Tieranniesaur at Whelan's | Review

Tieranniesaur in Whelan’s, Dublin on Friday 10th of May 2103

There is an inherent difficulty in having a gig to launch a new album. You want to showcase the new album by playing songs from it, but don’t want to alienate the audience by playing a set full of songs that they won’t have heard before. There is a fine line to the tread, and that’s exactly what Tieranniesaur were trying to do on Friday night in Whelan’s.

Cave Ghosts opened the show with an impressive set of summery pop-rock tunes, belying their rather eerie sounding name. Close your eyes, in fact, and you could be fooled into thinking you’re listening to Best Coast. While there are some variations – Higher and Higher has a slightly grungier feel while the closer borrowed heavily from Louie Louie – most of the elements have some hint of the California rockers; from vocals, to guitars, to song structures. It’s a fine, happy intro to the evening’s proceedings.

It is Tieranniesaur that people want to see and by the time they hit the stage, they have a rather full Whelan’s crowd to entertain. The seven-piece do just that with their sparkly electro indie-pop. Intriguing dressed – frontwoman Annie Tierney looks like a villain from Superman 2 while the bassist, with his sparkly jacket, skin-tight leather trousers and white cowboy boots, makes Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears look like a homeless man – the band rifle through their set with little pause for reflection.

Starting off with No Big Deal and Maro Rides the Wave, the songs off the new album ‘Diysco’ already sound better live than on the record, where the vocals sound distant and under-produced. Here Be Monsters, Tieranniesaur’s biggest hit to date, gets a big crowd reaction as it gets a surprisingly early run out. The crowd may not be moving a lot to the disco-inspired songs but there is certainly an energy, if restrained, about the show.

Sketch! and Candy are further examples the same thing, as the crowd move around in what is more of a coordinated jiggling than ever really letting loose. But this doesn’t take away from what the band are doing. There are saxophones, megaphones, rapping (very briefly) and a little of What Have You Done For Me Lately all thrown into the happy disco party mix and it’s hard to keep a smile from your face.

In the Sargasso is the biggest disco throwback with that bassline lifted straight out of the late 70s. It’s here the bassist proves he has the substance to add to his style – he has as much stage space to himself as four of his bandmates fight for on the opposite side – as he nails a terrific bass solo. Rockblocker – probably the best song the band have created in their career to date – and new single DIYSCO end the main part of the set on a high before an encore, notable for the bassist having to be literally dragged off stage while trying to play his own version of the national anthem.

It’s all indicative of the fun that Tieranniesaur show on the night. While they may lack occasionally on record or in crowd interaction, there can be no doubting that they deliver where it matters: up on stage.