It’s a Thursday night, and three incredible acts are sound-checking for a (literal!) underground gig in the depths of McHugh’s Basement. Sitting on the sidelines and watching the warmup you can learn a lot about the artists and their passion for the music that means so much to them. Coming straight from day jobs and tending to families with a desire simply to perform, you don’t get that sense of corporate genericism that oozes from most artists these days. There is no merch being shoved in your face, simply a suggestion gently off to the side, there is no ego in the room, simply banter and craic.
It’s gigs like these where you see those artists that could, if they wanted, be big in the next 5-10 years. A raw intimate set with future headliners and album sellers that blows you away and leaves you with the rare diamonds of local talent who stuck in your head wishing you had picked up an album
Up first was the incredible Red House, a band that really rang out with a variety of influences from indie bands like Kasabian and the Strokes with a high energy set, with solos in tracks like ‘Miss Me’ and ‘Taxi’ taking on influences from Slash and Hendrix They were the double shot of espresso that woke up the Thursday night crowd and had them hyped for the sets to come.
Following that was Overlockers hitting us with a sound that felt like a surreal mixture of Velvet Revolver, with notes of Black Stone Cherry and a little Green Day thrown in for good measure, combine that with the Dublin accent and you get a kick-ass rock and roll combo that does the country proud, one to look up on Spotify and just take in, a thoroughly enjoyable performance
Headliners Petty Youth, hailing from the culchie-lands of Crossgar took to the stage shortly after, one thing you will always notice about Petty Youth is the lack of interest in pigeon-holing themselves into the same predictable formula that has been ever so common lately in Northern Ireland: create a band that sings about the Troubles or Politics of the land and suddenly you’re a winner. They do away with that idea and simply just want to take to the stage and play some hardcore rock and roll. With some serious banter thrown about by Drummer Alex and the Lads, it’s a night that for a fiver was a steal.
© Conor Kinahan
© Conor Kinahan
© Conor Kinahan
© Conor Kinahan
© Conor Kinahan
© Conor Kinahan
© Conor Kinahan
© Conor Kinahan
© Conor Kinahan
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