We sat down to watch the sound check of the Crazy Town Gang while waiting to interview them last Saturday night before their show at the Bowery Rathmines Dublin. The screaming one two’s between some slick bass, steaming guitar licks thumping drums and just sublime noise pounding through my ears was enough to tell me the crowd was in for one hell of a night. Seth Binzer affectionately known by his stage name Shifty Shellshock has one heck of a band behind him.

The support acts on the night Sub Motion, Accidents In The Workplace and MUNKY are all regular offenders on Indie Buddie as they seem to be tearing up the live circuit lately appearing everywhere I turn, much to my delight as I know these are all great bands and have come to enjoy seeing their live shows and their growth with each live show. There is a theme of missing band members tonight, Accidents In The Workplace have no saxophonist (Sean Kenny) on stage and Munky have replaced guitarist Conor Lawlor with Tom McGlynn formerly of the optimists for the night.

Sub Motion kicks things off in their pure raucous manner. A set list brimming with energy and sass, it’s another slick well oiled performance from these guys. For me Sub Motion sound their best live -the rawness of the guitars the gritty rumbling bass lines and fired up drums is a dynamite combination that materialises beautifully and dynamically live. Front woman Rebecca Geary is a force to be reckoned with- i’ve never seen her have an off performance, every show is full throttle.She hops, sways,swishes her hair, sits on the drums and dances with immense energy and spirit, it’s mesmerising.

Accidents In The Workplace follow. All of them squeezed on stage like sardines in a tin can.I love watching these guys live, it is always such fun “You’re looking well  its very warm, but sure look, did you see the football?  It’s good isn’t it ,its mad the way they run after each other and do all the football-y things but I enjoyed it all the same… lets play they are gonna get aggressive now we are Accidents In The Workplace!” the always charismatic Sean McMahon introduces the band. The banter is in full swing as they belt out their vibrant tunes. Lauren Murphy always knocks me for six with her outstanding vocals and dramatic dance moves she is always wearing magnificent colourful outfits her spritz of colour was cleverly placed on her shoulder on Saturday night – a rainbow of beautiful pink, purple, blue and yellow hues. As ever their tunes just make everyday better and their smiling faces are a joy to see. The band make the most of the space they are given and put on a wonderful show. After banter about putting a hole in the wall to see if the Bowery will sink along with immaculate performances of ‘Wake Up’ and How? They give us an extra little treat,  McMahon takes to the center of the stage to whack out a rendition of  The Fugees ‘Ready or Not’ with a trumpet added in. This rendition is pretty amazing, proving these guys aren’t just funky, groovy and melodious as hell they have some cool swagger, rap ability and attitude too.

MUNKY follow and erupt on stage in true MUNKY manner. Tom McGlynn does a fine job slashing out those hefty riffs and a slick little intro leaving all the hair flailing to Zachary Stephenson. Another immensely entertaining act live. Bassist Niall Donnelly shouts at the crowd to move closer as they belt out the funky grooves and evaporating guitar lines. The stage antics were turned down a little compared to other times I have seen them but they still exuded a huge amount of swagger and poured everything into their set keeping the dancing crowd engaged. These guys are extremely talented and every guitar stride, mosh infested instrumental and drum battering confirms this. Sub Motion’s Rebecca Geary tackles backing vocals adding a dash of chicness to the stage layout. Their manic sound is chilled by some bluesy elements making for a wholly enthralling and diverse listen.  ‘7am’ is a prime example of the finesse of this four piece as they juggle the emotional intense verses and brooding backdrop with the gritty heaviness masterfully and this translates to a sing along riff and mosh intensity that is difficult to match. Of course ‘Hunter Gatherer Blues’ and ‘Ms. Communication’ end their set giving Donnelly a chance to playfully interact as he dramatically stomps and jumps to his knees and nearly falls off the stage.

Crazy Town swarm on stage fierce and feisty as bassist Hasma Angeleno guitarist Filippo Dallinferno Giomo and drummer Luca Pretorius play a mighty intro as Shifty strides coolly onstage and moves as close to the crowd as he can. Baffled and mesmerised by his larger than life persona the crowd grab for his hand and stroke his shoes. Straight away the crowd are jumping and moshing- it’s a relentless onslaught from Crazy Town. Hasma screams into the mic while executing the most unique guitar poses- the yoga Tree Pose becoming the standard … and why not? ‘Come Inside’ sets the crowd alight, beer is spilling everywhere, fights are breaking out as two individuals are staring each other off before calling it quits after a good 2-minutes threatening each other, and girls are falling flat on their faces from the moshing- it’s pretty special. It’s a no nonsense set, there’s no time wasted with banter, these guys are here to deliver and that’s what they do. “Dublin what’s up!” Hasma shouts before  the crowd erupt for ‘A Little More Time’ . The atmosphere is electronic and fiery. Filippo is one slick guitarist who is pretty light on his feet gliding and jumping behind with graceful ferocity while Luca pulverises the drums with bloodthirsty stamina. Shifty, as expected plays the front-man role well, he engages with the crowd and swings the suspended monitors as he stands and squats- rarely moving from the front of the stage. A hopeful member of the audience buys Shifty a pint and presents it to him holding it like a golden prize-  so dramatic I almost expected a golden light to form around it while a sudden sweet sound of angels sing “ahhhhh” the beautiful moment is broken by Shifty’s apologetic refusal as he explains the band don’t drink and they offer it back to the audience member, who gladly takes one for the team telling them “its lovely”. The singing along among the crowd is captivating as each track fills them with a confidence and attitude while the lyrics roll off their tongue as they gaze at Shifty in awe almost proud to have him witness their in-depth knowledge of the lyrics. “let me see your middle fingers” Shifty introduces the blustery ‘Born To Raise Hell’. The crowd once again below back the lyrics while waving their middle fingers in the air. ‘Decorated’ is announced to massive screams and whoops and ’Butterfly’ is considerably more fun than it ever was, Crazy Town don’t even have to sing once the chorus kicks in the crowd take over.

It was a pretty special show Crazy Town swarmed in and boy did they take over and hey its nice to know they “fu*king love Dublin” and its “one of their favourite places ever”, we’ll take that.