irishmj.ie

Vicar Street in Dublin has recently reopened after being closed due the the Covid Pandemic and, well, a small fire on the premises! So this week I headed along to a double header featuring Cat Dowling and Brendan Tallon .  I'd not heard of Cat before, but I knew of Brendan through Twitter and the fact that he was a member of Revelino , an Irish band from my youth! So, first up was Cat and from the opening chords, I was hooked.  What a fantastic show and it left me wondering just how the hell I hadn't heard of her before!  A great rock n' roll show, definitely worth checking out her back catalogue and I'll be catching her live again! Next up was Brendan Tallon who, as it turned out, was not only playing his debut album 'Love In These Times', live for the first time, but it was also his debut live solo performance!! Brendan's  set was a much more relaxed set than Cat's, that was until he was joined on stage by his brother Ciaran , also a member of Revel

I've been asked a few times if I'd be interested in shooting a music video.  Each time I said no because, well, I'd no idea what to do.  I'm not technical behind a camera. I know the look I want, I take my photos and, that's it.  I honestly don't know what I'm doing, it just works for me, sometimes (they're the photos you see!). I've known Pete Kavanagh  a long time. We both grew up in the same Kildare town and know many of the same folk.  Over the last few years we became friends through music.  He played, I listened and or photographed.  So, when he asked me if I'd shoot his video for 'Mercy', I said yes, albeit a hesitant yes, one filled with self doubt! Day one of shooting came around all too quickly for me.  I'd looked in to shooting video, read up a bit on how to do it on my camera, what settings to change and so on, just so I wouldn't look clueless on set!  I charged all the batteries and lights, packed all the gear away an

The last time I saw Mik Pyro perform, it was December 31st, 2018.  Normally I ring in the New Year with a large group of friends, but 2018 had been a shite year for me personally and I badly needed a change, and wanted to ring in 2019 with something exciting. So I headed to Whelan's with a good friend and we wtahced Mik perform and partied into the early hours of 2019. I hadn't seen Mik perform since. The pandemic had a lot to do with that, so when I saw he was playing the Sugar Club in Dublin, I bought a ticket and made plans. On the night, Mik was in fine form mixing old Republic of Loose tracks with his new solo material.  As the saying goes, he had the crowd in the palm of his hand, the audience were singing their hearts out all night long!  If you haven't seen Mik play live, I can't recommend the experience enough.  You'll sing, you'll laugh, you'll sing some more and walk away feeling happy. Also playing on the night, from New York (or was it New

So I headed to see Shobsy tonight in the Workmans Club in Dublin. I'd seen him recently enough when he played the Moat Theatre in Naas with Mundy back in July. So, how was the gig? Fantastic to be honest. The guy has an absolutely incredible voice and to go along with that, he has a fantastic stage presence. A true pop star in the making!  There was a large crowd in attendance, even with the COVID Restrictions in place, and they loved every moment of the gig. My only gripe was with the lighting which, in the main, was red and blue... that makes it incredibly difficult to capture a decent shot, the subject either looks like the red hulk or an icicle!  Anyway, I made the best of it and B&W hides a myriad of problems! Anyway, on to the photos: @irish_mj This is a terrible looking video of @shobsy18 playing the Workman's Club in ##Dublin 23/09/21. The photos look better, I swear! ##Gigs ##LiveMusic ##IrishMusicParty ♬ original sound - IrishMJ

So there I was, way back in April, sitting outside with my folks, talking, having a bite to eat, when my phone buzzes to tell me there's someone at the my front door. I check the feed and I think to myself 'he looks bloody familiar...'  A few moments later and my phone buzzes again, this time it's the same guy, but with a package in his hands.  That's when it clicked, it was JyellowL hand delivering his album  2020 DIvision and I wasn't there!  It is, by the way, a great album and you should definitely check it out! Due to COVID Restrictions, I thought the chance of seeing him perform this year would be slim to none, but, as luck would have it, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media  funded a series of gigs around Kildare and JyellowL was lined up to play Saint Davids Church in Naas.  The only issue was that tickets were done by lottery and I wasn't assured of one! Roll on Monday and I got an email to say 'congratulations

Tonight was the last of the 18 to 18 series of gigs in the Moat Theatre in Naas and what better way to close out the series, but with Sive . I've seen Sive perform on many occasions, but this was the first time in a long time that she had a full band and it turned, what is normally a beautiful performance into a fantastic night of music, a wonderful way to end the series. It's also worth mentioning the fantastic work put in by Tony Sourke , Celine Garvey and the team at the Moat Theatre for organising 18 to 18.  Well done! Anyway, on to the photos: @irish_mj ##Sive performing ##Tenlach tonight in the ##MoatTheatre in ##Naas . ##LiveMusic ##Gigs ##IrishMusicParty ##Kildare ##Ireland ♬ original sound - IrishMJ