Radiator Gig
Eammon Doran's, Dublin, 10th December 2004
Review Snapshot:
Within the shadowy confines of Doran's, four fresh-sounding garage
acts struck with unorthodoxy and definitive jolt on a bitterly cold Friday
night.
The
CLUAS Verdict?
8.5 out of 10
Full review:
The Noise Party in TBMC, Ruby Sessions in Doyle's and the Radiator Gigs in
Doran's are all events that provide a platform for unsigned acts to unmask their
musical talents. The latter of these has combated mainstream gigs in other
Dublin venues almost every Friday night for the past few months. Besides friends
of the bands performing, the audience that usually flocks to these gatherings
consists of Doran's regulars, some tourists and a proportion of Irish people who
believe in supporting lesser-known acts. On some of these Fridays, the one's who
pay their - 8 in witness a repertoire of biting vehemence.
With clusters of spiralling guitars, thunderous crashes of the drums and solemn
licks of the bass, Butterfly Explosion introduced themselves. Each song was
conducted with a maturity that presented itself in the form of a very solid
sound. While the instrumental tracks were performed with an acute excellence,
the vocals on some of the other tracks just didn't suit the tone of the music.
An injection of enthusiasm would be a welcome feat, even if it only gives a
downbeat song a little bolt of zest. Butterfly Explosion has a bit of tweaking
to do but shouldn't abandon some cracking songs that they have.
Ethos quickly got into a groove of tenacious vigour. The frontman moved, hunched
and sang like a strange brew of Mick Pyro/Liam Gallagher/Caleb Followill while
the guitarists surrounding him posed with a swagger of rebelliousness. The
sounds that they unleashed were of hard-hitting indie rock, not too dissimilar
from that of The Who but stamped with originality every time. With good lyrics,
excellent singing and enjoyable garage rock played energetically, Ethos have
everything one could ask for from a band. It is only a matter of time before
their hammering chord structures, wild riffs and chaotic drumming entertain many
from a larger platform.
The Jones are easy to describe as they are what you would get if you fused the
Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays together. The lead singer even moves like
Shaun Ryder. They bring echoing rhythms, hypnotic beats and pulsating crashes to
their fluent set. 'Lonely Souls' stands out as one of their better songs due to
the keyboard dimming down and the lead singer revelling in the spotlight.
Although their set was cut short, The Jones treated the now eager crowd to some
soporific rock with an overspill of Happy Mondays.
After arriving on stage at 11:15, Substance didn't have a lot of time to
conquer. A topless drummer sporting a Santa hat interrupted the crowd's
chattering with a large dosage of volcanic drumming. Then Ian Brown appeared;
well a mixture of Ian Brown and Tim Burgess. The frontman slouched in the
shadows while snaking electronica murmurs crept from the keyboard to his far
left. Just as the lead singer made his way to his mic stand, the guitars on
either side of him wailed in gritty tones. Substance had taken to the stage and
everyone paid attention. As the smoke rose, so did the tempo but only to a
medium where the audience registered the band's dazed energy. Their sound is
stuck in the limbo of moody and explosive rock, borrowing from the two
throughout. The Complete Stone Roses would love to have a band like Substance
support them. Everything is slick and sour tasting and executed to the precise
volume that makes the listener make bit more intrigued.
All in all, it was a really good night from four really good bands.
Gareth Maher
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