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2024-12-02 Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - The Academy, Dublin

Christmas came early this year for me.  Never did I think that  Me First and the Gimme Gimmes  would be playing Dublin, and never did I ever think I'd get to shoot one of their shows! Well, that all changed last week when they played the Academy in Dublin on a cold, damp, Monday night! I've been a fan since 1997, when one of the lads I worked with, brought in a copy of Have a Ball . It was love at first listen! I did manage to catch them live back in 2019 when they played the O2 Forum in Kentish Town , London, and it was every bit as good as I'd hoped, but it paled in comparison to Monday night in Dublin. So, how did it come about?  Well, back in 2013, I interviewed the band for a now defunct Irish website called Chunk.ie .  Over the years, I've stayed on their PR roster, so I took a chance and emailed my contact there.  Lo and behold, a few emails later and all was sorted, I was down to photograph the show. How was it?  Brilliant, amazing, fantastic,...

COVID-19

You'll probably have noticed a lack of posts here over the last few months. Like most places around the world, the live music scene here in Ireland has been decimated by the COVID-19 Pandemic.


March, April and May were spent in lock down.  Three months in almost isolation.  It was tough, but the alternative was a lot worse.  I am glad to see the back of it though.

So many plans are gone awry though.  There are no live gigs, no festivals, nothing...  Some pubs have opened, but there are rules and regulations to adhere to and live music isn't high on their agenda just yet.

There have been some incredible online gigs over the last few months, but that can't be the future of live music.  Also, Gavin James and Hermitage Green have organised Drive-In Tours where punters drive to the gig in their cars and stay in the cars for the gigs. Not a bad idea, but again, that can't be the future. Anyway...

I have two gigs left this year that haven't been cancelled... Jo Jo Levesque, you might remember her from the early 2000s, in the Academy Dublin at the end of August and King King Company in the Olympia Theatre in October.

I'm not quite sure if the Jo Jo gig will go ahead, I'd hope so, but you just can't tell.  The King Kong Company gig should still go ahead, baring a second wave of COVID-19.

Right, well that's the state of play here in Ireland at the moment.  Maybe I'll get back to posting live gig photos soon enough, maybe...

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Interview with King Kong Company

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2024-08-02 Tribfest - North Kildare Sports Club, Kilcock

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2024-02-17 Only After Dark Burlesque Show - The Dark Horse, Athlone

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