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,...
The Beatles in the Adelphi Cinema in Dublin... U2 in the Dandelion Market... Nirvana in the Top Hat, Dun Laoghaire... You'll here people say 'Oh yeah, I was there, it was incredible!'. Now, if everyone who says they were there actually were, these venues would hold thousands, not hundreds! Why am I saying that? Well, Friday night last, I was in Dolans in Limerick to see the incredible Denise Chaila launch her mixtape, Go Bravely . It was one of those gigs that will be talked about for years to come. It was a small crowd, 50, maybe 60 people, but that's only because of the current COVID Restrictions. Tickets sold out in 1 minute online, that should give you some idea of how popular this gig was! In fact, she even put on an earlier gig at 7:30 due to demand! Supported onstage by God Knows and MuRli Bo (bloody great performers in their own right!) and DJ Replay on the decks, it was a non stop party. Obviously, the biggest response o...