Arthur’s Day has come and gone and some of the biggest international and Irish acts have played to full houses all over Ireland, hundreds of thousands has been raised for the Arthur Guinness fund.
In Ireland we were treated to the likes of The Stereophonics, Scissor Sisters, Calvin Harris, The Saturdays, Paolo Nutini and Kelis as well as home-grown talent Bell X 1, Royseven, The Divine Comedy, Bressie and Ryan Sheridan, who took to the stage in music hubs in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Belfast followed by a surprise intimate pub gig by each of the acts.
Some performances included Scissor Sisters performing in The Bank, Stereophonics performed in Bruxelles, Paloma Faith performed in The Mercantile, Seasick Steve performed in The Old Oak, Cork, Calvin Harris performed in Mickey Martins, Limerick, The Saturdays performed in Gogarty’s Pub and many more great intimate events.
Here’s a quick rundown of some of GP’s good people who happened to be scattered around the city enjoying some fine music.
Gunness Storehouse – HopStore 13 (Aidan Cuffe)
Hopstore 13, the big one, the home of hops used to make the Guinness which we are celebrating the creation of today. The headline acts of the day are as eclectic as they come and you’re not likely to see these acts together on the same stage again.
Kicking off the show was the brilliant party tunes of Paulo Nutini, and to be honest I thought they possibly put him on just a bit too early because his music went down a treat but with a few more Guinness’s in this crowd, they would all have been uninhibited and dancing freely. Leaders Of Men rocked out to most likely their biggest crowd to date. Well received by the crowd and delightfully the crowd didn’t all leave for a Guinness at the sight of a band they were not familiar with. Ambient indie rock is their thing and following Paulo Nutini didn’t really help, on the right billing these guys could be very good. For me it didn’t really fit the atmosphere.
Yasmin came and went, being honest nothing from her set really stood out. I wasn’t a fan before, and left with the same status. The Saturdays and a recently pregnant Una Healy were next up and having seen them live at Oxegen actually was looking forward to it, unfortunately without the live band behind them the performance felt a bit flat. If you girls ever read this, bring the live band EVERYWHERE. I would probably have really enjoyed their cutback acoustic performance over in Gogarty’s pub earlier that night.
Finally it’s a band I grew up listening to, I’ve always been a fan of The Stereophonics, but have never seen them live, that is to my eternal shame but it’s been rectified properly having been treated to a set filled with the hits. They had me singing word for word and left me hoarse the next day. Every bit the live act I expected them to be Kelly and company stood out as the highlight of the evening with ease. ‘Bartender and the Thief’, ‘Maybe Tomorrow’, ‘Just Looking’, ‘Local Boy In The Photograph’, ‘A Thousand Trees’ and to finish ‘Dakota’. Personally I couldn’t ask for much more.
Finishing at 10 almost on the button I wisely used the time to get myself to The Academy to catch Paloma Faith who to be fair to her was fantastic even if she did spend most of her set calling her last album “Boring”. She did a cover of Cee Lo Green – Fuck You and also Nick Cave’s – Into My Arms. She finished with a new song from her forthcoming album which seems to be about women’s wobbly bits, which also may have been the song title. It’s fun, upbeat and catchy, could be a hit for her.
The Olympia Theatre (John Quinlivan)
The show kicked off just before 6pm to a half filled theatre as Laura Whitmore [MTV] asked the crowd to push forward to make the theatre look packed before interviewing Aloe Blacc on stage for a few minutes. Aloe Blacc kicked off the proceedings with a few album tracks before playing his biggest hit to date ‘I Need A Dollar’ which had the crowd swaying. Aloe certainly put on a show but the half an hour set was more than enough.
Florrie came on next: the electro-pop drum-banging songstress was enjoyable but that may be due to my rose-tinted glasses (she was the Xenomania house drummer – working with Kylie, Girls Aloud & Pet Shop Boys etc before going solo). Wolf Gang followed Florrie but the crowd seemed mostly uninterested as the smoking section & bar of the Olympia was wedged while these acts played.
The crowd reappeared for Ed Sheeran who played a fantastic set, converting any non-Sheeran fans in just a few songs. Seeing him on stage on his own with no band certainly showed what Ed is worth. He played his Top 3 UK hit “The A Team” to a crowd who lapped it up. He closed his set with “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You” which left the crowd suitably hyped for the Scissor Sisters.
The Scissor Sisters came on stage just before 10pm and played a selection of their biggest hits for half an hour. They treated the crowd to their high-tempo singles “Laura”, “Fire with Fire”, “Any Which Way”, “Take Your Mama” and “I Don’t Feel Like Dancing”. The Scissor Sisters had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands as they talked to the crowd about it being the bands 10 year anniversary the previous day. Jake Shears flirted with the crowd throughout his gig throwing water & blowing kisses.
The general atmosphere of the place was electric as the Scissor Sisters left the stage – it certainly felt like they & Ed Sheeran were the acts the crowd were waiting for. My only complaint would be that the Scissor Sisters left me wanting more!
The Brazen Head (Deirdre Harrison)
No sooner had the toast to Arthur been raised at 17:59 that The Minutes burst into their blistering live set. Being the first act on in any venue for Arthur’s Day certainly has its drawbacks; with proceedings starting so early unfortunately the crowd is never going to be too lively. Undeterred, The Minutes gave the crowd a high-energy performance before rushing off to the second of their three performances of the night.
As tv cameras and what seemed like the entire staff of Diageo arrived it was clear that the oldest pub in Ireland was about to play host to very special guest. While the crowd quickly filled to capacity whispers began to spread that our secret act was none other than Paolo Nutini. Arriving on stage with his band Paolo delighted the crowd with hits from his debut album These Streets and sophomore effort Sunny Side Up. While his music may not be to everyone’s taste, it was impossible not to admit that Mr Nutini is probably one of the most talented performers around today.
Final act of the night was newcomers, Londoners East Arbor 19. For a relatively new act they gave a confident performance, showing a lot of promise. The Brazen Head really is the ideal location for Arthur’s Day; its close proximity to the Guinness Storehouse means they are almost guaranteed to play host to an impressive special guest and the clientele provided a warm and friendly atmosphere, something which sadly is lacking in many other pub venues. I will definitely be returning next year.
The Academy (Abraham Tarrush)
I arrive into the Academy at 5.30pm, expecting I’ve lost the best spots in the house, but surprisingly this isn’t the case at all. Instead, the venue is pretty much empty, with maybe a dozen or so punters present. MC for the night comes in the form of 2fm’s Ruth Scott, who does her best to get the crowd going, and of course, check in on Facebook, bringing to light the fact that Guinness plan to donate to charity for every Arthur’s Day check-in.
As the clock ticks closer to 17:59, the toast is fronted by the night’s first performer, Ryan Sheridan. After the enthusiastic ‘To Arthur!’, or Martha, or whatever people have chosen to toast, the musical performances commence. Sheridan goes straight into his strong, albeit short set, ending with his best known crowd-pleasers The Dreamer, and Jigsaw.
The venue slowly starts to fill, still leaving me puzzled by the fact that the night actually sold out within a couple of weeks. Miles Kane take to the stage, getting a great welcome from the crowd, and played a longer, well-received set.
Joshua Radin is up next, yet there’s a sudden shift in the audience. Probably the biggest act of the night, most renowned and well known internationally, the audience seem completely uninterested in his set and proceed to talk loudly amongst themselves. Eventually it all becomes to much for Joshua, and he joins the crowd on floor, stating he wants to personally sing to the bunch of people who had the respect to actually listen to him perform. Wrapping up his set he exits the stage leaving a crowd of mixed emotions.
After a theatrical appearance from Bitches With Wolves, US band Big Talk take to the stage. Being a fresh, new Indie / Country rock band hailing from Las Vegas, and armed with drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr of The Killers fame, I have good expectations. Yet any opinions are overshadowed by the end of their slot when the lead singer comments on touring ‘Here in the UK’ – rookie mistake.
At this point of the night, I’m feeling slightly underwhelmed. The line up for the venue doesn’t seem to follow any sort of consistency, simply being a random bunch of bands thrown in together. This could make for an interesting night, but just as easily it can leave too many punters wanting.
Finally, my saviour for the night takes to the stage, kitted out as a somewhat fashion-conscious circus leader, the fantastic Paloma Faith. As expected, her set is ripping at the seems with banter, fun, and of course some well-delivered music. She opens with Stone Cold Sober, and performs other tracks from her debut album such as Smoke and Mirrors, Do You Want The Truth or Something Beautiful?, Upside Down, and New York. As well as performing some new tracks from her upcoming album, Love Ya and Cellulite, she performs 2 well-received covers; the uncensored version of Cee Lo Green’s Forget You, and well as a stripped down, intimate performance of Nick Cave’s Into My Arms. Closing the set with the promise of a return to Dublin, and an eruption of cheers from the crowd, Paloma exits the stage and the night comes to a close.
Vicar Street (Saranne Murray)
With the amount of great acts and venues to choose from this year it was hard to choose where to go. I decided to go to Vicar Street where the line up included Bellx1, The Charlatans, Labrinth, James Walsh, Sunday Girl and Maverick Sabre. 2fms Rick O’Shea hosted the night and celebrations kicked off early with Bellx1 taking to the stage just before six.
Bell X1 played a disappointingly short set before heading off to perform around other pubs in Dublin city. It might be as much a sign of how much we enjoy Bell X1 live that we are so disappointed when they leave early. Song’s like ‘The Great Defector’, ‘Rocky Took A Lover’,’Velcro’ and ‘Eve the Apple of My Eye’ in a short hits laden set. Next on stage was Sunday Girl, who appeared to be little more than style over substance and barely deserves a mention. I wasn’t overly impressed by the following acts Maverick Sabre, Labrinth who just didn’t have the quality content to back up a full set and James Walsh who out on his own is playing Starsailor songs (thought we do recognise that lots of solo acts feel the pressure to perform a prior bands material).
The saving grace of the night came in the form of The Charlatans. The put on an amazing show and really got the crowd going. They had an energy and hunger that all of the other bands seemed to lack. Their crowd interaction for first class and put a smile on everyones faces. They also went above and beyond their duties and were the only band of the night to play over their designated 25-30 minutes slot.
I think Arthurs day started off with good intentions and I do acknowledge that a large portion of proceeds go to charity. However this year I would rate my experience only so-so. Maybe I just chose the wrong venue to go to but I wasn’t overly impressed. I hope that they step up their game for next year.
Arthurs Day highlights
The Saturday – Ego – Gogarty’s Pub
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8X56d0Bs5c
The Saturdays – Issues – Gogarty’s Pub
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfEI_j2Cn5c
The Stereophonics – Maybe Tomorrow – Hopstore 13
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZuAsxq7aiw
Photos: John Quinlivan/Kieran Frost
