Arriving at Vicar St. in Dublin to see The Stunning play for their 25th anniversary was much akin to stumbling upon a 25th college class reunion. As enthusiastic audience members milled about the bar, there were countless exclamations of surprise and delight as they spotted old friends and acquaintances. This atmosphere of nostalgia was heightened before The Stunning even stepped on stage. As a projection played Reeling In The Years-style footage from 1986 to 1990, the crowd laughed and screamed in recognition of Charles Haughey speaking, Linda Martin crooning and the Berlin Wall falling. Then, the pièce de résistance; a fuzzy VHS Gay Byrne announcing The Stunning onto the Late Late – and our stage.
Having lost none of their energy, passion or humour, the Irish rockers kept the nostalgic theme going by playing their debut Paradise In The Picturehouse album in its entirety. Kicking off with a rousing rendition of ‘The Girl With A Curl,’ Steve Wall’s voice was as strong and clear as ever. And he seemed to feed off the audience’s reaction, quickly easing into rock star mode as crowd-pleasers ‘Romeo’s On Fire’ and ‘Half Past Two’ had the audience on their feet. Joe and Steve proved effortlessly charming and invoked a huge sense of fun, constantly encouraging the audience to get involved and cheekily remarking on the time that had passed since they were last on stage. “Michael D, eh? Who would have ever thought that would happen?” joked Steve, before dedicating a tune to An t-Uachtaráin.
With a great trumpet and sax player elevating the music even further, and superb, foot-stomping covers of ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ and Johnny Cash’s ‘Jackson,’ there was never a dull or lagging moment in the set, which was a constant feelgood trip down memory lane. Unsurprisingly the iconic and anthemic ‘Brewing Up a Storm’ was the highlight of the gig, as The Stunning proved that 25 years on, they can still bring the house down.