Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at The Academy Dublin – December 13th
Review by Aidan McCooey
Photos by Ronan Shaw
The Academy is becoming one of my favorite venues in Dublin and it was the perfect setting for BRMC to bring their psychedelic hard rock sound. For me this band encompass’ everything I look for in good honest beautifully filthy hard rock and they play a mean set.
The opening act of the night was Fallen Rule, a Dublin act formed in 2010 with a sound similar to BRMC. Personally I really enjoyed these guys, nice rocking riffs, a solid back line of bass, drums and keys and a great energy and presence on stage made their set a great watch. The venue wasn’t near capacity while they were on but the people who did make it in early seemed to really get into it and enjoy the show. The highlight of their set for me was their last track which was a really powerful rocking psychedelic trip that made everyone in the place take notice and start wondering who these guys were. Excellent opening act and great way to begin the night, a band to keep an eye out for as they seem like they could have a bright future ahead of them.
The venue started to fill up quick the closer it got to BRMC and just before they arrived on stage you could tell the gig was a sell out with nearly every nook, cranny and possible viewing spot being crowded by a very eager audience. The anticipation of the crowd and the way the band were talked about was a testament to the hardcore following this band has built up since their self titled debut album was released in 2001. Opening track of the night was 666 Conducer from their 2007 album Baby 81 followed by Stop and Red Eyes and Tears from Take Them On, On Your Own and BRMC respectively. The first 5 tracks of the night were fairly slow grooving but with good hefty rocking riffs that just had the crowd swaying and transfixed on the stage. Scarcely acknowledging the audience for the first half hour of the gig, the down-tempo aspects of their set were enlivened by the room-rattling, foot stomping song Ain’t No Easy Way which just set the place a light as the crowd went crazy for this up beat blues rock cracker of a tune. Ain’t No Easy Way seemed like a watershed moment in the gig as the crowd came alive after the down tempo openers and the band seemed to feed off the energy.
Peter Hayes and bassist Robert Levon Been traded and shared vocals throughout the night while playing some of the best live riffs I’ve heard in a while and drummer Leah Shapiro gave a storming performance behind the kit. The set list for the gig was nicely mixed with old and new material and had something for everyone although with the best reaction being reserved for the band’s earlier material such as the crowd favorite Whatever Happened To My Rock ‘N’ Roll with its sneering frenzy of noise that established this band’s reputation.
Towards the end of the show Hayes and Shapiro left the stage leaving Been to treat the crowd to two solo acoustic tracks the first being a cover of Leonard Cohen’s Chelsea Hotel. This was a beautiful moment in the gig and something I would have enjoyed more had it not been for people in the crowd talking during the songs but what are ye going to do.
Hayes and Shapiro rejoined Been on stage for the final tracks of the night which mainly consisted of songs from their latest release Beat the Devil’s Tattoo. One of the songs from the new album, Shadowkeeper, was an epic tour de force complete wall of sound and all the energy and vigor put into the song by the band made it feel like it was the song to end the night but it wasn’t. After Shadowkeeper Been sat down at the upright piano the band had been using for a couple of other tracks during the set and performed a beautiful, bit more laid back, version of All You Do is Talk from their album Baby 81. It was a great song to bring the crowd back down after being taking on a whirlwind ride and a brilliant way to top off what was a great performance by a quality act.
