***THIS CONCERT IS TAKING PLACE IN THE UNITARIAN CHURCH, St.STEPHEN’S GREEN***
ELEVENS is a three piece acoustic band from Dublin, Ireland. Formed in 2009 by Martin McCann and Tony Barrett from two of Dublin’s most prestigious Indie bands (SACK and BRILLIANT TREES)
Once Upon A Time…there was a girl, who knew a boy, who knew several other boys and girls. What’s so good about that you ask? Well this particular bunch of boys and girls all happened to have several things in common.
Once Upon A Time…there was a girl, who knew a boy, who knew several other boys and girls. What’s so good about that you ask? Well this particular bunch of boys and girls all happened to have several things in common.
Once Upon A Time…there was a girl, who knew a boy, who knew several other boys and girls. What’s so good about that you ask? Well this particular bunch of boys and girls all happened to have several things in common.
Once Upon A Time…there was a girl, who knew a boy, who knew several other boys and girls. What’s so good about that you ask? Well this particular bunch of boys and girls all happened to have several things in common.
Once Upon A Time…there was a girl, who knew a boy, who knew several other boys and girls. What’s so good about that you ask? Well this particular bunch of boys and girls all happened to have several things in common.
Once Upon A Time…there was a girl, who knew a boy, who knew several other boys and girls. What’s so good about that you ask? Well this particular bunch of boys and girls all happened to have several things in common.
Tupelo are an exciting, original, acoustic roots act consisting of an eclectic line-up of instruments which includes banjo, guitar, fiddle, saxophone and double bass. Their sound is fresh and unique in today’s world of endless electric outfits.
Ben Carrigan is a founding member of multi-platinum selling and award winning Irish pop group ‘The Thrills.’ He has also been quickly gaining notoriety in Ireland, the UK and the USA for his work as a composer for film and television and for arrangements and orchestrations he has written for a number of other artists.
Ben’s most recent project is a new album entitled “The Greatest Narrators” on which he finished production earlier this year. The album was written, arranged, recorded and mixed by Ben himself with some additional guest performances from some of London and Dublin’s finest musicians. It comprises of a collection of beautifully crafted pop songs influenced by the likes of Carole King and Tom Waits but with the heady arrangements of Scott Walker. These songs are interwoven with a mix of stunning scores, soaring strings and a filmic sensibility.
***THIS GIG HAS BEEN POSTPONED***
REVIEWS
“AN EXPERTLY DRAFTED SUITE OF BONE BARE BALLADS AND EARTHY INSTRUMENTALS OWING A DEBT TO SUCH LAUREATES OF MISANTHROPY AS TOM WAITS AND LEONARD COHEN” METRO ****
“TRULY SUPERB…THIS RECORD IS WORTH HEARING” HOTPRESS
“A BATCH OF SWEETLY ORCHESTRATED SONGS THAT HIGHLIGHT CARRIGAN’S CONSIDERABLE COMPOSITIONAL TALENTS” IRISH INDEPENDENT
“THE GREATEST NARRATORS IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFULLY HEARTFELT AND QUIETLY AMBITIOUS RECORDS YOU’LL HEAR THIS YEAR” ROCKSUCKER.CO.UK
Born out of the modern day dustbowl that is Ireland John Blek & the Rats are a fresh folk outfit whose melancholy is tempered by a penchant for a good ol’hollerin and a hodown.
London-based singer/producer, Maria Minerva, real name Maria Juur, has just released her first “proper” album, Cabaret Cixous, on Britt and Amanda Brown’s irrepressible Not Not Funlabel.
Mike Bell & The Belltones is a rockabilly band from Helsinki, Finland. The band was officially formed in late 2008 and they have since gathered a great following with their live shows all over Europe: Finland, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, England, Austria and Switzerland.
At first Mike Bell & The Belltones was only a solo project for the singer Mike Bell. He had some songs that he recorded by himself and they were released on an EP “Let´s Rock Tonight”. In 2008 things changed when the lead guitarist Timo Kalijärvi convinced Mike to put the band together and the Finnish label Goofin Records signed them instantly.
The first Mike Bell & The Belltones album “Scream & Holler” was released in 2010 and it was recorded live in a vintage studio “Lightning Recorders” in Berlin. In 2011 they toured and made an EP ”Baby, Make a Move” with a 50´s rockabilly legend Huelyn Duvall. Their songs also appeared on international compilations such as Bear Family Records´ box set.
A new EP from the group will be released in October 2011 and the second Mike Bell & The Belltones album will be released in June 2012. They will also continue to tour the rockin´ clubs and festivals across Europe.
Line-up:
Mike Bell: Vocals & Rhythm guitar
Timo Kalijärvi: Solo guitar
Iikku Riepponen: Double bass
Japi Saario: Drum kit
WATCH:
TICKETS:
€10 incl booking fee available online from WAV Tickets [Lo-Call 1890 200 078] (50c per ticket service charge applies on phone or creditcard bookings)
With their debut album ‘People Street’ entering the Irish charts at #4 last week, and on the back of a sold-out hometown headline show at the Roisin Dubh, The Kanyu Tree have announced details of their first headline Irish tour including a date at Whelan’s, Dublin on December 21st 2011.
Tickets for the Whelan’s date are priced at €10 inclusive of booking fee and go on-sale Thursday October 12th from Ticketmaster outlets nationwide and ticketmster.ie
The 12-date People Street tour begins on October 26 in Galway, and culminates in two headline shows in Dublin and Galway at the end of the year. Further dates will be added to the tour in the coming weeks.
The Kanyu Tree are brothers Daniel, Shane and Oisin Cluskey from Galway. Their debut album, ‘People Street’, is out now. Produced by the band and Ali Shaheed Muhammed (A Tribe Called Quest) and mixed by Chris Potter (The Verve, Keane), the album features previous singles ‘Radio’ and ‘Shelf Life’, and new single ‘Slow’.
A Laser Tom remix of ‘Slow’ can be downloaded for free from the band’s website: www.thekanyutree.com
Since they’re formation in 2007 The Deans have strived to leave the little island they call home and endeavour not to settle until they have the world at their feet.
SertOne is an experimental producer from Portadown, Northern Ireland. Now based in Liverpool, the 22 year old put out his debut EP “The View From Above” on Belfast label Melted Music last February.
The release earned him rave reviews from the likes of Hot Press, AU Magazine, MTV and BBC Radio 1. Due to its success, the EP was reprinted with brand new artwork and re-released last month.
Not just known for creating his own material, the hip-hop / electronic beat-maker has kept fans entertained with his remix work. “ Versions” is a collection of official and bootleg remixes of artists ranging from the likes of MF Doom to Crystal Castles and was put out for free download.
His second remix tape and latest release “Widths” is also available for free download (or donate) from his bandcamp.
Currently on his third tour of Ireland, SertOne has quickly become an established name in the Irish music scene, sharing line ups with acts such as Not Squares, Moths, ASIWYFA, and Solar Bears. As he’s due to start working on his follow up EP, it’s essential you catch his live set this time around as it might be a while before he’s back again!
Simon Bird is a 21 year old independent, Dublin based producer (originally from England’s South West) In the past year Simon has self-produced & released a number of EP’s, displaying a broad mix of genre’s such as Hip-Hop, Ambient, Noise, Post Rock & Electronica.
Simon’s music showcases and impressive blend of eerie ambient highs, tortured synths, old school Hip-Hop percussion and huge seething bass drones.
Whilst the experimental nature of some of Bird’s music may polarise listeners, buried amongst the drones and static are moments of clarity and beauty that can be equally devastating and euphoric.
The core members of “Captain Magic” -a long standing Dublin based funk band- along with some fresh faces from the Dublin music scene, started a recording project in January, 2011
Tickets on sale Monday 10th October priced €15 (including booking fee) from www.ticketmaster.ie & Ticketmaster outlets nationwide. 0818 719 300 – Republic of Ireland customers 0844 277 4455 – Northern Ireland customers 00353 1 456 9569 – International customer
A comedy show with a difference. Touring all over Ireland this winter.
You might know comedian Jarlath Regan from his appearances on such television shows as The Panel, Comedy Central’s The World Stands Up, The Apprentice You’re Fired or more recently The Rumour Room. Then again you might not, because Jarlath has taken the backroads to success in Irish comedy. Formerly employed in the graphic design sector he chose to leave his desk job in 2006 to pursue his dream of making people laugh for a living. After five years, two best-selling books, one cult hit comedy album and three critically acclaimed Fringe shows later he is not regretting a thing and taking his biggest and best show on tour around the backroad’s of Ireland for the first time ever.
His new show is jam packed with the kind of jokes, stories, illustrations, videos and audience interaction that have earned him the tag “comedy genius” from The Irish Times and a legion of diehard fans across the UK and Ireland. The Backroad Comedy Show will travel across Ireland to some of the most remote and beautiful small venues the country has to offer for one night only Jarlath will host a comedy night like no other.
Speaking about the vision for the tour Jarlath has said, “I think people want more than just a man and a microphone on stage when they come to see comedy. I feel really proud that we have found some of the most unique little spots around the country to bring a comedy show that gives the audience something special for their money. Not only will the venues be off the beaten path but the shows themselves will feature new acts doing brilliant and brave new things and my own hour which features all kinds of different material and funny stuff that people don’t normally see or expect.”
Some Things You Might Not Know About Jarlath Regan:
• He got his start in comedy when in 2003 Ardal O’Hanlon saw him deliver a speech in college and asked him to write material for his up-coming tour.
• In 2007 he made a hidden camera documentary for TV3 about the Edinburgh Fringe in which he posed as his own agent and blagged his way behind some of the Festival’s velvet ropes.
• Jarlath has published two best-selling illustrated books based on cartoons from his show – How To Break Bad News / Putting A Ring On It (Published by Transworld for Random House).
• Having met in 2008, Jason Byrne invited Jarlath to support him on his national tour.
• While at college Jarlath invented an award called “The James Joyce Award” in an effort to attract well-known speakers to his campus. To date dozens of the world’s bigest names have accepted the award including Noam Chomsky, Bob Geldof, Will Ferrell and Hans Blix.
WHAT THE CRITICS HAVE SAID:
“Regan’s subtle observational style and wry musings on why the world is the way it is, are a refreshing and hilarious change of pace. A charmingly whimsical and very enjoyable show.” – The Independent *****
“Jarlath Regan may just be the most promising comedian doing the rounds. Presenting to his audience a subtle yet sublime helping of observational wit that’s both intelligent and humorous without ever sounding forced.” – The Herald *****
“Side-splitting stuff.”- Metro ****
“Not as well-known as some Irish stand-ups, but every bit as talented.”
– Sunday Express ****
As seen on TELEVISION:
The World Stands-Up (Comedy Central), Just For Laughs (RTE 2), Nobody Knows Jarlath Regan (TV3), The Panel (RTE 1), Stand and Deliver (RTE 2), The Apprentice You’re Fired (TV3), The Rumour Room (RTE 2) and Tonight With Craig Doyle (RTE 1).
Awards
Spirit of the Fringe 2008, Edinburgh Fringe Sell-Out 2008, 2009, 2010.
“Songs stay alive in the same way that memories do, and being alive they grow up and undergo changes and develop. If a song is too weak to do that, if it is lacking in sufficient stamina and will to endure sadly it will not survive.” Nick Cave – The Secret Life Of The Love Song
Whelan’s are currently accepting submissions for their new weekly singer songwriter showcase. Birth and blossom of great songs has always being something that Whelan’s has been uniquely privileged to be a part to. It makes sense then for us to finally offer a platform for local and non local acts to experiment, sing and share in the friendly informal setting of Whelan’s upstairs. Taking our cues from our favourite artist’s musings on the creative process (Van Dyke Parks lends us the title from his seminal 1967 opus) this night offers artists a fresh new stage to breathe life into songs, experiment with ideas or simply just play for the sheer enjoyment of it.
Each week will feature three to four acts playing 30 minutes. Song Cycle kicks off on Monday May 2nd 2011, entry is free and all are welcome.
“Songs stay alive in the same way that memories do, and being alive they grow up and undergo changes and develop. If a song is too weak to do that, if it is lacking in sufficient stamina and will to endure sadly it will not survive.” Nick Cave – The Secret Life Of The Love Song
Whelan’s are currently accepting submissions for their new weekly singer songwriter showcase. Birth and blossom of great songs has always being something that Whelan’s has been uniquely privileged to be a part to. It makes sense then for us to finally offer a platform for local and non local acts to experiment, sing and share in the friendly informal setting of Whelan’s upstairs. Taking our cues from our favourite artist’s musings on the creative process (Van Dyke Parks lends us the title from his seminal 1967 opus) this night offers artists a fresh new stage to breathe life into songs, experiment with ideas or simply just play for the sheer enjoyment of it.
Each week will feature three to four acts playing 30 minutes. Song Cycle kicks off on Monday May 2nd 2011, entry is free and all are welcome.
“Songs stay alive in the same way that memories do, and being alive they grow up and undergo changes and develop. If a song is too weak to do that, if it is lacking in sufficient stamina and will to endure sadly it will not survive.” Nick Cave – The Secret Life Of The Love Song
Whelan’s are currently accepting submissions for their new weekly singer songwriter showcase. Birth and blossom of great songs has always being something that Whelan’s has been uniquely privileged to be a part to. It makes sense then for us to finally offer a platform for local and non local acts to experiment, sing and share in the friendly informal setting of Whelan’s upstairs. Taking our cues from our favourite artist’s musings on the creative process (Van Dyke Parks lends us the title from his seminal 1967 opus) this night offers artists a fresh new stage to breathe life into songs, experiment with ideas or simply just play for the sheer enjoyment of it.
Each week will feature three to four acts playing 30 minutes. Song Cycle kicks off on Monday May 2nd 2011, entry is free and all are welcome.
BUY | SELL | TRADE all your old VINYL | CDs | TAPES
Following on from the success and general good-time vibes of the first Whelan’s Record Fair we’ve decided that not only was a second record fair in order but that it should be a bigger and better affair than the first.
Leaders Of Men have announced they will play Whelan’s, Dublin on Wednesday 7th December. The band are on a roll after beating 115 Irish acts to win the Hot Press and 2FM ‘Play On The Day’ competition
Between writing her first album – 2008’s ‘Sea Sew’ – and its eagerly-awaited successor, Lisa Hannigan’s life has changed in oh-so-many ways. She penned her first songs in hope rather than the expectation that the wider world might find a use for them; knocked out at rehearsals in a freezing barn in the Irish countryside, the record was produced at a friend’s studio within a fortnight. Yet the self-released ‘Sea Sew’ went double platinum, was nominated for the Choice Music Prize and the Mercury Prize in the UK, and saw Hannigan play bewitching guest spots on the likes of ‘Later…With Jools Holland’, ‘The Late Late Show , ‘‘The Tonight Show With Jay Leno’ and ‘The Colbert Report’.
To say that the response to ‘Sea Sew’ exceeded Lisa’s wildest expectations is, appropriately, an understatement. Why appropriately? Well, because understated has very much been the manner in which Hannigan has conducted her life as a solo artist up until this point. At the Mercury ceremony, she eschewed the big stage of the Grosvenor Room and accompanied herself on guitar as she delivered a quietly entrancing version of ‘Lille’. And in keeping with the music inside it, even the artwork of ‘Sea Sew’ was a homespun affair, with sleeve art and every lyric hand-sewn by the artist herself. “Sea Sew was the most honest record I could make at the time that I made it,” says Lisa now, “but I look at it today, and there’s a certain sense of wanting to appear happy and confident. I wanted it to seem as though nothing bothered me.”
For those of us gazing on from afar at her evolution as a performer, the first glimmer that there was something more to Lisa Hannigan than meets the eye came last year, when she appeared alongside Green Gartside, Teddy Thompson and Vashti Bunyan on a tour celebrating the music of Nick Drake. By common critical consensus, her transformation of Drake’s ‘Black-Eyed Dog’ as a macabre deathly jig stole the show. You couldn’t watch what she did to that song and not feel excited about what she was going to do next.
It doesn’t take long in the company of Lisa’s second album, ‘Passenger’, to hear that excitement repaid. Hannigan famously made her name as the beautiful, breathy accompaniment to Damien Rice, with whom she sang and toured for seven years. It is on this second solo album that you sense she’s truly found her own voice, and it is on aching, mournful form from the very opening song. ‘Passenger’ begins with ‘Home’, which was written shortly after Lisa read ‘Skippy Dies’ by Dublin author Paul Murray. “It’s set at a boys’ boarding school,” she explains, “and I think the atmosphere of wild uncertainty, urgency and frustration that consumes you at fourteen sort of grabbed hold of me.” Abetted by the demonic ivory-pounding of Gavin Glass and the breathtaking violin playing of Lucy Wilkins, the rain-lashed ruminations of the song portend a more undulating emotional journey than ‘Sea Sew’.
Having spent just two weeks recording her debut album, you might think that Lisa and her band would have relished the opportunity to stretch out the recording process on ‘Passenger’. Hannigan had other ideas. Keen to capture the electrifying synergy that her musicians are apt to summon on a live stage, the band, together with producer Joe Henry (Elvis Costello, Ani DiFranco, Solomon Burke, Loudon Wainwright III) went to Bryn Derwyn studio in Wales and made the record in a week, followed by a day of strings and horns in London. The collaboration with Henry came after a chance meeting at the Royal Festival Hall, where Lisa guested at the Kate McGarrigle Tribute Concert. “He expressed an interest in working together that night, but what really sealed it was meeting him in Pasadena where he lives. He’s a proper Southern gent. We got the train out to there from L.A, and as we alighted, he crossed the tracks to meet us. He was in one of those proper old American villages that has a hardware store and bakery and a butcher –not like anywhere that exists any more. We shook hands and that sealed the deal.”
Much of ‘Passenger’ reflects the journeys Lisa has taken, particularly whilst touring her first record. “I chose ‘Passenger’ as the title after living with the finished songs as a whole,” she says. “Many of them were written while I was away from home or on the road, and the feeling of transience and nostalgia that this constant travelling evoked seemed to seep into every song.” The overarching theme of the record, then, is “those loves, heartbreaks, confusions and friendships that we take with us through life, over years and continents, enduring the passage of time.” This emotional landscape is captured quite literally on the album’s cover, which collates maps of the main places where the record was written (Dublin, Brooklyn, West Cork). As ever, it’s beautifully detailed effort from Hannigan, who perforated the images into paper and shot light through them, creating a stunning map of her music in the process.
And so it proves to be – from the foetal, otherworldly beauty of ‘Paper House’ to the string-led stillness of ‘Nowhere To Go’, ‘Passenger’ is an evocative and quietly poetic second album. Lyrically, the record appears to address relationships new and old, though the interweaving of truth with fiction always feels fundamentally honest. ‘Paper House’, for instance, recalls the idyll days of a former love, which cannot be revisited (“Oh you know what you are to me / and you know you will always be”). The sweetly-sung ‘Little Bird’, meanwhile, reveals itself to be a quietly steely defiance of an ex (“when the time comes, and the rights have been read / I think of you often, but for once I meant what I said”). Even in its ostensibly light moments, ‘Passenger’ is still riddled with anxiety. On ‘Safe Travels (Don’t Die)’, Lisa exhorts her other half, “don’t swallow bleach out on Sandymount Beach/I’m not sure I’d reach you in time my boy/Please don’t bungee jump or ignore a strange lump/ And a gasoline pump’s not a toy.”
One of the most thrilling moments on ‘Passenger’ is the track ‘Knots’, which seems to reflect not only Lisa’s travels over these last few years, but also her steady progress as a songwriter. An electrifying blend of Southern stomp, screeching strings and lyrical tales of a debauched, whiskey-soaked night, ‘Knots’ sounds like the kind of song Hannigan would only have the confidence to write now. And then there’s ‘O Sleep’ – a duet with Ray Lamontagne – which came to Lisa in a single rhapsodic burst. “I’d just heard Dr. Ralph Stanley’s version of ‘O Death’ on a Robert Plant documentary, and I was really taken by the idea of addressing something intangible. Around the same time, I went for a walk in Sandymount, Dublin and was singing into my phone. Then I stopped in a café and took one of their paper bags and wrote all the words on the back.”
She may have taken a somewhat circuitous route to the limelight, but ‘Passenger’ feels like Lisa Hannigan has finally come of age. That said, she still bears the same worry and nerves of someone unsure why people are suddenly so interested in her. In other important respects though, significant progress has been made. “I never used to feel comfortable calling myself a songwriter. I just used to think of myself as a singer. But now, I allow myself that luxury.” In time, Lisa Hannigan may even allow herself to believe she is a great songwriter. Listen to ‘Passenger’ and you’ll believe it too.
Frantic Jack return to Whelan’s for the first time since the launch of their debut album “Independence” in 2010. The night will feature new material penned for there second, as yet untitled, album.
www.whelanslive.com presents an exclusive preview of the startling new album from…
BRONAGH GALLAGHER
& Band
+ special guests
Bronagh and her band will be performing a special show in Whelan’s on November 4th to showcase material from her forthcoming album due out in Spring 2012
Taking influences from bands such as Dinosaur Jr., The Redneck Manifesto and Broken Social Scene, Back & To The Left have been working hard for the past two years refining their unique sound.
The Manhattan Syndrome are an indie/alternative band based in Dublin. Mixing the sonic scope of Sigur Ros, the drive of Arcade Fire and the mood of the National with their own pop sensibilities, they have forged a dynamic style of their own
The VIKING MOSES was initiated by Southern Missourian Brendon Massei in 2003. The band has a dynamic, rotating cast of both established and obscure musicians worldwide, and is currently based in Northern Appalachia (USA).
Saint John the Gambler has been Mark Baker’s musical guise since 2006. Inspired by Townes Van Zandt, in both name and originality, Baker’s songs have been constructed with musicians from all over the world. From the beginning, SJG has always played folk influenced alternative music.