Powderfinger

Review of their gig in the Ambassador, Dublin, May 21st 2002

Just another cold, windy, rainy afternoon in Ye Old Dublin Town and what better way to warm up for tonight's concert than spend it with a few familiar smiling faces over a couple of dark ales. The pub was a buzz, the Finger were back in town!

Half past the hour and the pub empties like an outgoing Liffey tide flowing across the road into the Ambassador where upon entering we were greeted by an unfamiliar, unappreciated set by the support group Seafood.

The lights dimmed, the crowd pushed forwards, the spoties hit centre stage and the boy's came out to play. Powderfinger started the set with 'The Day You Come' (the first released single from their 'Internationalist' album) followed by a few other chart topping singles, 'Passenger' and 'My Happiness'.

We were introduced to a small sample of tracks from the new up-coming album (as well as a magic cover of Marc Bolan's 'Children of the Revolution'). The new songs indicated that the coming album will be a lot heavier than the past couple of releases, full of power guitar with big bass and drums, reminiscent of material from their earlier pre-commercial success days.

After the obligatory two-song encore, ('These Days' and 'Waiting') it was time to turn up the lights and open the doors. My highlight for the night had to be Bernard leading the boys on his acoustic guitar in 'Up and Down', closely followed by the purchase of my new funky Tour T-Shirt.

It was a fantastic performance by Powderfinger, one full of passion and energy, one that ensure that next time the Finger are in this part of the world, tickets will be even harder to get your hands on.

A. H. Bean