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General Music

Robbie Williams – Croke Park

DSC01324 Wow. First and foremost this was one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to. Robbie William’s played to a sell out crowd at Croke Park last Friday and I took the day off work to make sure we made the most of it. The day began by getting the train in to Croke Park and going for a quick pint before heading down to the grounds. It was Aishlinn’s idea to see if we could get pit passes and luckily enough we did get a few of the remaining ones while queuing up. 🙂 About an hour after that they opened the inner gates and let people get their places either for standing on the pitch or sitting in the stands. The 85,000 tickets that had gone on sale in January were sold out within 20 minutes so a great atmosphere was almost guaranteed. After getting a bit of food we headed in to the pit area and were chuffed to find it almost on top of the stage. We sat around for a while and enjoyed the support act, The Beautiful South, who were on from 7 to 8. DSC01372 Then the stage crew began to setup for Robbie and to be honest there was a lengthy delay in waiting from 8 until 8.45 for him to come on stage.

However, when he did come on stage the place went mental. I firmly believe he is the best solo entertainer in the world at the moment and belted out all of the classic tracks he’s known for such as a karaoke styled “Strong”, “Rock DJ”, “No Regrets”, and “Feel”. The stage was kitted out with flames and fireworks and they were put to good use during both “Let Me Entertain You” and the opener “Radio”. The only hitch during a flawless performance was during the aforementioned “Let Me Entertain You” which opened the encore. DSC01377 Robbie climbed to the top of the stage and got into a cradled harness that would have lowered him down to the stage. Things didn’t go to plan though and he had to make his way down another way. After that incident, he made a big deal of saying he is going to do a free gig in Dublin to make up for the mistake. He even went so far as to put a camera on his manager who hastily gave a thumbs-up to the request. This was the first date on a world tour and you visibly see that he was almost overcome with emotion during some of the songs.

All in all it was a great gig and one that’ll live in the memory for a long time to come. 😀 All of the photos I took (77 of ’em) are uploaded to the photos section so make sure to check them out.

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General Music

Editors Photos

DSC01239 Finally posted a group of photos from the Editors gig in the Ambassador on the 28th of May. Myself, Dave, Paddy, Ryaner, Gar and his girlfriend Imogen rambled along but were suprised to find it was a dry gig. Basically that means they won’t be selling beer but that fact wasn’t advertised on any of the promotional materials or the tickets. Personally I’m not all that pushed but it should have said it somewhere. The gig itself was fantastic and these guys are really good live. Tom (lead singer) has a real knack for producing almost the exact sound that’s produced in the studio and they put quite a bit of energy into the performane. More photos in the photos section.

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Music Recommended

Kanye West @ The Point

Kanye WestQuite slow on catching up with this as the gig was last Friday. It was a fantastic gig. He has a lot of energy on stage and needs to for a guy holding his own on a stage that big. All of the big tunes from Late Registration went down really well and the crowd seemed to be really similiar with some of the more obscure tracks from the album.

Of course, Golddigger got the biggest reception but that was a given from the outset. I had heard complaints about his last appearance in the Point, in that he only played for 45 minutes. Well he set that right on Friday by playing almost two hours. During his set he took time out to acknowledge some of his musical influences and played samples from Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and even sang Aha’s – Take on me at one stage. I’d definitely go see him again.

BTW, I didn’t take that photo above. Most of the photos I took didn’t come out well as we were a fair distance from the stage.

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General Music Recommended

Glyder

We need... Went to see Glyder last night with Trev and John. The gig was on in Eamonn Doran’s in Temple Bar and the lads really put on a great show. It’s been a while since I was at a gig like that and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Trev’s a big fan of theirs as his mate Barry/Bat plays guitar for them. They also covered the legendary Rory Gallagher’s “Shadow Play”. They’ve got a list of upcoming gigs available so if you like quality rock music then I’d recommend them heartily.

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General Music Recommended

The Finest – Harbour Bar, Bray

DSC00414 On Friday night I went to a fantastic gig by an up and coming band called The Finest. They just happen to be my mates too. 😀 For those who don’t recall, I met some of the lads from the band during the Oxegen festival this year. They play lots of gigs around the city and I had been to see them live in Whelans but most of their gigs tend to be on the southside which is awkward to get from late at night. Luckily one of the lads (Murray, cheers man) let me stay over in his place so I wouldn’t have to worry about it.

DSC00418The gig itself was excellent. The pub was quite strangely decorated but had a homely feel about it. I believe the support act was a friend of the band. I can’t remember the guys name but he was an excellent singer and was accompanied by a guy on acoustic guitar. Then it was on to the main act who made their presence known on stage with the use of a smoke machine and the Star Wars theme. 😀 Straight away they belted into the songs I’m familiar with from their CD, On the Line. The lads really go hell for leather and this was no exception. House of the Rising Sun and Gloria were also covered during the set. I’m looking forward to their next gig supporting the Commitments on 17th December in the Venue, Rathfarnham.