Skip to main content

2019-01-19 Ones to Watch - Whelans Dublin

Well would you look at that, it’s 2019 already. 2018 was some year for gigs, I’ve a feeling that 2019 might top it though! I finished my 2018 gigs  in Whelans, so whey not start my 2019 gigs there also!

Tonight was the third or fourth night of the Whelans Ones to Watch 2019 festival and Ansonix, a good friend of the IrishMusicParty, was headlining the Friday night, so off I went.  It’s hard to describe the music Ansonix plays, but imagine crossing a Sega Megadrive with Amadeus and you’ll get some idea.  Check him out, it’s good stuff!

OK, so that’s the reason I was there out of the way.  The first band I got to see on the night were Jooce and they were a throw back to 70s psychedelic rock. Well worth checking out.

The gig used both venues at Whelans, which meant I was wandering around the place catching bits of bands here and there.  The next band I got to see were from Mullingar and they were just funktastic! Who were they?  Well they’re called Bobby and the Blunts and I don’t think there was a more sweaty, manic gig all night than theirs! They’re playing Whelans on February 2nd, you really should get along to see them.

Who’s next… Well the photos tell me it’s Sun Mahshene, a good old fashioned rock band with a touch of Manchester thrown in for luck.  Maybe I just got lucky, but again, I’d definitely like to see them again.  This Ones to Watch list is growing fast!

Next up on Friday night were the absolutely brilliant Toshin.  They’re a fist full of funk mixed with a handful of soul and a dash of sass thrown in for good measure.  They had the crowd worked up into a frenzy and it was a brilliant set, best of the whole night for me.  Really enjoyed their set and can’t wait to see them again.

The last act I got to see on Friday night at Whelans Ones to Watch 2019 was the always fun, always happy, always entertaining Prymary Colours. If you want a gig with a crazy party atmosphere, just give these folk a call, you’ll not be disappointed!  It’s only my second time seeing them live, but they are now a firm favourite!

And that’s it, that was my Ones to Watch 2019 experience.  I got to see 6 different bands all for the princely sum of 5.00 Euro.  Oh and that included one free beer token which I donated to someone who looked like they didn’t need it, but sure…

Anyway, I’d recommend going to see any of the acts above, I really enjoyed them all.  There’s some amount of musical talent out there on the Irish music scene, it just needs to be given some more exposure.


Ansonix

Jooce

Bobby and the Blunts

Sun Mashene

Toshin

Prymary Colours

Popular posts from this blog

Bye Bye Spotify...

I ditched Spotify Premium this weekend. Why?  Well, I read an interview with Daniel Ek , the CEO of Spotify, and I profoundly disagreed with what he said and his attitude towards musicians in the interview.  So I said 'F*ck it', and closed my premium account.  I still do have a free account as many bands choose Spotify to release their music, so I'll keep it for that reason. What now though?  Well, I'd created a large library of music on my home server over the last 20 years or so.  Every time I bought a CD, it got ripped to the server.  Every time I bought digital music from Bandcamp , Google or 7 Digital , they too got stored on the server, and that was fine for home use, it worked well.  But now I'd dumped Spotify, what could I do, how could I access my music outside the house? I'd played around with software called Plex a few years back, but had no use for it. I ended up doing nothing with Plex, but for this project, I decided to revisit it.  I knew that if
Read more

Pete Kavanagh - Mercy Video Shoot

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
Read more

A Love Letter to Music Venues

I was in Dublin city centre this morning for the first time in 12 months.  The last time I was there was to see Jane Willow perform in the Cobblestone Pub  on February 29th 2020.  I never, not for a moment, thought things would turn out as they did.  I was looking forward to a year full of gigs and excitement.  I think we all know how that turned out. After doing what I had to workwise, I took a spin around Dublin before I headed home.  I drove by the aforementioned Cobblestone Pub , the Voodoo Lounge , The Grand Social , The Workmans Club , The Sugar Club and ended up outside Whelans . I've had great nights out in each of those venues and in many more around the country!   Dolans of Limerick, Crane Lane Theatre and Kino in Cork,  Odd Mollies in Drogheda, the Moat Theatre in Naas, the Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge, the Solstice Arts Centre in Navan, Visual in Carlow...  The list goes on and on. 2017 and Helmet played Whelans.  There I am partying with them after the s
Read more