Thursday, January 7, 2010

Best Gigs of the Year in Limerick 2009

TEN BEST LIMERICK GIGS OF THE YEAR 2009

10 - Big Chillum with Horace Andy - Dolan’s Warehouse, June.
Horace Andy (of Massive Attack fame), Inntinn and Dom from Blood and Fire gave us a dub session extraordinaire in June

9 - Great Friday Festival - A field, Murroe. April
A wet, windy day in April saw the Great Friday Festival return to Murroe - but good spirits, a superb line-up of local bands and a heaving dance tent made up for the weather.

8 - The Wailers - Dolan’s Warehouse. February.
The first of two gigs in the Warehouse from The Wailers, fronted by sole surviving member Anton ‘Family Man’ Barrett, plus rising star Elias Atias, saw the group play the seminal ‘Exodus’ album in full.

7 - Franz Ferdinand - Dolan’s Warehouse. February.
Heavyweights Franz Ferdinand arrived in Limerick - one of only three gigs in Ireland to promote new album Tonight - and reminded us what a superb live band they are. An electric performance.

6 - Walter Mitty and the Realists album launch - Baker Place. August.
One of Limerick’s best up and coming bands launched their debut album Green Light Go in Baker Place in August, an adrenalin-fuelled energy rush of a gig that leave the audience sweaty and hugely entertained.

5 - Tweak - Sunken Foal - St. Munchin’s Church. September.
An electro-acoustic delight, as part of the week long Tweak Festival that saw several innovative performances. We look forward to next year.

4 - Elton John - Thomond Park. June.
The first concert in the newly developed €40m stadium. Rod was good, but Elton knocked our socks off.

3 - Donal Dineen - Fresh Air with Katie Kim and James Yorkston - Daghdha. December.
The final night of the Christmas Presence weekender featured Donal Dineen’s projections and Katie Kim’s heart-stopping post-rock rhythms.

2 - Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - Trinity Rooms. October.
A nine-piece brass band from Chicago that play fun, soulful superb jazz and R&B that was so good they got a slot as the house band for Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz’ project. Their second gig in the Trinity Rooms was a masterclass in exciting jazz-funk, which had the room on their feet for two hours. Fingers crossed they come this way again.

1 - Lisa Hannigan - Daghdha Space, St. John’s Church. August.
The beguiling Lisa Hannigan in the finest venue in the city was quite simply a recipe for gig of the year. The band still play with a smile on their faces, and the music is still superb, plus Hannigan’s new material screams of potential. We look forward to seeing Daghdha become more established on the gig scene in 2010.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I missed Lisa in Dagdha Church- raging! But I did catch her in Dolan's on 17th December for her festive show and that was absolutely brilliant. The girl is mesmerising.