Update on last week’s news of RedKid: Dan the man is back on a drum throne soon! After a nasty fall from his bike Keet has confirmed there’s no serious damage -hooray!- and all will be well for the major haul ahead on the release of their eponymous debut in August (I have my copy: it’s great to be jaywalking to Soup!)
The Minutes really are carrying out their threats of gigs in gaffs…or should that be gigs’n'gaffes? Lock up your ma’s bras and hide the dodgy school photos: Phil Kelly has a teaser….watch out for The Minutes’ WhelansUpstairs residency in the next few weeks:
Although they’re a seasoned band who paved their way bit-by-bit, it’s been a whirlwind for Derry rockers Fighting With Wire since the release of debut album Man vs Monster in 2007. Punching past other rock releases this past year, the record’s packed with driving spirit and guitar, gathering resounding reviews from a wide range of sources and a steady stream of bookings, a full summer schedule has soldified the album as success. Currently riding high at #2 in the MTV2Chart (above Coldplay, Paramore and We Are Scientists, so go and vote to keep get them to first place!), new single Everybody Needs A Nemesis is released next Monday 2 June before Fighting With Wire jet away to Paris and the first leg of their European mini-tour. Check out the video :
They play tonight at The Hub with support from Laminate and Your Arch Enemies. I love seeing bands in tiny, dark venues knowing they’re heading on to huge stages soon after. Get along and make your own mind up for €12. The Dublin bands are worth that alone and apparently Laminate may be calling it a day very soon…
Crayonsmith were a cheerful bunch this morning and rightly so: Nick T ofIslands has asked Ciaran Smith, Ruadhan O’Meara and Ronan Jackson to tag along on a fourteen date tour of the United States! Kicking off in Seattle on June 12, the bands will work their way down the west coast into Texas and Georgia, with the possible announcement of more book-ended gigs to follow. The Dublin band are no strangers to North America: much of 2007 was spent wagon trail-blazing after signing to Out On A Limb Records in February. Support requests from big bands are not uncommon either and have come from Sparklehorse, Quasi and Mt. Eerie. Maybe Islands’ Diamonds is hooked on White Wonder, the brand-new follow-up to 2006’s Stay Loose - a brief explanation of developments in sound between recordings can be found on MySpace - or perhaps he was in attendance at the IMRO Showcase on Friday night and got over the sound hurdles marring the trio’s set…. I thought they were grand but levels never seemed to reach the band’s requirements and there was a lot of relaying to the engineer’s box. Their songs sounded brilliant, choppy mix of layers and recordings beaten to a sweet batter of timely instrumentals. However Crayonsmith are a band involving precise ingredients and better to see on their own billing. Yer man rocks out on guitar in the shadows while Smith plinks a glockenspiel and you just can’t tear your ears away. How deadly is it then, that Crayonsmith have six nationwide dates coming in the next few weeks?
April 10th: Dolan’s Upstairs, Limerick (Guests: Bats)
April 11th: The Whiskey, Cork (Guests: Private Underground Residence)
April 12th: Roisín Dubh, Galway (Guests to Fight Like Apes)
April 16th: The Limelight, Belfast (w/ Two Door Cinema Club)
April 19th: The Academy, Dublin(Guests: Cap Pas Cap & Bats)
April 26th: Andrew’s Lane Theatre, Dublin (Guests to Why?)
The Academy Show will be an absolute riot. I’d strongly recommend selling Granny’s prize bonds and lashing your faith and fortune into this gig ‘cos it’s gonna rock with or without you! The Anticon band Why? from Oakland will be well worth the effort too (check out 2005’s Elephant Eyelash)…
