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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,...

2023-07-01 The Stunning - King John's Castle, Limerick

It had been a while since I last photographed The Stunning, so, when I saw they were playing the fantastic King John's Castle in Limerick, I started to hatch a plan!

A few instagram messages and emails back and forth and all was sorted, I was heading to Limerick.

The Stunning have been one of my favourite bands since I can't remember!  I do remember seeing them at Feile '92 though! 31 years... Jaysus.

Anyway, the gig was fantastic.  The band were on form, the audience were on form, the venue was beautiful, the rain stayed away and there was a full moon out over head, what more could you want?  Over the course of the night, the band were joined by the 4 of Us (more on them shortly) for a beautiful tribute to Christy Dignam and by Niwel Tsumbu on guitar for Romeo's on Fire.

But look, I'm not that great with words.  All you need know is that it was a wonderful night in a wonderful venue!

Now for some photos:


















Also playing King John's Castle that opening proceedings, were another longtime favourite of mine, the 4 of Us. 

As always, the put on a great show, and crowd favourites like Drag My Bad Name Down and Mary had gig goers singing at the tops of their voices.

Midway during The Stunning's set, the 4 of Us were invited back on stage and they performed the aforementioned tribute to the late Christy Dignam.  There must have been some dust in the air that night as there were a lot of damp eyes in the audience.

The night finished off with them joining The Stunning again for some Bob Dylan classics and then that was that... The night was over and there was nothing left to do but pack up and go back to the hotel, hoping that I'd managed to get at least a couple of decent photos!!

Speaking of photos, here are some of the 4 of Us:
















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