Billed as “a clarion call for supporters of independent music” One For The Road asked Dubliners to dig into their pockets and musicians to dig into their back catalogues to come to the rescue of struggling indie store Road Records.
The aptly-named Large Corporation (a one-off coming together of local favourites The Dudley Corporation and Large Mound) kicked it all off with, funnily enough, the only straight-up rock set of the night. The result; four guitarists and two drummers (somehow working the one drum-kit), was an admittedly messy affair but the makeshift band produced a sound heavy with guitars. An on-form Adrian Crowley followed with a noble slice of his predictably lovely repertoire.
In a last-minute re-shuffle that saw Colm Mac Con Iomaire forced to cancel his appearance due to a “bizarre gardening accident” (according to his MySpace, the violinist had an unfortunate run-in with some raspberry canes), headliner Jape took third place in the line-up. The stripped-down set certainly lacked the oomph of the normally frenzied Jape live show but almost sentimental renditions of songs like ‘Graveyard’ allowed us to experience the pleasing vulnerabilities in Egan’s voice.
The Choice Award-winner finished with a delightfully cheesy rendition of ‘Islands In The Stream’, swapping the cardinal lyrics for “Ireland’s indie scene”. The resulting war cry only kind of made sense, but when 600 music-lovers are bellowing “And we rely on each other, ah-ah”, who cares?
Later, towering maestro of folk Si Schroeder sent us into a trance with songs that were assured, mournful and loyal to his brand of down-tempo psychedelic-rock.
Saturday night’s crowning glory was the closing set by co-organisers The Jimmy Cake, whose multi-layered ballads produced a sound fuller than even seven musicians should be able to produce. The instrumental alt-rock lasted only three songs, each a winding and compelling mini-symphony running about 10 minutes in length. Beautifully-worked keys courtesy of Paul Smith and grieving sax and trumpet won them the performance of the night accolade.
Days after the hangovers had subsided, Road Records owners Dave Kennedy and Julie Collins posted a statement on their website, confirming that the gig has brought them one vital step closer to saving their business: “It was truly amazing to see so many people come out and support us, added to the general goodwill we have experienced here in the store since we announced our closure.”
Still, the long-term impact of One For The Road is unclear. It may well be remembered as the event that bred new hope among Ireland’s indie music stores. Equally, it may be looked back on as a last-ditch attempt to save a doomed sub-industry. Whatever the outcome, a gig rarely means as much as this one. One For The Road expressed something hugely important: a group of people, in spite of everything strange and upsetting that’s going on in the country, coming together out of love for music and only out of love for music.