The Coronas / KT Tunstall / Bressie / Royseven playing @The Park on July 22nd 2011
Review by Emma Brady
Photos by Aidan McCarthy
Many associate Marley park with big rock and roll shows such as Oasis and Metallica at the foothill of the Dublin mountains, however this year it has been revamped and has took over a new festival like style. The venue is now called @The Park and it will hold a series of summer shows under canvas. I was really looking forward to seeing the new unique, festival like setting specially designed to hold many gigs over the next few weeks. The Coronas were the first headline act to play @The Park and after I got my VIP wrist band I couldn’t wait to find out what they thought of the setup. When I walked into the Park itself it certainly didn’t disappoint. It was a scorching hot day and everyone was chilling out on the grass around a huge blue tent that is very similar to the 2fm Hotpress/Academy stage tent at Oxegen. It was the perfect unique intimate setting and it certainly provided the festival like experience for concert goers. Girls were walking around in their festival fashion gear, people were having picnics, there were many lovely foodstalls, jewellery and clothes stands along with the 98fm radio truck blasting out the tunes @The park.
Over the years The Coronas have done many gigs with the top Irish band “The Blizzards” so now that the lead singer Niall Breslin has gone solo the guys felt that this would be a great opportunity for the Westmeath man who now has assumed the alias of “Bressie” to support them and show the Irish what he’s made of. Bressie has only gone solo very recently so he would’t have a huge fan bass but he opened the show with a bang. Crowds started to gather in the tent and by the time he got to his second song “She ticks all the boxes” he had an excellent crowd dancing along. He thanked everyone for being there and for showing their support because it was still quite early on in the day which probably made it quite difficult for him to open up the show. However he definitely had no problem in doing this especially when the beat kicked in for the classic Blizzards song “Fantasy”… Everyone was jumping up and down screaming the lyrics and I was standing beside a girl that actually bust into tears. The crowds started running into the tent dancing and chanting along. He then introduced the crowd to his Friday song which was called “Breaking my fall” which kept everyone on their feet. Finally the moment came for his debut single “Can’t stay young forever” he certainly did himself very proud and It was very much a truly impressive finish. He left everyone on a high and wanting more. The moment he walked off I was thinking to myself that i just couldn’t wait until I heard more songs from his upcoming album. He’s still working on it at the moment and it will be on sale this Autumn. I was lucky enough to get talking to him after the show I asked him what he thought of his gig @The Park and how he felt about opening the show. He said “I really enjoyed it. I was quite nervous because I didn’t know what to expect because it’s still quite early on in the day and i’m just starting out on my own but yes it went really well and I’m very happy. I loved it.”. He is such a genuinely nice guy and I wish him all the best with his upcoming solo album, I have no doubt that it’s going to be a great success for him.
Royseven the six-piece alternative rock band from Dublin were up next. I remember them winning the “Hope for 2007” award at the Meteor awards. They have come so far since then especially after they released their second album “You Say We Say” in March. These guys really know how to get the crowd going. The lead vocalist Paul Walshe came out into the crowd singing his heart out and rocked @The Park to the song “Walls”, followed by their hit single “We Should Be Lovers” which made the crowd go wild singing and dancing along to the catchy chorus. I was hearing a lot of their songs for the first time and I absolutely loved the synth-fused-indie-rock style that they have. Their lyrics are catchy and they are all amazing at what they do. For the song “Dance” Paul took out a took out a huge Royseven flag and sang his heart out, everyone was absolutely buzzing, jumping up and down belting out the chorus. The tent was filling up by the minute. A performance worthy of a headline slot they closed with ‘Killer’ finishing a set which truly won over the crowd from front to back.
The Coronas very special guest KT Tunstall was up next. I was really looking forward to seeing this Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist from St. Andrews play ever since her unforgettable performance on Jools Holland in 2004. The crowd swelled to it’s biggest at this point as Katie and her amazing four piece backing band blew everyone away. She is a fabulous musician and a great front woman with jokes like naming her loop pedal “Wee Bastard”. Songs like “Black horse and the Cherry Tree” we popular tonic amongst this vocal crowd. A fabulous Tiger backdrop because she was promoting her album “Tiger Suit”. This album sounded a lot more contemporary from her previous work and the crowd loved it. She ended with her famous “Suddenly I See” which left everyone in happy carefree mood and wanting more. People were shouting “Katie Katie Katie” for about five solid minutes when she got off the stage. I met her after the show and she said “I loved every minute of it, It’s great to be back in Ireland”. The show was unforgettable and gave The Coronas a standard to live up to.
The Coronas have just finished touring with The Script on their European Tour. I was lucky enough to see them in the Aviva stadium just two weeks ago supporting The Script alongside Tiny Tempah. However this gig @The Park didn’t even compare to their performance in the Aviva stadium that night. This would be the guys biggest headline show of their lives and i’m sure they were delighted when they found out that it sold out. The crowd screaming and chanting for them created an unbelievable atmosphere. The venue @The Park suiting the indie rockers down to the ground. High energy and feeding off the crowd they everything the had from the off. They asked all of their fans in attendance to help them make their new music video @The Park by taking out their camera’s and phones and record video throughout the show and later submit it to the bands website. I seriously did not think I was a big Coronas fan however I knew the majority of their songs from their two studio albums “Heroes or Ghosts” and “Tony was An Ex-Con”.
They sang all their classic hits such as ‘Grace, Don’t Wait’ and ‘San Diego Song’. I was lucky enough to catch them coming off the stage only to hear Danny say “What a gig, Unbeliveable” and I was talking to Dave McPhilips (lead guitar) he simply looked gobsmacked when I asked him how he felt about the gig and replied “It was just Amazing”. The energy was kept going the whole night @The Park and Marley house. The crowds and bands left on a high.
It was certainly a very entertaining night @The Park due to the unbelievable summer festival atmosphere at the venue and amazing music. I definitely recommend checking out @The Park website to look for more upcoming gigs that may be of interest to you over the next few weeks.
The Coronas will play two Christmas shows at the Olympia Theatre on 5th & 6th of December 2011 and tickets are only 27euro