Flogging Molly

This is the sixth time I seen Flogging Molly which puts them well out in the lead in relation to other bands I’ve witness in person. While I would never claim they are the best band ever or the finest song writers, I will say that they put on an absolute belter of a show, full of energy, from the band and the crowd, and that more than makes up for any other short-comings.

Got stuck in my first ever northern Irish traffic jam before hand, stand-still for an hour, really had me worried i was going to miss everything. Who ever heard of traffic jams in NI?!

Cold War Kids

Not terribly impressed with this one really. Sound in the S&A seemed a bit off and I’m feeling a general apathy to most of their tunes. It was all just a little bit boring.

Been to 3 gigs recently that I’ve not really known much, if any, of the bands material. After the massive enjoyment of A Hawk and a Hacksaw and Secret Sisters this was hopefully just a minor blip.

Secret Sisters

Firstly, support act.. I did not care for, and wish he would have just sang one song in his native tongue. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone from Greenland and would have been more interested in hearing 5 seconds of his own language than the countless, pointless stories he did tell.

Venue is sold out for Secret Sisters from the looks of things by a majority of senior citizens. This did make me wonder what I might have got myself into.

Secret Sisters are from the deep south, they sing country standards and original material with delightful vocals that perfectly complement each other to the backing of a single guitar. It was simply a pleasure to hear, and easy to be won over by there charm and that little bit of southern sass.

Willy Mason

The last time I saw Willy Mason in Belfast he had a full band backing him up and about half way through the show the audience gifted him a bottle of Buckfast, which he quite impressively/amusingly drank and managed to stay on his feet for the full concert, despite looking more than slightly battle worn.

Tonight as he cracks into his songs, there’s a hint of some history in the room, and after a couple he pics up a glass from the stage of what I guess is whiskey, swigs it back and starts into some reminiscing about the previous…

“They told me it was wine!”

The atmosphere of the night had a nice sense of a singer pouring out the songs from the depths of his soul and a crowd willing to help him get through it as best they can.

Bar the occasional drunk fool making their way onstage.. Mr Mason has the patience of a saint.

Got to hear every song I think I wanted to hear and was left whistling Fear No Pain all the way up the M2.

Dum Dum Girls

Took me a little while to find the venue, I’ve been there once before but that was so long ago it didn’t really count for much. In the process found one dead-end alley way and what I presume is Belfast’s gay-district – an awkward eyes down, speed-y walk ensued.

Audience is full of very smartly dressed, stylish, trendy people. Support band are alright, but there name eludes me. Dum Dum Girls come on and the atmosphere improves, nothing new here but their pretty good at what they do, especially the drummer!

For what it matters, and I might be wrong, I believe this is the first time I’ve seen an all-girl group.

 

Mogwai

One of those gigs where I imagine, hearing the new album beforehand might have helped. The latest stuff didn’t make much impression, while not being displeasing, I just guess a few more listens might have helped.

Did get to hear some absolute crackers tho and the massive pleasure of Mogwai Fear Satan… this song has been racking up play counts for the last 6 months.

Good atmosphere, impressive support act and no issues with sound ;)