We were invited to Brass Phantoms ‘Indigo’ single launch in Whelan’s last Friday night with support from the ever so enthusiastic grungy disco band MUNKY who were also playing again after Brass Phantoms for the Midnight hour. Their swagger soaked set oozed slick panache doused in funky fluctuant grooves. Adding two lovely backing singers to their set MUNKY delivered a performance that was both classy and coarse all at once. ‘Regular Fool’ and ‘Hair of The Day’ introduce their sound. Packed with multi 
layers it’s slick, suave and gritty in all the right places. Their bassist Niall Donnelly exuberantly bounces and hops complete with dramatic poses and playful interactions with drummer Sam Russell which makes for an entertaining performance. Their sound translates sublimely live from shrilling distortion and skull pounding mosh ready frenzy to oh so cool and chilled groovy moments. Their disco flavoured grunge is infectious, it’s foot tapping body movingly delicious. Zac Stephenson’s vocals add a raspy gritty texture that shakes up their luscious sound. With catchy tracks like ‘Hunter Gatherer Blues’ and ‘7am’ on their set list it’s a feverishly danceable set. Your mind might refuse to dance but your body will succumb. ‘Just Can’t Quit’ lets Stephenson’s vocals shine. It’s a slow burner and insanely melodic and passionate, letting MUNKY display a more serious side to their repertoire. It becomes quickly apparent just how talented this four piece are. When you can get the whole room to sing along with you, you know your doing well. Usually it is an “oh ohh” or “woohoo” lyric or something but this quartet got us all singing “We don’t wanna talk about it we just wanna get f*cked” and why not it was catchy. Their guitar licks and riffs were divine and blissfully sharp while the 
baseline elastically slapped rumbled and grooved nimbly. It was a thrilling set exuding fiery passion pounding drums and expressive vocals. So much energy and dynamism with glorious melodies and rich textures poured from these guys along with a few splashes of sweat. The girls left for the final track ‘Bastered Luck’. MUNKY grooved through a sultry smoky rendition of the track. It’s a heavy dark intense chilling end to their set. These guys sent funky disco rock shock-waves around the venue. It was memorable for sure.
Brass Phantoms kicked things off with a floor shaking rumbling instrumental before blasting straight into ‘Ghouls’. With a simple stance it’s a serious set, frontman Ryan Cashell is an intense performer his rigid body radiating profound passion. Each track takes a different persona when performed live ‘City Of Wolves’ more rumbly and atmospherically anthemic. ‘In Sight ‘ and ‘Wood Words’ ease the crowd into an evening of indie revelry, soaring backing vocals resonate through the intricate weaving guitar lines and pounding drums. The band provide a refreshing shake up to 
their songs. Each track as energetic and intense as the next. Through their nostalgic melancholic melodies they possess an ability to captivate the listener enthralled in the swirling synth and guitar arrangement. Each band members expression and interaction with one another and the crowd adds another dimension from Greg Whelan’s smiley banter to Cashell’s brave jump into the crowd. Adam McCabe’s rapid tireless drumming resounded throughout as his floppy hair joyously kept time. It’s the fiery explosive ‘Disciples’ that truly ignites their set and gets both the band and the audience hyped as the crowd mosh to the heavy chorus. The hollow woodblock knock between the beats for ‘Inferno’ is just mesmerising. The crowd cheer once it starts as they begin to shimmy and dance to its infectious pulse. It’s almost hypnotic. 
‘Waiting Up’ lured in the cheering crowd with its anthemic elevated chorus that most bands could only dream of before the single that called everyone to Whelan’s that night… ‘Indigo’ was played. An immensely powerful performance of ‘Indigo’ proves the vibrant intense power of this band. It’s an energetic mammoth that leaves the crowd thirsty for more as they call for “one more tune!”. Brass Phantoms’ live performance was precisely what the majority of their songs are: vibrant, passionate, punchy and impossible not to enjoy.
appears to be having spasms. The blue lighting with dry ice blasts create a menacing smoky backdrop to what we are about to witness. The crowd begin to sway and bounce to their unique sound. There are a few at first in the crowd that seem shocked by the wailing and screeching obscure sound they hear but when I look at them later they are completely mesmerised, joining in with the mass adoration. The band throw out more masks for anyone without one and the crowd fight over them, its chaotic. These guys drive the crowd wild with their music, it seems to bring out an animalistic character in each of them as they itch for more. It’s a sight to see when nearly everyone is either wearing a mask on their face or the back of their head it’s like you are being watched everywhere you turn. The band enjoy themselves throwing everything they have into their performance. The crowd shout for the track ‘The Vine’ the band graciously grant their request. The room erupts singing along and dancing to its jungle like
beat. Drummer Micheál begins to climb up to the ceiling before resting on the pillar above while the others dance about the stage. This sets the crowd alight. They cheer for him like he is a hero as he climbs back down to the stage. Brian swings from the sails and ropes above the stage, the band go all out monkey and so do the audience, its insane. There is a particular dance to this track and all the audience join in like their minds are in synch with the band, maybe they are through hypnotic waves or something, but it’s a mind boggling spectacle for sure. The band request the audience to all kneel on the floor and they obey in a flash just to spring up in a mad frenzy of jumping. The audience worship them and idolise their spontaneous madness. So much so they give 
them a hero’s cheer as they line up to leave the stage. It was crazy, a bit unorthodox and immensely energetic. The crowd appeared lost without them when they left. Meltybrains? set was a unique experience for sure.
on Keys, they blew us away. David D’Andrade is one of the most striking guitarists I’ve seen, imagine Jack Black with a hint of Meat Loaf theatrics teamed with slick guitar poses and swagger soaked spirited solos. Their sound is so full and bursting with life and dynamism it’s a rush of tantalizing soundscapes. Dramatic stops and starts they bring a fresh new thirst quenching sound to the Bowery audience. The crowd yell “yeah!” as they dance uncontrollably to their infectious groove. Jason Tebble’s slick bass adds a funky sensual elastic buoyancy to the tracks while Jon Harris’ drumming keeps a punchy foundation for Tebble to rebound off. With more energy than a bolt of lightning these guys blaze through their tracks oozing swagger leaving nothing but burn marks behind. ‘Sunshine’ is an absolute gem each note radiated golden vibes. Their set is playful vibrant and fun. 
Their sound immensely rich it’s honey to the ears, so jam packed with luscious melodies and intricate compositions all weaving together to create a blissful experience. These guys exude so much energy it pounds through you and lifts your spirit, it’s hard not to dance. The crowd loved every minute of it, one guy went to the edge of the stage to bow down in worship of the band another shouted while they were deciding what song to play next “just play some bass”. In their live set these guys exude slick panache and style with a flamboyant disco vibe blended with their funky rock, they are just too cool. Though their set was cut short it was pretty extraordinary.
Follows’ gets the crowd moshing and going wild. The guys have a cool nonchalant stage presence as they pierce with shrilling distortion on guitar and throttling drums over agonising expressive vocals. “Scream if you love hash” guitarist and vocalist Killian Barrett shouts at the crowd as they go nuts. The band sing happy birthday to a member of the crowd urging everyone to buy him a drink. A cover of Pixies ‘Where Is My Mind‘ follows causing a manic mosh frenzy among the crowd, as the birthday boy crowd surfs victoriously. The band bellow out a pretty slick rendition of the track to yelps and whoops from the audience. From here on out it’s absolute anarchy there is no controlling the crowd as they become consumed with the blasting tracks. ‘If Not Now Then When?’ finishes off their set soaked in sunny golden guitar lines, thumping drums and swagger infused vocals. It’s a pretty smooth rough and tumble burst of indie rock. The verses glide and groove with effortless sun kissed slickness while the chorus explodes with forceful mighty garage rock. It’s a fiery blustery set from Chinese Newspaper, a band to definitely keep an eye out for.
combination. Their original songs are well layered and balanced – rich danceable rhythms teamed with tight crashing guitars, some pretty slick solos and catchy melodies. ‘I Don’t Wanna Go’ fleshes out their Catfish and The Bottlemen influence a little. Actually, we see a lot of Catfish and The Bottlemen covers (which the crowd went wild for) so that’s no surprise. The band waste no time in getting the crowd engaged, guitarist John Fitzgerald throws band stickers into the crowd after their rendition of Arctic Monkeys ‘Brianstorm’. This gets the audience rowdy and savage, the band know what their audience like and they deliver it. Each original track displays a subtle growth in the band’s sound ‘No Patience’ showcasing a darker croony side to their catchy bubbly indie rock. They take the opportunity to display their versatility as a band as well as entertain. A few your mother jokes and a lot of crowd surfing later and we come close to the track everyone is here for, but before that a feisty rendition of Royal Blood’s ‘Figure It Out’ which holds a lot of excitement both in mishaps and crowd 
interaction. Vocalist Andrew Berry’s guitar strap breaks during the song, fortunately bassist Evan Butler’s mother comes to his aid like a ninja and fixes it. The crowd hardly notice, they are busy moshing jumping and going uncontrollably wild. Launch track. ‘Outside’ is announced to a mass of cheers and whoops as they belt out the indie banger. The band close the show on an unplanned cover of Arctic Monkeys ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’. The crowd go crazy shouting back the lyrics, it’s savage anarchy, practically everyone has a go at crowd surfing and there was no stopping them. They yell for one more song and the band oblige with the perhaps obvious choice Catfish and The Bottlemens’ ‘Kathleen’. What can I say the room erupted, a pretty explosive end to their show. The crowd were manic and pumped and this track just set them all off.
during her set you could hear a pin drop as the audience are captivate by her voice and moving lyrics. She gingerly introduces her songs with a hint of nervousness that appears to disappear when she begins to sing. ‘Bare’ displays a sorrowful heart-breaking quality to her vocals. Walkers performance is an enchanting display of vulnerability and vocal fortitude. She dips into her lower register while the sweet guitar accompaniment dolefully mourns along. Her tracks display a sense of refinement and elegance with gorgeous melodies and a sway like wistfulness. Walker tells the crowd about her family from Waterford and her sister who went to Trinity bridging any gap between herself and the crowd. After each track the audience whoop and clap enjoying the sweet toned breath of fresh air her
tracks tend to bring. She takes to the keyboard for the celestial ‘Illuminate’ “I always feel a bit sassy when I do this” she giggles before beginning an enthralling pure version of her track. Evoking a peaceful silence and longing throughout the room, it’s hair raising and captivating. She closes her set with the chilling and haunting ‘Ghost’ after trying to convince us she didn’t nick the name Wilds from Oscar Wild.
set he shouts, “I Love You” Gracie reply’s “I love you too.. I hope you said I love you, I can’t really hear properly if you didn’t it’s ok I still love you” before the most beautiful rendition of ‘Silhouettes Of You’. The spellbound audience sway dumbfounded by the passion exuding from this shy young chap. The sorrow and despair flooding through every note and hitting you bang smack in the middle of your chest. It’s heart breaking and graceful. It’s my favourite track on the New EP and it was as tear jerking and tender if not more so than I expected. It’s the second show performing with his band and it’s a working progress as they stumble over blunders with the audience barely noticing. With a show like this all the hiccups and bashfulness makes it special it’s raw and fresh. ‘Running on Empty’ takes a different heavier persona with the band. Personally, I prefer the solitary version it’s more striking and personal however, with the band it takes on a danceable wiggle vibe. Gracie’s vocals still shine and the lyrics still pierce but it’s just a little more fun and less heart breaking. “The second guitar solo of my life” Gracie announces at the end of the track it feels like we’ve experienced a pillar moment for Gracie. Struggling to open his bear bottle he introduces the agonising ‘Terrified’. The band retire from the stage for the encore leaving just Gracie and his guitar for the affectionate ‘Last Words’. The maturely written tender track that made him an artist to watch. The audience sway and sing the lyrics along with Gracie, everyone’s heart breaking in that beautiful moment, his eyes closed, his brow creased with deep sorrow, we feel every emotion and painful quiver. The perfect way to end his set.
The thrilling guitar fuzz and shrill teamed with adrenaline pumping drums gets the crowd warmed up screaming for more in no time. ”Do You Like Cry Babies?” Carley shouts at the crowd “nobody likes crybabies” is the fiesty introduction to the neck snapping ‘Crybabies Go Home’. The crowd roar the “whoohoohoo” lyrics back to her as she jumps about the stage. Elaborate guitar poses and all it’s purely captivating. Swagger is a tame word for these guys, they are wild and absolutely mental but it makes for a fascinating live set and the crowd were lapping it up. When you think it couldn’t get better she introduces the one string wonder “because all you need is one god damn string” that’s right a guitar with one string that plays just as mighty and meaty as a six string makes you wonder why anyone plays guitar normally. This duo are cool and feisty and boy do they put on a live show.
make it over. His advice for the night “do whatever you want, be yourself, have fun and don’t hurt no body”. The set becomes extremely manic as the crowd grow more and more hysterical by each track the four-piece play, one guy bows at Parks’ feet in worship of him. Frenzied moshing consumes the entire center floor as people get pushed around some onto the stage only to bounce back up to jump, dance and mosh again. All while All Them Witches maintain a cool suave on stage just jamming through the bluesy psychedelic tunes. Live these guys are awesome, the sound so thrilling and mind liquefying yet hefty and monstrous. ‘Charlies William’ once again is met with screams whoops and yelps from the crowd. They are so into it I think even All Them Witches seem surprised. Their Irish fans are insanely enthusiastic changing the room into a moshing slaughter house, while still having respect for the others around them. ‘Bulls’ and Alabaster’ brings a surge of exhilaration over the crowd as they adoringly chant the lyrics back with an overflow of joy, it’s like they are at an altar, wildly worshiping. They beg the band to stay when Parks announces their last few songs but he soothingly insists he can’t.
prominent bass it’s an impress heavy mosh worthy set. With slick Queens Of The Stone Age- esque wails and sulky melodies backed by shattering instrumentation these guys pack a serious bruising punch. With a simple stance on stage they let their music speak for itself.
throughout creating a wholly unique experience. The melodies are so rich and lushly textured you can get lost in their set, forgetting the absence of a vocalist and lyrics they still mange to hold your attention. This duo have honed in on their style and perfected it meticulously. From the funky doused new track ‘Sleep’ to the crowd pleaser ‘Sugar Beats’ they deliver a satisfying set that has the crowd in a mad frenzy of dancing wiggling and moshing. These guys have an infectious refined sound all of their own and it’s pretty impressive.
wipe their brows with a towel, it’s a sweaty spectacle. With songs about PlayStation games (Space Odyssey), Pac-Man and Fatal Deviation (an Irish martial arts movie) set to dance fuelled mosh ready punchy music with quirky synths it’s a fresh aerial experience. ‘Divide’ slows the tempo, introduced as the track for the “shift… to go in for the strike”. It’s sway-like with sweet harmonies and escalating synths. The five-piece put on a vigorous and spirited show packed with catchy tunes explosive crescendos and humorous banter with a sound that’s unique to them. It’s impossible not to be drawn into the band’s hypnotic whirlpool-world of spacey rock. It’s definitely worth checking them out live.
They brought a danceable fun atmosphere with humorous banter and solid energetic catchy tracks. Each track takes a heavy aggressive turn adding a bit of grit to the set and giving the crowd something to mosh to. Acting as the calm before the storm they deceive us with sunny holiday vibes. That is until DEATHBUS swarm in playing “some really stupid music really f***ing fast”. It’s a fierce growling set of heavy ear bleeding metal. What the lyrics are I couldn’t tell you, but it set the crowd alight in an insane fury of 
headbanging. There was hair swishing everywhere one guy was so entranced and heavily moshing I thought he was going to bash his head off the stage. Shrilling guitars with a neck snapping speed their set was brutal, blood thirsty and adrenaline pumping lunacy. The Dubtones follow with an equally energetic but less slaughterous set. With rock and roll hints and groovy rhythm they bring back a taste
of the boppy bubbly vibes causing a wiggle-like mosh dance among the crowd.Cracking pirate ship jokes and all “cos we arrr!” it’s an entertaining set. Brassy NYC punk band All Torn Up follow. Interacting directly with the crowd frontman Joey Steel jumps into the audience to mosh along with them before preaching about the wretched world and “backward pieces of sh*t”. His sweat 
flicking everywhere as the crowd laps up his enthusiasm. These guys have a demanding stage presence and relentless stamina as they jump shout and swear with compelling endurance. It’s a slick brisk set bursting with fiery attitude. The 
audience erupt into spasms of madness. Jumping pushing headbanging and just plain going crazy. Each track is a battering assault to the senses but an invigorating experience for sure. Punk mammoths Leftover Crack take over the stage like a kraken. With literally a bruising set, crowd members are bashing into each other throwing one another to the floor. There is a strange sense of comradery amongst these heavy moshers once they fall down they get picked up to be bashed to the floor again. Their rapturous set drives the crowd wild. These guys provide one of the most involving satisfying raw live sets I’ve experienced. They are musically airtight and enraged with brutally efficient riffs, pummeling drums and dynamic vocals that alternate between raspy roars and croons. Unfortunately much to my frustration my battery died before their set so I couldn’t take any pictures, but these guys are larger than life and put on a fantastic show.
indie pop with cinematic bursts, echos and divine melodies. Using distortion shrills,electronic smacks and loops teamed with his powerful vocals he’s completely captivating. His knack for melody and composition is remarkable every fragment of each song is euphoric and intricately rich and McCabe performs with such intensity it’s extremely thrilling, imagine Børns only more raw,edgy and dark. He lets the music speak for itself with little to no speech between the songs.It’s quite the engulfing performance that holds everyone’s attention even the usually awkward guitar retuning is met by absolute silence I’ve never seen a crowd so quiet as they await the treasures McCabe will play next. When you think he surely cannot top that fantastic set… he does beautifully and simply with the sweetest delicate and elegant ‘Always You’. The sway-like candied doo wop gentle track is heartmeltingly tender and emotional. Passionately performed the melty melody and dreamy exterior of this track is just irresistible and softly sweet. Building to an intense expressive heart felt crescendo and ending on a light creamy note it’s a beautiful way to end his set.
to their tracks it’s so good even our drinks want to dance. They bellow out a nice little sample of George Michael’s ‘Outside’ before exploding into ‘Groove Mission’. These guys are packed with energy and fun vibes with humorous banter from a ZZ Top rip off beat to beards while still belting out powerful neck snapping tunes. They close their set with ‘Hold Me Klausly’ their self described “steady stain of manure” truly a blustering mostly instrumental wallop of pulverising drums and crunching bass.The crescendo of the track is the squealing shrilling finale where Watchy drops his bass on the floor before saying “look after each other”. Check them out on “Bebo and Myspace”
old the sound is weighty and overruling. Each track belts out relentless aggressive stamina. Even the “slow song for if your feeling romantic” is a deception thankfully these girls do hefty rock well and for the moment that’s what they stick to. ‘Terry Said’ sparks immediate applause and screams clearly a fan favourite the duo strike out a knocking performance of the fierce track. Launch single ‘Silica’ results in heavy moshing and jumping Maeve’s vocals are harsher and meaner for this track as its feistier and frantic. ‘OCD’ closes their set, accelerated and hard core, it’s an explosive way to end their show. The duo walk of stage to screaming fans for “one more song” while the new video for ‘Silica’ plays on the backdrop behind.
solo artist. ‘Outside Lines’ introduces his soulful passionate sound, it’s simple emotive and raw displaying Paterson’s crisp vocals and sharp falsetto range. There’s something to be said for a solo performer especially when they can grab your attention and draw you into their performance with ease and Paterson does this perfectly. His songs speak for themselves from warm country bouncy tunes to edgy indie folk melodies. He performs a diverse, striking yet beautifully simple set. Bantering through the slightly awkward guitar retuning , he is unfazed and relaxed. A refreshing refined stripped back set that makes Paterson stand out as a performer.
chilled back vibes and narrative lyrics their set is a quirky mixed bag. New single ‘
pedal manoeuvres are effortlessly managed with agility and finesse while Gavin Purcell acutely belts those drums with fierce relentless stamina. From the thrilling ‘Fake News’ to the slick swagger soaked ‘Caged’ the set is brimming with altering grooves, meaty punches and sweet elevator-like jingles thrown into the mix to break up the sticky hot messy mosh. These guys like to keep the crowd on their toes. When the tune is heavy, oh boy, it is skull pounding mania and when it’s light and sweet, its the most blissful toned deliciously honeyed melody you can imagine. All this is mixed and blended meticulously to create the most thrilling live experience possible. Plouzané-Brady plays the role of frontman with ease, keeps banter to a minimum but interacts with the crowd by moshing and playing amongst them. With stage hands at the ready like ninjas (nod to 
little hiccup is swiftly dealt with instantly. ‘Sugar Beats’ brings a clap along feature for the now tightly squished to the front crowd as they mosh manically. Hair everywhere and pints spilling it’s a feverish manic chaos. The crowd lift Plouzané-Brady above their heads like a hero as he plays horizontal in a triumphant wobbly crowd surf. New single ‘T.O.I’ is the final song on the Bicurious set, another staggering powerhouse and floor shaking mosh ready track with gentle melodic interludes. The crowd cheerfully “whoo” in time with this mighty euphoric track while the duo blast us with relentless energy and intensity.
tracks about tinder dates ( hope it went well for you Watchy),voices in their heads and the wise words “smoke weed except on Wednesday”. The gritty ‘Old Public Firearm’ and lengthy robust ‘Hold Me Klausly’ showcases their versatility as musicians. The accelerated ‘Innocent Wilson’ finishes their energetic ear popping set with pounding drums and rowdy basslines, These guys do loud rebellious tunes that scream attitude with bruising punk punches while cracking a smile. They are a really entertaining band to watch.
around with a bottle of liquor in hand Scally embodies everything you can imagine when you think of rock n’ roll – sunglasses, attitude and panache. With catchy tracks and such a tight band behind him it’s an entertaining show brimming with insane energy. I was told before the gig to “watch out for Scally-he’s such a front-man” and for sure he was. I definitely would recommend seeing these guys live.
established themselves as a straight up blood and sweat rock band. ‘Gospel’ has members of the audience bowing in worship, in awe of their magnificence and blood thirsty skull bashing sound. New Valley Wolves deliver a vicious raging set that fills you with a riveting pounding sound that compels you to mosh along in a delirious frenzy. They finish their powerhouse set with the rip-roaring single ‘Trouble’ . These guys never disappoint, always delivering a crushing performance.
members do a wiggle flap flap dance while adding the odd chicken neck forward and back movement in there as well. With clap along friendly tracks and humorous banter from Christy O’Hanlon about 1 channel T.V.’s back in 1978 and Kool Aid drinks these guys go down a treat with the crowd. The audience shout for one more song and the trio oblige giving us one last shredding bluesy soaked rock n roll track to send us on our way.
