The CLUAS Archive: 1998 - 2011

12

Day One of Cois Fharraige (live in Kilkee, Co. Clare)

Review Snapshot: A beautiful sunny day ended with a blistering set by epic rockers Doves, grooves from Laura Izibor and post punk larking around courtesy of The Blizzards).

The Cluas Verdict? 9 out of 10

Full Review:
Laura Izibor
Presently touring with a crack American band, Izibor delivered a pumping set of beefed up versions of the highlights of her debut album. The live setting and the crisp, clear sound gave added power to crowd favourites, ‘From My heart To Yours’, ‘Carousel’ and ‘Yes, I’ll be Your Baby’, but it was a stonking version of ‘Shine’, transformed from a feel good summer tune to a grooving, funky anthem that best demonstrated Izibor’s ability to transfer her mellow, laid back soul into a live arena.

The Blizzards
Coming on stage bathed in purple light and accompanied by moody background music, the cheeky chappies of The Blizzards wasted no time in getting the party started right. Mixing tracks such ‘Silence is Violence’ and ‘Postcards’ [dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives on 9/11] with a thumping cover version of ‘Black & Gold’, a tribute to The Specials and a sneaky riff on Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’, The Blizzards delivered a set that buoyed up the party attitude of the crowd without betraying their Ska/Punk roots.

Doves
I had never seen this band live before and was unprepared for the relentless, pounding sonic assault that they delivered. Indeed, so overpowering was their music that two songs in I realised that the thumping in my chest was not caused by my own heart but by the waves of sound coming from the speakers. In a nutshell, with live favourites including ‘Snowden’ and ‘The Last Broadcast’, Doves make music akin to a giant beating a whale to death with a tree trunk in a canyon. What
an utterly glorious epic racket.  An encore that climaxed with the band all playing percussion instruments together left me staggering out into the crisp, cold night feeling dazed, confused and exhilarated.

Rev Jules


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Nuggets from our archive

2003 - Witnness 2003, a comprehensive review by Brian Kelly of the 2 days of what transpired to be the last ever Witnness festival (in 2004 it was rebranded as Oxegen when Heineken stepped into the sponsor shoes).