Venue: Norwich Arts Centre, Norwich Date: 13 May 2012 It has been anything but a quiet year for Dry The River. Having racked up an endless string of major festival dates last summer – and this one too – as well as supporting Bombay Bicycle Club in winter, it was only time before they played [...]
There’s a good crowd already in the close confines of McHugh’s basement an hour before Danny Wilson and his Champions start their set and to my highly trained eye, that’s an indicator for the kind of gig we’re in for… people know to get down early and soak up every minute. And it turns out [...]
Venue: The Black Box, Belfast Date: 2 March 2012 Our Krypton Son in the alter-ego Derry’s Chris McConaghy. Formerly a member of noisy indie art-rock outfit Red Organ Serpent Sound, he’s been honing his solo songwriting skills over the last number of years and based on tonight’s performance it’s been time well spent. He’s a [...]
Venue: The Errigle Inn, Belfast Date: 1 March 2012 Belfast’s Real Music Club has been running in the cosy confines of the Errigle Inn for many years showcasing some huge international stars, as well as local talent and up and coming performers from around the world. Tonight we’ve got a real blues treat with performances [...]
Venue: The Spring & Airbrake, Belfast Date: 27 January 2012 CW Stoneking’s gig last at year’s Out to Lunch was by all accounts one of the highlights of the whole year if not just the festival so it was no surprise that this year’s appearance was moved to the larger Spring & Airbrake from Out [...]
Venue: Black Box, Belfast Date: 25 January 2012 I really didn’t know too much about Beth Jeans Houghton and her band The Hooves of Destiny before this week but when doing my research and found out the name of their EP was called ‘Hot Toast Vol 1′ I knew I was gonna like them. The [...]
Venue: The Black Box, Belfast Date: 20 January 2012 A victory wrestled from the jaws of defeat… – Anonymous Punter When Pete Molinari takes centre stage in Belfast it’s a rather unnerving trainwreck of a start. There are reportedly issues with guitar tunings, guitar setups, the on-stage sound and at first he sits rather sulkily, [...]
Venue: The Black Box, Belfast Date: 18/01/11 Sarah Savoy (pronounced Sav-wah) and the Francadians second gig of the day to a sold-out Black Box in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter was my first bite of this year’s Out to Lunch Festival and there was an air of expectation when support act, Johanna Devine from Tennessee got the [...]
Venue: The Stiff Kitten, Belfast Date: 25/11/11 The Staves have become something of a regular sight on the stages of Belfast since playing a few shows including a rain-drenched Laura Marling support at last year’s Open House Festival. They’ve been back for a couple of support slots and tonight they headline Belfast’s Stiff Kitten and [...]
Venue: Ulster Hall, Belfast Date: 27/10/2011 I’ll get this one off my chest straight away, Belfast Festival at Queen’s strikes me as something of an odd festival. It’s connections to a university campus and financial massaging by a range of corporate sponsors including large banking firms don’t tend to sit well with the bawdiness of [...]