Katie Gallaghers in Bray may look like the inside of a smokers lung (to quote Withnail and I) and it may contain its fair share of, what is commonly known as, cream crackers but due to the fact that there are three venue size rooms in the building its possible for these elements to co-exist with some awesome tuneage. In fact the line up for the Dead Clubs festival: Mark IV threatens to be just a bit too big for the venue hosting it as the likes of Ham Sandwich, Hybrasil, The Things and our Rob's Clockwork Noise play amongst others.
The fact that they have two stages going with no arsing around in between bands should ensure that all goes according to plan however the best laid plans of mice and men etc etc.
Click on the read more to see what I thought of each act.
Opening act Marvin are a French electro-noisenik-rock act who fell into the gig by default when their own gig in Limerick was cancelled while at the same time another act pulled out of the Bray gig. Clearly they needed somewhere to play fast and this was just the spot. Its unfortunate that the majority of people weren't there while they were on as they're quite awesome. Check out their Myspace to see what I mean. I'm bitterly regretting not buying their album when I had the chance.
The Things are also a band who need a bigger audience than the one they had at the time they took their stage as their raucous rock n'roll ways come off better when there's a crowd to bounce off and it is a bit of a puzzle that they too weren't put closer to the end.
Rob would like me to tell you that the Clockwork Noise played a blinder and that they're worth checking out if you get the chance and I will say just that. Perhaps the success of this performance might encourage them to get off their arses and play more gigs but this remains to be seen. In any way. Their tunes get stronger and stronger and deserve to be heard by a wider audience so lets hope they do just that.
I'm probably just an old fart or something like that although just how much of an old fart you can be in your mid-20's I dunno but Hassle Merchants leave me a bit cold. Perhaps its the fact that the bands that are surrounding them on the night are ones that are really doing interesting stuff in whatever genre(s) they're embracing but these guys punky-indie-emo-noisy stuff is just a bit too boring for a night like this. Perhaps next time.
Unfortunately a trip to put a lady in the back of a taxi ensured that I only saw the first and last songs of More Tiny Giants however by all accounts they were great and certainly a lot better than they gave themselves credit for after the gig. A point will be made to check them out in greater detail in the future.
R.S.A.G. or Rarely Seen Above Ground were my act of the night (at least of the acts that played in Katie's, more on which later). When I first stuck my head in the door and saw a guy playing the drums to a backing track I said "Fuck that shit" and walked out. For some reason though the strength of the tunes that he was playing along to as well as the strength of the drumming caused me to duck my head back in again a few minutes later and its a good thing I did otherwise I would have looked quite the fool. An April fool if you will. Now it might seem quite gimmicky for a guy to play a solo gig with just himself on a kit and projecting images of himself playing the other instruments onto a backscreen but when you look at the time and effort as well as the innovation that the man has put into his show then you'll be blown away. A good idea of what I'm talking about won't really be found at his Myspace but details of where you can see the chap play again will be and I suggest you get there otherwise you run the risk of looking like a twat like I nearly did (or do depending on your opinion).
If you haven't already seen or heard Ham Sandwich then you've had your head stuck up your arse for the last year and at this stage it probably should remain there because they're one of the up and coming Irish bands that are being played everywhere and with a Whelans gig on next Saturday I was quite surprised to see them playing a little bar in Bray. Still more power to them that they gave it as much wellie as they normally would and more power to lead bloke Podge as he proves he's one of the biggest mentallers in the country as well.
The biggest catastrophe of the evening however was the fate that nearly befell Hybrasil. At ten minutes past two in the morning with Ham Sandwich nearly finishing their set it was becoming increasingly obvious that they weren't going to get to play and then when the Guards showed up it sealed the deal. Despite desperate attempts to play even one song they were stopped and begrudgingly admitted defeat. Luckily the party spirit took over & 'the three non-blondes' stepped in to offer their house as an impromptu venue. Despite it being 4.30 am by the time the band were set up and ready to go they played a blinder and luckily we got some footage of it too. A full report of that will appear in the future but for the time being cheers to the Hybrasil lads & their last-minute hosts for a fucking savage house party.
2 comments:
The Thing where put on at the time they wanted to be put on they had to go back to Dublin by 11 so that mite clear up why there where on when they where on and they will be back To rock out Again
I was wondering. Seemed pretty early.
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