Tag Archives: grunge

Grunge-soaked ‘revellers’ at the Sunstroke Festival in Dalymount Park, 1994

Beyond football, the social history of the ground has included numerous musical festivals and concerts. Most famously, Bob Marley played there in July 1980. The inimitable Pat Egan booked some unforgettable line-ups at the venue, including Meat Loaf supported by poet John Cooper Clarke.

More forgotten is Sunstroke, an attempt to establish an annual grunge-focused festival in the early 1990s. Bringing Sonic Youth and Faith No More to Phibsboro, the noise level was a little much for local residents, and the festival was moved to the RDS.

No other football pitch in Dublin has been graced by both Zinedine Zidane and Brendan Behan (a participant in a charity kickabout in the 1950s)….

…Perhaps a redeveloped Dalymount Park could be the ideal home for a museum dedicated to the story of Irish football.

The Redevelopment of Dalymount Park Offers a Chance to Remember Its Rich History (Donal Fallon, The Dublin Inquirer)

Cassavettes

Casavettes – Limerick alternative upstarts

What you may need to know…

01. A pensive, post-hardcore take on the broad alternative/indie sound is offered up by Limrock upstarts Casavettes.

02. Emerging in the latter half of 2014, the band has steadily built up a presence in their home city with single Maybe Someday and extended-player The Difference and the Distance.

03. Streaming above is new single Reunion, released last week via the band’s Bandcamp, accompanied by sleepy b-side In April.

04. Catch them next on April 7th in Limerick, supporting Anna’s Anchor at the Loft venue in a full-band show, with Empty Lungs and Life Goals alongside them on the bill.

Thoughts: Dense in their heavier moments, and weighing heavy even in moments of relative levity, “evocative” might even be too stock a word for these lads.

Casavettes

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Bitch Falcon – Dublin grunge/alternative trio

What you may need to know…

01. Aiding the seeming Irish alt-rock revival along are power trio Bitch Falcon.

02. Last we checked in with the band, they’d premiered single Clutch via Nialler9, since released on all digital outlets.

03. Streaming above is the video for same, released yesterday. Directed by Spiceburger, it plays on the band’s indomitable stage presence in a skewed take on the performance vid.

04. The band are going on a full national tour to support the new single, including dates in Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Portlaoise, Leap, Dublin and Castlebar. Full itinerary in the pic above..

Thoughts: A bold visual, accompanying a band kicking off the grunge shackles and tearing into something noisier and more grandiose.

Bitch Falcon

Naoise Roo

Naoise Roo – Playing Galway and Hard Working Class Heroes fest

What you may need to know…

01. Dubliner Naoise Roo’s star has been on the ascendant, with a heavyweight voice to bear heavy subject matter.

02. Debut long-player Lilith released last year on bespoke tape label Little L Records, and quickly established herself and her band, going on to share bills with the likes of Elastic Sleep, and circumnavigating the Irish festival scene.

03. Streaming above is the bare-bones, single-shot video for For You, taken from Lilith.

04. On September 24th, Naoise and outfit take on Galway’s Roisin Dubh as the first date of her upcoming #WHORETOUR in support of upcoming single Whore. Support from Irish DIY-music cornerstone (and featured photographer) Laura Sheeran. She also plays Hard Working Class Heroes fest, October 6th-8th across Dublin.

VERDICT: From a diminutive frame emerges a preternaturally sultry vocal and prodigious presence, given a gently menacing alt-rock undercurrent by an equally accomplished group of collaborators.

Naoise Roo