McEvoy’s The Hatch, pub in Celbridge were hosting an event on Friday night which promised to supply us with “Original music from original songsters, choice covers, pints, bantz”. Uncertain whether this was our kind of “scene” or not we headed there anyway to check it out. After a lengthy drive we found ourselves twisting and turning through some winding roads to find a small little house- like pub that does look like it is in the back of beyonds but it was bursting with people. This charming little pub was McEvoy’s, Its cosy home like interior settles you in almost straight away and with friendly staff and punters its a great start to the night.
The night of music begins with some well known and original tracks from Ross Breen and Lisa Loughrey (The Mariannes) accompanied by Nathan Maher (The Mariannes). I’ll admit country and traditional music wouldn’t usually be my favourite style but good music is good music and when these guys played it didn’t matter the genre. The enthusiasm and passion exuded from Breen and Loughrey as they showcased their multi instrumental skills and performed with such confidence and swagger that kept the crowd engaged. With cool smooth and at times husky vocals from Breen he effortlessly slid from country to rock and roll and charmed the crowd to sing along, while Loughrey’s sweet lull and country rasp vocals portrayed her beautifully written original songs with passion and affection. However this sweet voice has power and volume and can take on some big songs as we discovered as the night progressed.
Breen and Loughrey commanded our attention with their energetic performances and friendly attitude and of course crowd pleasing songs and encouraged everyone to sing along. It became a jam session as they played songs they hadn’t rehearsed and a bassist from the crowd decided to pick up a bass and join in. The room was bursting with talent as these fantastic musicians came together and played as if they had been playing together all their lives. Maher showed off some slick guitar solos and talent as he played everything they threw at him with such ease and confidence. This night of entertainment went on until the early hours of the morning with everyone dancing and enjoying themselves and requesting song after song.
Its a night like this that proves Ireland is full of musical talent and whether it is your style of music or not, if the artists are as engaging, energetic and skilled as in McEvoy’s Friday night you will enjoy yourself.
punchy drums it’s a fantastic start to their set. Blossoms are a band that you absolutely have to see live to really appreciate their talent as we see from this instrumentally energetic track. They give you a full bursting sound that you don’t here in the recordings. They follow with their new single ‘Getaway’ which as we hoped in our review of this track earlier this year was amazing live, once again they gave us a new more voluminous sound and dimension to this smooth indie pop track giving it a edge and bite. Blossoms fly straight into ‘Across The Moor’ as the crowd enjoy it’s sleek seductive style with bouncy funky beats and flirtatious bass. It’s 
irresistible keyboard melody has everyone bouncing and swaying. They slow things down with ‘My Favourite Room’ before they blast into ‘Blown Rose’ followed by the crowd favourite ‘Charlemagne’, with very little speech between tracks. Blossoms let their music do the talking, while their cool, calm persona radiates and gives them that attractive feature that draws the crowd in and makes them listen attentively. They conclude their set with the dynamic ‘Blow’ this song is full of swagger with enticing psychedelic guitars and strong alluring bass. This song performed live commands your body to dance and leaves the crowd wanting more. An excellent warm up and a strong act for The Last Shadow Puppets to follow.
of stage performance. We see a fresh more playful side to Turner as he interacts with the crowd and his partner in crime Miles Kane. They perform some beloved songs from their first album which obviously are a big hit with the crowd as they watch Kane and Turner perform in a theatrical manner full of hip thrusts and guitar poses. Both are pros at performing and command the stage and captivate their audience as they perform. Nothing can put them off their stride not a lead coming out of a guitar while playing or a mic falling off its stand while Turner is singing. Turner simply carries on with or without them. The show is full of dynamic playful energy. They surprise us with ‘Is This What You Wanted’ a 
Leonard Cohen cover in which Turner sings the verse while Kane’s strong vocals take on the chorus. They return for an encore of ‘Meeting Place’ ,’The Dream Synopsis’ and of course ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’ The Beatles cover which gives the crowd an explosive ending as we are presented with a full heavy instrumental end of pounding drums screeching guitars and insane synth sounds. It’s definitely a show I’m glad we didn’t miss as it was a refreshing change to see such a fun light hearted show that was bursting with fantastic music from the much loved duo.
massive final track. As usual a strong performance from Beautiful Corruption.
with slick guitars and pounding drums followed finally by ‘Chasing and Fading’ the EP’s title track which is a riff based track that is infectious and trance like. They build to a heavy end with a strong final note, that leaves the crowd wanting more. After a little persuasion Anna – Liese play two more songs before finishing as the crowd begin a frenzy of dancing moshing and pushing. A strong way to end a brilliant gig.
Glow’ and the infectious upbeat ‘The World Is Waiting’ that had everyone bopping along as frontman George Waite performed with an Elvis Costello swagger and energy. Every song followed smoothly and went down a treat with the audience. They swayed and danced perfectly contented with the beaming radiant tunes as they joined in with the “crowd friendly” clapping bridge of ‘Backstreet Lovers’. Their new track ‘Real Life’ went down particularly well with the crowd. The girl beside me turned to her friend and yelled “Oh my god I love these guys!” I wouldn’t be surprised if they have a strong Irish following after Monday nights performance.
