other places around the world.
Finally one of the moments that we had being waiting for. Doors open & time to get our first views of the mighty claw. It was awe-inspiring! Croke Park on its own is really impressive even to my familiar eyes but seeing this huge piece of art sitting majestically in the stadium was a pretty amazing sight. As we walked into the pit we were just staring up at this over-whelming structure over our heads. It was then time for more pressing matters & finding a spot where we not only had a good view of the stage but also of the ring around it & of a bridge. I spotted a gap at the side with the wall to lean on & seemingly halfway from the stage & a bridge but things are not always what they seem as will be explained later.
It was now shortly after 4pm & another couple of hours wait before the live music began but time passed really quickly & it was soon time for the last toilet visit & to top up on vital water supplies to last us until the show was over. Then camera at the ready let the show begin.
First up were Irish band Republic of Loose. Being honest I was a little disappointed by these. While the music was very good & ‘You know it’ & ‘Comeback Girl’ were great to hear, until the last song there was no crowd interaction. I wasn’t the only one to notice this & indeed Mike Pyro the lead singer himself made comments that we were at a U2 gig & why was everyone so quiet. My own thoughts were that yes we came to see U2 but the reason we were all quiet was all their doing. Another aspect of their set that annoyed me was that they had a photographer with them on stage for a good while which made taking us taking photos really difficult & it came across as somewhat amateur & unprofessional. However they were only the warm-up band so in the run of things they didn’t really matter.
Next up were The Kaiser Chiefs & here were a band who know how to perform & engage their audience. From the 1st notes of ‘Never Miss a Beat’ they were totally on form & in the words of that opening song, they didn’t miss a beat! Lead singer Ricky Wilson was full of energy & spent the set racing around the stage & once he even got into the crowd and was surfed back to the stage with the help of willing fans. Their set list included all the favourites & we all enjoyed hearing ‘Every day I love you less’, ‘Ruby’, ‘I predict a Riot’ & ‘Oh My God’. I had chosen to go to the Saturday gig because The Kaiser Chiefs were supporting & I wasn’t disappointed. They left us all with a satisfied feeling & the knowledge of knowing that U2 would be taking the stage in less than an hour which thankfully passed quite quickly.
At approximately 8.50 David Bowie’s’ Space Oddity’ blared out of the speakers and smoke started bellowing from the centre of the claw. Cheers erupted around Croke Park as a lone Larry Mullen Jnr walked out on stage up to his drum set & the first beats of ‘Breathe’ can be heard as Adam, Edge & Bono walk out on stage to deafening cheers from the crowds. From the start it is a high energy, high octane gig. Starting with 4 songs from the new album was a brave decision but one that worked as the guys went from ‘Breathe’ to ‘No Line On The Horizon’ to ‘Get on Your Boots’ & ‘Magnificent’ with barely stopping to swap guitars. They were all excellent songs which had the crowds already singing along with every word. Altogether there were six songs from the new album performed on the night.
The business end of promoting the new album opened the way for a set filled with great songs & quite a few snippets along the way. ‘Beautiful Day’ was 1st in a line of songs to get this treatment with a little bit of ‘Here Comes the Sun’. A personal highlight was when they sung ‘Angel of Harlem’ with a sample of Michael Jackson’s ‘Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough’. There was no mention of Michael Jackson but I felt it was a nice touch one month to the date he died. Just after this we had a pre-recorded video link up with the space station & the band sang ‘Unknown Caller’ while Bono made references to our claw being a spaceship.
Shortly after this there seemed the weather was conspiring against us as it started raining but as Bono said no one cared about the rain as covers were put up to protect Larry’s drums. It was a surreal moment in the night as the rain started just before ‘The Unforgettable Fire’. Fire & water may not mix but there was going to be no dampening the moment as the huge screen surrounding the inside of the claw started dropping down & separating into sections as it did. With a red glow surrounding the stage there really was a feeling we were looking at a massive fire. With the screen remaining in position & different colours flashing by we were treated to ‘City of Blinding Lights. A few songs later the rain had gone & such was the enjoyment of the gig it hadn’t caused much disappointment to anyone.
During ‘Walk On’ there was images of the Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi on screen who has being under house arrest for 20 years. Bono made an emotional plea for her release. During the song a few dozen people wearing masks of her face walked out along the pit wall. Some fans were also wearing masks that had being given out before the concert. Other similar moments included images of Iran on the screen during ‘Sunday, Bloody Sunday’ & an impassioned speech played on the screens from Desmond Tutu.
The final song before the encore was ‘One’. What is now a familiar sight at recent U2 tours saw Bono asking everyone to light up their mobile phones in what used to be where people lit their lighters with the lights dimmed. It does look amazing & ‘One’ is not only my favourite U2 song but also one of my all time favourite songs so I never tire of seeing this.
We were now nearing the end of the night & 3 songs remained but we wouldn’t be forgetting these in a hurry as Bono emerged on stage with an amazing jacket with what looked like laser lights all down the side. As it was dark at this stage it a spectacular sight. It fitted right in with the song ‘Ultraviolet’. This was followed by crowd favourite ‘With or Without You’ which had us all singing along. The final song of the night was my personal favourite from ‘No Line on the horizon’, ‘Moment of Surrender’. It sounded brilliant live & I hope that it will be released on single so everyone can get to hear it. It was then time to say final thanks & goodbye & the band left the stage to cries of people wanting more & the sounds of Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’ from the speakers. There was just time to enjoy the final views of the claw on the way out. A few more snaps before we started the trip back home.
My final thoughts on this concert are that it was great seeing U2 in concert after 4 years. They really do leave too long between tours. We were extremely lucky with where we were standing for this gig as the bridge we were ‘near’ turned out to actually be moved quite a lot & for most of the walks that the lads took it was right beside us. Having seen U23D I never thought I’d actually ever stand that close with an uninterrupted view of the band. It was an amazing feeling & made for some great photographic moments. Bono kept referring to how happy they were to be playing in their hometown & thanked us the fans for sticking with them. It makes for a very special concert when you can see that that the band is actually enjoying themselves & not just going through the motions. I have since read complaints about the gig with some fans complaining about the set list. My answer to that was that you can never please everyone & while there are songs I’d have love to have heard I feel it was a balanced set list & included songs spanning their entire career. U2 are one of the best bands in the world & any show they put in is going to be a visual spectacle with guaranteed great music. They consistently come back with excellent new music. I’ve seen them live 3 times now & while Slane will always have a special place in my heart this too was a brilliant gig. One of my thoughts as I left Croke Park was will it be another 4 years before they come back again? I sincerely hope not.
Gwen Langford, 26/07/09
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