@irishmj

Over two nights in St Brigid’s Cathedral in Kildare town, we got to see some of the best that Irish music has to offer! Organised by Paddy Casey and Sophia Cadogan , Firebirds was described as a two day music event, a mini indoor festival! Tuesday night started with  Grievous Boy .  I'm a fan of Irish Hip-Hop but I'd not heard of him before, It didn't matter, I enjoyed his set and hopefully I'll get to see more of him in the future. Next up was  Saoirse Casey  complete with a string section.  It was, I think, her best live performance to date, simply beautiful. What can I say about the next performer,  Gemma Hayes .  She hadn't played live in many years, but you'd never know it.  She came, she played, she conquered.  I loved it!  I can't wait to see her play again! Tuesday night closed out with  Mundy .  I've lost count of how many times I've seen him play, but each time it's a crowd pleasing gig.  So many great songs!!! And then that was that,

The last time I saw Peco live was back in December 2019, in, as it happens, The Old Drapery in Rathangan.  So it was nice to return there to catch his return to the live scene! It's a lovely venue, as the name suggests, it was an old drapery store, and they've kept the restoration of the building true to the old style, which helps creates a lovely atmosphere. Anyway, Peco treated us to a selection of old and new songs and the crowd la[[ed it all up and sang along! It was great to catch up with Peco,  the band and LiveLoudMusic  before the gig.  Looking forward to seeing a full electric show soon! Check out the photos below: I headed to ##Rathangan see ##Peco perform for the first time in almost two years. Great to catch up with him. ##Gigs ##LiveMusic ##Irish ##IrishMusicParty ♬ original sound - IrishMJ

Well, it's been one hell of a few days since Pete Kavanagh released Mercy and the coverage it's received has been fantastic. To start with, HotPress , the Irish music bible, said some nice things about it! Then, the nice folks over at IMRO had this to say: And finally, for now at least, the folk over on the Sleeping Bag Studios podcast had this to say (starts at 28:05): SBS Podcast · 2021 Episode 134 - An Array Of Innovators & Brand-New Tunes So yeah, it's been a good week!  If you haven't heard the song yet or seen the video, why not check it out below?

Not content with being in Vicar Street on Thursday night, I returned 24 hours later to see the incredible  Tolü Makay perform. Tolü really came to public attention last year with her superb cover of the Saw Doctors track, N17 .  Since then, she's been a firm favourite on Irish TV screens and radio. On to the gig...  I'll just quote what I said on Twitter: "I've been to a lot of gigs, but tonight's gig, Tolu Makay in Vicar Street, was simply incredible. From the first note I was hooked. I sat there, like a love struck teenager, in awe. What an absolutely amazing voice she has, simply amazing. I'm still smiling." Support on the night was from Lucy McWilliams .  She's got a nice, soft smoky voice and I really liked her set. I think we will see her on the festival scene when it returns! So that is that. I think it was, without any doubts, one of the best gigs I've ever been at.  There's nothing more to add. On to the photos: @irish_mj The incredi

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