IrishMJ

When you get an email from HotPress asking if you want two tickets to fo see The Murder Capital play a small intimate gig in Aloft Dublin , you'd be crazy to say no, so after talking to myself for a while, I said yes! I'd not seen The Murder Capital before, but I'd heard lots of great things about them and was looking forward to the gig.  I didn't bring the camera along, well, I did, just not the big one, I brought my small Sony DSC HX60. I figured it was a HotPress gig and they'd have their own photographers in the crowd and I was only there as a punter, so the Sony would do just fine. The Murder Capital were absolutely fantastic. I always think it's the sign of a good band if they can replicate the passion and intensity of a studio album when playing an acoustic set, and The Murder Capital had no problems doing this!  I can't help but feel that these guys are going to be massive on the festival circuit this year! My only gripe on the whole night was the

It's been a quiet January, not many gigs lined up due to getting the latest version of man flu! Thankfully, on Thursday night, I got to go to my first gig of 2023, and to make things even better, it was in my local theatre, the Moat . So, local producer and studio owner Willie Headon (Poppyhill Studios) runs a night called Willie's Folk Night.  I think tonight was its first time in the Moat Theatre and featured Willie, Johnny Gleeson, Pete Kavanagh , Eleanor Shanley and Mike Hanrahan . The show lasted over 2 hours with Willie, Johnny and Pete playing the first hour with Eleanor and Mike playing the second. It was a great night of music, I managed to catch up with some other local musicians and talk about future plans.  So yeah, a great night! Anyway, on to the photos:

I don't normally do a ' Best O f', but a friend of mine, who is a photographer that I really do admire, asked me for it, so here we are... So, in no particular order, here are, what I think are, my 10 Best Photos of 2022 . First Class and Coach - Workmans Cellar, Dublin, 13th April, 2022 Denise Chaila - King Johns Castle, Limerick - 20th August, 2022 Paddy Casey - Naas Wild Food Festival, Naas - 10th September, 2022 Daire Heffernan - Merchy Christmas, The Grand Social, Dublin - 18th December, 2022  Kynsy  - Workmans Cellar, Dublin - 2nd December, 2022 Pussy Riot - Opium Rooms, Dublin - 15th November, 2022 Zaska - The Grand Social, Dublin - 30th October, 2022  Tolka Hot Club - Civic Centre, Tallaght - 22nd October, 2022 Shollah - Tebi Rex and Friends, Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge - 15th October, 2022 Jerry Fish - The Playing Fields Festival, Clane - 26th August, 2022