Tindersticks (live in Vicar Street, Dublin) Review Snapshot:  At a time of year when the ‘Best album’ gongs and baubles are being handed out, tonight’s impeccable performance serves as a reminder that ‘The Hungry Saw’ is as good as any record released this calendar year. It also served notice of Tindersticks’ return to form as a compelling live act.

The Cluas Verdict?  9.5 out of 10

Full Review: It has been a remarkable year for Tindersticks. Rumours of the band’s demise had seemingly been concretized once Stuart Staples embarked upon his own solo career – in the process releasing the quite wonderful ‘Leaving Songs’ – whilst in-band politics rendered it impossible for them to remain as they once were. Exit Dickon Hinchcliffe...

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Okkervil River (live in The Academy, Dublin) Review Snapshot:  Their second visit to these shores in under twelve months sees Okkervil River battle with The Academy’s all too obvious limitations yet still produce a set which cements their reputation for a compelling live show.

The Cluas Verdict?  9 out of 10 

Full Review: Okkervil River are the band you haven‘t allowed yourself to love. Yet. Their continued existence – indeed, their present flourishing - is grounded upon their fan base’s affection for the band’s fascination with life in a band (particularly on their two most recent albums), nascent fame and all of its associated tawdriness. This co-existence is neatly played out tonight when the opening chords of ‘Pop Lie’...

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Aimee Mann (live in Tripod, Dublin) Review Snapshot: An occasionally shambolic but enjoyable night, culminating with a great set from one of the best American songwriters in the world today.

The Cluas Verdict? 8 out of 10

Full Review: The evening started off with Los Angeles husband and wife team The Submarines, who I knew nothing about before tonight but proved to be a pleasant discovery. It wasn’t hard to see why Aimee Mann picked them to support her on her current tour, as their music is precisely the same kind of catchy melodic rock that the likes of Crowded House, Squeeze and Aimee Mann do so well. The couple, with a drummer filling out their sound, powered through a hook-laden set that impressed me enough to pick up one of...

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Mercury Rev (live in Róisín Dubh, Galway) Review Snapshot: With their recorded output of late suggesting the band have lost their studio and creative focus, their current tour is a litmus test of whether they still have the live presence to carry what is, after all, a largely stunning back catalogue. The intimate confines of Róisín’s suggested – in parts – that they haven’t and they won’t.



The Cluas Verdict? 6.5 out of 10

Full Review: For all of the diminishing returns in the studio in recent years, Mercury Rev have always been an eminently bankable live act. Live, their songs have been free to breathe, far away from studio excesses and overproduction.

One of the most intriguing prospects prior to this show was how they would transform 2008’s disappointing ‘Snowflake Midnight’ into...

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Port O'Brien (live in Crawdaddy, Dublin) Review Snapshot: Port O’Brien come to Dublin on the back of their excellent ‘All We Could Do Was Sing’ album, but fail to recapture the energy displayed on the record for the most part of the gig.

The Cluas Verdict? 6 out of 10

Full Review: ‘A damn cold night outside’, proclaims Van Pierszalowski. Considering he spent many months every year as a teenager as a fisherman on boat in Alaska, that’s saying something. Still though, despite the weather and some financial crisis I keep hearing about, the punters were not put off. About 100 people turned up to see Port O’Brien, the band that has been receiving favourable reviews from the Times and Pitchfork for their latest album, ‘All We Could Do Was Sing’.

Maybe it is due to the fact that Ireland is the last stop on their European tour, but the performance seemed tired and lacking the exuberance I expected from this band. Both the older tracks from their first album and their new material were deadweight for their set list. They were not helped by the technical problems that made Zebedee Zaitz perform the first two songs solo, or the fact that the banjo players string snapped. The songs were a bit lifeless and felt like they were being played as a chore. The band’s crowd interaction was a welcome distraction from their overlong tuning breaks. They did not know that Boyzone were Irish! That revelation answered the question of who is the greatest musical export that Dublin has to boast.

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Noah and the Whale (live in Whelan's, Dublin) Review Snapshot: An enjoyable night of folk-pop, that included the song we all came for: “Five Years Time”.

The Cluas Verdict? 8 out of 10

Full Review: It was a large and excitable crowed packed into Whelan’s to see Charlie Fink and his troop of pop-folk instrumentalists. The age-range went from just old enough to be there, all the way up to – as I could see it - fifty. Noah and the Whale clearly have a wide following, owing much of it to the extensive radio- and music channel play of their first single “Five Years Time” and also, the Laura Marling connection. No longer playing with the band, female vocal duty has been taken over by a red haired girl, whose name I did not catch....

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Vampire Weekend (live in The Ambassador Theatre, Dublin) Review Snapshot:  Living up to and, indeed, surpassing their Oxegen appearance, Vampire Weekend are a fun band with multitude of good songs.  It's just a pity they're all so short.

The Cluas Verdict? 8.5 out of 10

Full Review: Is it still cool to like Vampire Weekend or has the backlash started yet? That seemed to be the question on most people’s lips last night as a packed Ambassador Theatre waited in nervous anticipation for New York’s finest purveyors of ‘Upper West Side Soweto.’ The answer to that question would have to wait though, at least until after New Amusement finished their support...

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Fight Like Apes (live in Whelans, Dublin) Review Snapshot: I still haven't decided whether I enjoyed this gig or not. Fight Like Apes themselves were undeniably excellent as ever, but an over-excited crowd made the whole thing a manic affair.

The Cluas Verdict? 8 out of 10

Full Review:

I think I preferred Fight Like Apes when they were just starting out. While I always admired their ability to get an often-bemused crowd moving, they seemed to have honed this into an ability to induce spontaneous loss of limb control and often senses. Last night’s album launch gig in Whelans, was one of the most terrifying gig experiences of my life: after a heavy hour of being squashed, I left nursing an aching head from the impact with a metal dustbin and aching neck from the impact with someone’s elbow as I was crushed between two people reaching for a crowd-surfer, bruised arms and a dress that stank of spilled drink. And I narrowly missed being egged while walking home, although I can’t really hold the gig to blame for that one.

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So Cow, New Amusement and more at HWCH (night 3) Review Snapshot: A rained soaked Dublin played host to the final night of this year’s HWCH. The night’s lineup was, to look at, the weakest of the 3 but as it turned out two of the weekend’s best sets took place on the final night.

The Cluas Verdict? 7 out of 10

Full Review: Day 3 of 2008’s HWCH took place on a miserable wet Sunday evening which could have seriously put a damper on proceedings but things were rescued a little when it was decided to pull most of the bands from Meeting House Square and move them to indoors venues.

This call wasn’t made in time for New Amusement who from their vantage point must have thought they were playing to a sparse but enthusiastic crowd of umbrellas....

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