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Review: Fox Avenue, Dublin Academy, 25/2/11

On a cold February evening, Dublin’s Middle Abbey Street was filled with teenage girls all getting ready to see the band of the hour, Fox Avenue. While it’s easy to see most of the crowd are here for a certain guitarist, the atmosphere in the venue is that of a relaxing get together.

First up on the nights bill were Borderline, a 3 piece from Kildare. The bands nerves were palpable throughout the venue, but they gave the show their all. At first they seemed to fear the crowd, but eased more into it throughout their short set. Unfortunately for the band though, many people grew bored with their set a bit too quickly, with a good portion of the crowd highly uninterested, but they regained themselves somewhat with a smooth acoustic cover of Bruno Mars’ hit Grenade.  They made a brilliant attempt at being a live band, but they’ve still some work to do until they reach the standard of the other bands on the night. 6/10

Next up was the brilliant Bribry, a Youtube star from Dublin who dabbles in music from time to time. His set was hilarious, from ringing his mom and getting the crowd to say hi, to frequently pulling down his jeans whenever asked. He got down to a personal level with the crowd and kept them highly entertained throughout. His music, as well, is something different on the local Irish scene. His unique brand of acoustic pop works well with his strange, yet lovely vocal. The only downfall of his set was that there was more messing from the youtuber than music, but it was extremely entertaining anyway. His covers of Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap and Baby by Justin Bieber were also brilliantly done in his own way. Be sure to check out Bribry’s ‘Things To Do Before You Die’ series on Youtube here. 8/10

A lot of people had come to see ColourMePink tonight with the idea that they weren’t the greatest live band, having seen them live before. Tonight, all those preconceived notions went out the window. There was so much energy and thought put into the Newbridge lads set, and their crowd interaction was the best of the night, even beating Fox Avenue. Having seen them live at Kids In Glass Houses in December when the band seemed extremely timid on stage, this show showed just how much the band have grown in those 2 months. With people saying how good they are, some saying they could be the next Jody Has a Hitlist in regard to their live shows and their sound. The highlight for the crowd, it seemed, was the bands Deadmau5 cover, where drummer Darragh even donned a Deadmau5 head for some of the song. This set is the start of something brilliant for the band. Be sure to check out our interview with frontman Gary and drummer Darragh this Wednesday! 9/10

This headline show is Fox Avenue’s first venue show in a year, literally. Their last show saw them play alongside 30 Seconds To Mars in Dublin’s O2 arena, and then go onto play the Vodafone stage at Oxegen 2010. The rest of the time, the band was locked away writing new material for their upcoming EP. The crowd at The Academy tonight were expecting a lot from the Dublin threesome, and they most certainly weren’t let down. Coming on stage to an amazing intro, the stage set-up was something different to the Academy’s usual stage, with steps leading up to Sean Maxx’s drumkit. The band have obviously been doing a lot of work on their live show behind the scenes, as this was the best Fox Avenue performance to date. They played crowd favourites such as ‘Chasing My Tail’ and ‘Save Your Dreaming’, as well as a covers of ‘Billionaire’, ‘Airplanes’ and ‘Dynamite’. Their crowd interaction was great, by taking pictures of the crowd and getting them involved as much as possible. The energy, especially that of guitarist Dara Quilty, was unmatched by any of the other acts playing tonight. This show proved that Fox Avenue are here to stay for awhile, and it’s going to take a lot to get rid of them. 9/10

A Day To Remember Review - Dublin Academy, 29/1/11

A Day to Remember are one of those bands that you either adore with every fibre of your existence, or that you really wish didn’t exist. Judging by the fact the queue for the show, an hour before doors opened, was the whole length of the street that the venue was on, Ireland loves ADTR. The fans were even spilling out onto the road and the luas tracks of the street for the entirely sold out show.

Doors opened at 7 on the dot, and first support Storyboard started at roughly 7:10. Most people weren’t even in the venue at this stage, but the band seemed too happy and excited to care. If they had been playing alongside another 2 bands, then maybe their energy would come off as amazing, but compared to Pierce the Veil and ADTR, they came last. Their songs, however, were only ok. It may have been due to the fact the sound in the venue wasn’t the best on the night (it also messed up for ADTR and PTV), but they were nothing spectacular unfortunately. They had a few die-hard fans in the crowd, but they seemed fairly unknown to most. Fair play to the guys though, they went out and talked to everyone to promote themselves. If they keep that up, they’ll get themselves a lot more fans.

Pierce the Veil have a reputation for being a good live band. Having never played live in Ireland before, the band had a lot to prove to the legions of fans that came to see them. In reality, there is no one word to describe how brilliant the bands set was. Whilst they have their critics, you can’t deny the energy the band have on stage is something rare amongst their scene. The band’s interaction with the fans from the stage was another highlight of the set. Waving at fans on the balcony and outside the pit, standing on the barrier and just connecting with their fans showed how dedicated the band are. Saying that it was one of, if not the best show they ever played, the statement seemed genuine compared to most other bands’. With other random elements to the set, such as part of a Like a G6 cover and using a megaphone for screaming, by the end of the set, people around me were raving about the band, one even going as far as to say “I don’t know how ADTR can top that.”

But magically, they did. So much energy was packed into ADTR’s set is was pretty unbelievable. Starting the set with confetti cannons and ‘2^nd Sucks’, the energy in the room from the fans and the band were palpable by everyone within a 500 mile radius. While, at times, the simultaneous headbanging of the band members seemed choreographed, it just added to the overall energy of their set. Running straight from one song into the next, it’s easy to see why they’ve a reputation as one of, if not THE best live band on their scene. ADTR’s band interaction is also fantastic. Frontman Jeremy McKinnon continuously tried to connect with everyone in the audience, or as many as he could, as did the other members of the band. Constantly throwing out plecs and setlists and talking about how “awesome” the crowd are is something most bands do, but there’s something about how ADTR did it that made it seem like they wish they could do more for their fans.

The highlight of the entire set was the band’s encore. They broke out the acoustic guitars for fan favourite, the beautiful ‘If It Means A Lot to You’. It was the best moment of the night, as everyone was just singing along and looked as though, at that moment, everything terrible in their lives disappeared for those 4 minutes. Breaking into ‘The Downfall of Us All’, the band had more energy during this song than they had for the rest of the night.

In short; Yes, A Day To Remember live up to the hype. And yes, you need to go see them live as soon as possible.

Storyboard – 6.5/10

PTV – 10/10

ADTR – 12/10 :’D

Man Overboard announce Dublin date

Man Overboard have announced they will play Whelan’s in Dublin on February 15th. Support is to come from Starters.