Although this was the seventh year of the IMRO Showcase tour, now apparently the longest running such tour in Ireland, this was only the second time the series reached its conclusion with a showcase gig in London.
On the basis of word-of-mouth feedback within the industry, from the forty or so bands showcased in various venues around the country this year, three were selected to play at The Garage, Islington, last month The Blew, Brando and Rag Doll.
One of the undoubted attractions of a band from Ireland playing a gig in London, especially given the generous sponsorship from IMRO and the opportunity to attract A&R representation from London-based companies, is that the very act of playing abroad brings a fresh perspective to the task in hand.
The Cork-based duo Rag Doll opened proceedings with their somewhat baroque and roll approach to folk-based pop. Robyn James lays down a solid chordal rhythm with his acoustic guitar whereas Annie Bux simply puts on her best frock and takes their songs out for a good night on the town. Drawing inevitable comparisons with The Sundays and Everything But The Girl they glided effortlessly through a nine-song set that, despite the absence of bass and drums, somehow managed to get the crowd on their feet. There was much intriguing speculation among the assembled A&R folk as to how some of their key songs might sound with a harpsichord, a cello or even a string quartet.
Next up were Brando. Their brand of prog-pop took a little longer to come to the boil. After a comparatively laid back string of finely-wrought songs, they really moved up a gear with the blues-based Highway 69 , a song bound to wow them in the Catskills. From then on they were on a roll, scoring heavily with the excellent Beauty On The TV , which recently impressed many of the Bacardi song judges, before they finally nailed it all down with a triumphant and slightly Kula-ish 7th Of October .
Having recently been taken under the joint management wings of Robbie Wooton (Hothouse Flowers, Black Velvet Band) and Aidan Cosgrave (An Emotional Fish, Junkster) much has been laid on the shoulders of The Blew, but on this performance alone they justified all the attention. Their sound and approach may be rooted in the psychedelic pop of the sixties, showing an especially tight affinity with the Small Faces, but there are also elements of the quirkiness of Sparks, especially in the opener The Happy Happy Joy Joy Song , which gives them an edge and an urgency lacking in most of their contemporaries. They brought the night to a suitably upful conclusion.
But this rock n roll thing isn t all fun and games. On the day after the showcase gig the bands had to be up early for their sessions with the industry heads who had agreed to give of their time for an hour-long free consultation with each band. Through the efforts of Andy McIntosh in the V2 offices in Dublin they were fortunate in securing the services of Sean Devine from V2 in London and Daryl Watts of Universal Music. Between them they dealt with all manner of enquiries about record companies and publishing. Meanwhile John Goulding from The Garage and Hazel Durkin from the Mean Fiddler Organisation were on hand to deal with queries about gigging in the UK.
While it would breach the rules of confidentiality to focus on the specific concerns of individual bands, there were some consistent lessons to be learned by all three. For instance, the absolute imperative for any ambitious band to have really great songs came up time and time again. On the subject of whether an Irish band might benefit by moving to London, the unanimous advice was to avoid doing so unless there were compelling reasons. As Daryl Watts put it: If a band moves to London they simply get lost here. They just become another local band looking for gigs and trying to get the attention of the industry. Ireland is a great place to develop and to learn about the way everything works. The UK industry has a high regard for Irish talent and you might as well stay there until you have some really strong reason to leave.
Both reinforced the need for bands to restrict demos to about three songs, with the best song first. Apologies for low-budget recording circumstances should be avoided and there s no need for any details about the band that can t be fitted comfortably onto one page.
Among several A&R people to attend the showcase was Stephen Maher, the Irish-born General Manager of the Monaco-based Zepter Music which has been taking an active interest in checking out new Irish talent.
According to Maher, The London showcase was the second Irish showcase attended by Zepter Music. The first was the recent Heineken Green Energy gig in Dublin which was attended by our artistic director Erick Belzic. At both showcase gigs all the bands put in a good effort on the night and the experience of the showcase will help them further their development. .
The response from Donal McGuirk, Manager of Member Services at IMRO was equally encouraging. IMRO is delighted to have a continuing involvement in promoting young Irish talent. The 1999 IMRO Showcase Tour is the seventh such event we have sponsored and we wish all the bands and songwriters who participated every success with their musical careers.
So what happens next? Well, there s only so much support any band can expect from sponsors, be it IMRO or anybody else. There comes a time when it falls to them to prove that the support they have received has not been misplaced. Only time will tell, but it would be churlish to describe this year s efforts in London as anything other than a resounding success. n