Review of Delorentos at The Workmans Club on December 17th 2010
Review by Oisin Tormey
Photos by Kieran Frost
A festive atmosphere was the greeting in the Workman’s Club on Friday night, as Delorentos finished off their two-night residency in typical energetic fashion at the Dublin venue. Having seen them last at Oxegen a few years ago, I couldn’t wait for this one to begin and it didn’t disappoint one bit. Mince pies and mulled wine were readily available at the bar, a nice touch for the freezing cold night that was in it. By the time support band Planet Parade were playing, however, there were little or no people around the place at all. I began to wonder whether the ‘adverse weather conditions’ as they’re known as now had put people off going to the gig. In spite of this, the band played a solid set, with their math indie rock being well received. It was clear to see who’s gig this was though, with the massive ‘DELO’ lettering behind the band not letting anyone forget.
After a short break for tuning and towels placed beside where each band member would be, Delorentos took to the stage. I hadn’t looked behind me for a while, but the place had well and truly packed up by now. Opening with ‘Hallucinations’ was a solid choice as the crowd immediately moved closer to the stage, bouncing and dancing from the beginning of the gig. The band fed off this energy throughout the song, looking like they were really enjoying the show despite only landing onto the stage three minutes before hand. The lighting on the stage was equally as good, with adding an extra atmosphere to the band’s already impressive stage presence. The towels left on stage would definitely be needed anyway, I was feeling worn out just watching their energy on stage!
Four songs in and the band debut a new song to the joy of the crowd, complete with a sing along part to get everyone involved. The new track sounds really good live, seeming more like a popular song from one of their previous albums and not a song being heard for the first time by the majority of the audience for the first time. The band is really taking the gig in their stride, and the crowd are loving every minute. If they had broken up back in 2009 it would have been a serious shame, because the quality of their performance would put many other Irish bands to shame.
‘Do You Realise’ and ‘Say You’ll Never Love Her’ are two of the highlights of an impressive set, with the on-stage lights shooting out red atmospheric lights. The band are enjoying the music as much as the crowd as they joke and smile throughout while interacting well with the crowd, something which lacked in the support act’s set. ‘Editorial’ is as good, with the crowd belting out “We heard the silence” and the front part of the crowd dancing and bouncing manically throughout. It wouldn’t be the Sanctuary tour without playing the song the whole tour was based around. ‘Sanctuary’ really starts me puzzling about why Delorentos aren’t as big either in Ireland or abroad, they are such a good live band.
‘Secret’ finishes off the first part of their set with a bang. The song has the whole crowd dancing and bouncing, with the Kieran McGuinness even joining in the fun for the end of the song playing the finishing chords in with the crowd surrounding him. The band leave to roaring and applause, before returning and doing a cheesy Christmas song in their own words. Despite saying it’s not that well-known, and they only selected it because it has the word Christmas in it a lot, the crowd instantly know it as the band launch into a rendition of Christmas (Baby Please Come Home). This is for me the best part of the gig as it really got the Christmas mood across to the already jolly/tipsy crowd. Finishing off the gig with ‘Stop’, despite fluffing some of the lines it’s simply laughed off, summing up the feel good atmosphere of the night. The two guitarists this time come off the stage and finish off in the crowd, leaving the crowd with the feeling that they just experienced a pretty special gig.
