Cluas Gigs of the Fortnight
The best gigs across Ireland during the period 30 October to 12 November 2006...
| Gig of the fortnight is........ TV On The Radio |
 Where
and When? TBMC,
Dublin - 7th NovemberWhy? Dear God has there ever been a better collection of gigs to happen in Dublin in a single calendar month? We'll get to the second half of November in 2 weeks time but there's going to be a fair few music fans with holes in their wallets by the time December rolls around.
The cream of the crop are a band that I've been wanting to see live for a couple of years now. Brooklyn's TV On The Radio won the final Shortlist Prize (the US Mercury Award) before it morphed into the far sillier named 'New Pantheon Award' this year for their debut album Desperate Youth Bloodthirsty Babes. This year's Return To Cookie Mountain doesn't quite match the standards of it's predecessor but it's still home to 'Wolf Like Me', my song of the year.
|
| Best of the Rest |
 Who? Final Fantasy Where and When? Spiegel tent, Belfast - 30th OctoberOwen Pallett wraps up his tour of the country with a date in Belfast. It didn't make many waves upon it's release but the first Final Fantasy album "Final Fantasy has a good home" was one of the finest albums released in 2005 and this year's 'He Poos Clouds' managed to surpass it with ease. This is not one to miss; one man, his violin and a loop pedal playing the most impossibly gorgeous chamber-pop (and the occasionally Mariah Carey cover), what more could you want? |
 Who? I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness Where and When? Whelan's, Dublin - 1st November Speakeasy, Belfast - 2nd NovemberAnd the winner of best bandname in the world goes too - Austin's I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness were formed in 2001 and over the course of the last few years established themselves as THE local band to play with for touring bands travelling through Texas' liberal enclave. They released their debut album Fear Is On Our Side earlier in the year and the first half of it is really good expansive Echo And The Bunnymen influenced mope-pop (have I just invented a sub-genre? I hope so), the second half - not so much. But there's plenty of good material to make this gig worth going to. Especially if you couldn't get Sufjan tickets and really want to go out that night. |
 Who? Sufjan Stevens Where and When? The
Olympia, Dublin - 1st NovemberSpeaking of everyone's favourite Michigan born, Christian folk genius - How things have grown for Sufjan Stevens in the past 2 years, going from playing Trinity's Douglas Hyde Gallery to the Olympia theatre by way of The Village in the space of one and a bit albums. Fingers crosses that there's not too much material from The Avalanche, no matter how good the acoustic version of Chicago is there's definitely a reason that they were outtakes. Probably a bit too early for material from the upcoming Christmas album. |
 Who? Midlake Where and When? The Village, Dublin - 3rd NovemberProving that Texas indie isn't all about Austin here comes Denton's (never heard of it either) own Midlake. Formed by a quintet of music school friends in 2,000 they released their debut album, the psychedelic influenced Banman and Silvercork in 2004 but it's their most recent effort, this year's The Trials Of Van Occupanther which has drawn some incredibly positive notices which has gotten them a lot of attention. |
 Who? M Ward Where and When? Crawdaddy, Dublin - 31st OctoberIn certain parts of the vaguely-country-tinged-indie community in the States M Ward is the most in demand person on the planet. He's written songs for Beth Orton, toured as part of the Bright Eyes band as well as guesting on Conor Oberst's studio efforts and also with Cat Power. Additionally he co-produced Jenny Lewis's solo album. To top it off he's put out a bunch of really good album himself. The most recent being the excellent Post War. |
 Who? Tapes N Tapes Where and When? The Village, Dublin - 9th NovemberFollowing a hugely impressive outing at The Electric Picnic a couple of months ago Minneapolis's finest indie band since Husker Du/The Replacements whichever you prefer return to Ireland to hopefully lift the roof off the village. |
 Who? Metric Where and When? Spirit, Dublin - 9th NovemberYet another Toronto band which features members of Broken Social Scene (in this case James Shaw and Emily Haines, who contributed the stunning vocals to 'Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl') Metric were actually formed in Brooklyn and have released 3 albums since then, most notably 2005's Live It Out. |
| Also this fortnight: |
| We Are Scientists Ambassador Theatre, Dublin - 30th October |
| Tunng Spiegel Tent, Belfast - 3rd November
Whelan's, Dublin - 4th November |
| The Spinto BandThe Village, Dublin - 7th November |
| Calexico Olympia, Dublin - 2nd November |
| Muse The Point, Dublin - 3rd November Odyssey Arena, Belfast - 4th November |
| Cansei De Ser Sexy / 1990s Speakeasy, Belfast - 5th November
Whelan's, Dublin - 6th November |
| The Gossip TBMC, Dublin - 8th November |
| Gnarls Barkley Vicar Street, Dublin - 8th November |
| Paul Simon The Point, Dublin - 8th November |
| Neko Case Black Box, Belfast - 9th November Crawdaddy, Dublin - 10th November |
| Brian Jonestown Massacre Ambassador, Dublin - 12th November |
| Peter Bjorn and John
Whelan's, Dublin - 10th November |
| I'm From Barcelona Speakeasy, Belfast - 10th November Warwick, Galway - 11th November Whelan's, Dublin - 12th November |
CLUAS
'Gigs of the Fortnight' is compiled and edited by the CLUAS listings editor,
Ian Wright.
Check out
previous CLUAS 'gigs of the fortnight' chosen since this
section was started back in 2004.
