Skip to main content

2024-07-05 Sugababes - Iveagh Gardens, Dublin

I've been a Sugababes fan since I first heard Overload way back in 2000.  It was, and still is, a pop classic.  Over the years, I managed to catch them live a couple of times.   The first time I caught Sugababes live was way back at Creamfields 2002.  Unfortunately Siobhan had left the band by then and been replaced by Heidi, so I never got to see the original lineup.  Did it matter much at the time to me?  No, not at all, I was just their to party!  As a side note, post Sugababes, Siobhan went on to release two solo albums, Revolution in Me in 2003 and Ghosts in 2007. The next time I saw them was at Oxegen 2008, and by then Mutya had left the band and was replaced by Amelle, leaving Keisha as the only remaining original member.  It was a tad strange seeing the band with only one remaining member, but again, it was a festival and all we were looking for was a good time, which we definitely got! Another side note, just like Siobhan, Mutya went on to release her own solo work, a gr

2022-05-06 JoJo Levesque - The Academy, Dublin

Two years ago, I saw a tweet saying that 3 times Grammy Award Nominated JoJo Levesque was going to be playing the Academy in Dublin as part of her UK & Ireland Tour.

Now, her style of music wouldn't ordinarily be my scene, but she is a Grammy Nominee and has an incredible voice, so I thought 'why the hell not' and I booked a ticket.

That show was to take place on August 31st of 2020, but we all know what happened... Due to Covid restrictions, the show was rescheduled until October 6th 2021.  Well, as luck would have it, Covid did not disappear and so rather than reschedule again, the show was cancelled and refunds were issued.

Sometime in October 2021, the show was announced again with a new date in May 2022, but still in the Academy, so I bought another ticket, hoping it would go ahead.  As you can see from the title of this post, it most certainly did!

So, the gig, how was it?  Well, it was excellent.  JoJo has an incredible voice and her band were superb.  Not being the biggest JoJo fan, I wasn't aware of a lot of her catalogue, but I knew the hits and sang along with everyone else.

Speaking of everyone else, they knew all the words, of every song and sang their hearts out. It was great to see.

I've said it before, it's always good to step outside your comfort zone and go see or do something you're not used to.  Tonight was one of those times and I really enjoyed it.

My only issue was with the the use of smoke. Bad lighting I can cope with, but the use of heavy smoke is just annoying.  Also, JoJo has a tour photographer with her, so bringing the DSLR was out of the question.

I'm not overly delighted with my photos, but they're a record of the night, so here they are!











Popular Posts

Interview with King Kong Company

Originally published 10/09/2013 on Chunk.ie So, there I was, wandering around the Electric Picnic wondering who I was going to watch next. One of the lads said he had heard good things about King Kong Company and that we should check them out, so off we headed to the Body and Soul Arena to do just that.  As I mentioned in my review of the Electric Picnic, the gig was epic.  I figured we just had to interview them here on CHUNK.ie, and here it is! First things first, congratulations on a storming gig at the Electric Picnic. It completely blew me away.  Was this your first Picnic experience? We’ve been to many Electric Picnics over the years but just as punters, and it’s always been a great festival, so it was a fantastic experience to play at its 10 year anniversary. King Kong Company is a rather interesting name for a band, where or how did you come up with it? The name is taken from the film Taxi Driver. If you look closely, Travis Bickle is wearing a badge which says King
Read more

2022-11-04 Mairead Carroll - Moat Theatre, Naas

Every now and then I have a choice of gigs to go to...  This night, I could have driven into Dublin to see Meryl Streek in the Workmans Club , or I could stay local and go see Mairead Carroll in the Moat Theatre in Naas. Well, it was a no brainer.  The weather was terrible and, well, I felt terrible too, so I figured I'd stay local. Mairead has played the Moat Theatre before, but always as support, never as the main attraction.  Tonight, would be her debut headline performance and she didn't let anyone down! I'm not quite sure how to describe here music.  It's not folk, it's not trad, it's not country or rock... It's. well, it's very light and soft and calming.  Mairead is a poet who, only relatively recently, has started putting her words to music. It's a very relaxing affair!  Her songs are very personal, and, at first listen, you might think them melancholy, but then you hear the joy and the love in them, and you start to see them for what they
Read more

2023-08-26 The Playing Fields Festival - Clane GAA

It's The Playing Fields Festival time again!  TPFF23, it's third outing, is back and it's the same, but a little different also. For the first time, it's not just an Irish affair.  The legendary Basement Jaxx headlined the Sunday night.  Also, for the first time, it's under canvas.  Not a big circus type tent, a more low rise, stretched canvas affair, as per TribFest a few weeks back.  Given the state of the Irish summer, it was a great decision.  The final difference was that I was only there for Day Two as I'd already arranged to bring my niece to see The Vamps , and that clashed with Day One. So, along with Basement Jaxx , who else was playing Day Two of TPFF? Well, we had:     The Flavours      Altered Lines      Diversion      Raging Sons      Spring Break      Roisin O      and      CamrinWatsin I think we can agree, that's a pretty good mix of rock n' roll, party time and dance music!  Even under canvas, the stage was pretty big and sounded good
Read more