Both bands contributed impressive tracks to the recent Hot Press cover-mount CD Murphy’s Live 2008, in the respective form of ‘Any Other Way’ and ‘Go On My Son’.
Gary Earl from Bravado is delighted that his band have got this far.
“Nearly 500 groups entered this year’s Murphy’s Live competition,” he says, “so for us to make it down to the final two is amazing. We’re not treating it over-seriously though. Of course we want to win, but it’s been such a fantastic experience for us: we’ve met some great people, heard some terrific bands, and enjoyed ourselves all the way, so we’re just going to go down to Cork and give it our best shot. We’ve heard Gorbachov and we like them. They’ve got a lot more experience than us, but we’re now rehearsing up to four times a week, so we’re really fresh and up for it.”
Gorbachov’s Ian Fleming described his band as “quietly confident” when we spoke to him at their Waterford training camp.
“We’ve about five years experience under our belts. We’re not going to worry too much about the opposition. Bravado are a fine band, and I like their Arctic Monkeys influences, but we’ve been around longer and I think we can put that experience to good use on the night. We’re just going to go out there and play a typical Gorbachov gig.”
Bravado will debut one new song in The Savoy, while their Waterford rivals will have two new numbers in their set, so it’s quite clear that neither band is taking anything for granted.
The Enemy, who are one of the hottest new bands of the past two years, will guest-headline the showdown, and both finalists are fans of that band, so it’s shaping up to be another memorable might for Irish rock music.
But let’s not forget that there’s a lot at stake too, as the winners of Murphy’s Live 2008 will walk away with a €10,000 cache of prizes – and get a huge boost to their career and profile as well.
So here’s the form: Bravado have been together less than a year, and with The Who and Arctic Monkeys as major influences their energetic live set exudes bundles of raw talent and a self-assured swagger that should stand to them on this high-pressure occasion. The five-piece Gorbachov are more experienced, having spent the last four years touring around Ireland, supporting the likes of The Frames and The Blizzards and exciting Xfm with their single ‘Mr Fahrenheit’. We’d be very reluctant, not to say downright foolhardy, to forecast an outright winner: this is one slugfest that should go all the way to a points decision.
Tickets for the Murphy’s Live final are free, so log on to www.murphyslive.com or call (01) 6787090.