With the live music scene in Dublin currently resembling a tin of sardines, there are about a dozen great shows I could be at tonight instead of the final instalment of the IMRO Showcase Tour, but the Workman’s Club gig has an edge purely because of the numbers. A total of 12 go-getting acts will take to the stage before the night is through, all acutely aware that if they fail to impress, the punters can and will go somewhere else.
This is something that straight-up indie outfit The Fallen Drakes have nothing to worry about, as each of their syrupy guitar anthems are met with excited whoops and hollers. With lyrics about dames, dames and more dames, there’s nothing particularly ground-breaking about their set, but if it’s a party band you’re after, these four Drakestown rockers are your men.
Rainy Boy Sleep, on the other hand, is the kind of artist who could fit in anywhere. The brainchild of Steve Martin (the one from Derry, as opposed to the one from Saturday Night Live), RBS has already proved this by holding his own against Cyndi Lauper on stage at the 5,000-capacity Hammersmith Apollo. While we can’t quite figure out how he wound up duetting with the former pop idol, we understand the attraction: dreamy melodies, gentle strumming and masterful use of his thick northy accent.
By the time Rams Pocket Radio (aka Lisburn man Peter McCauley) kicks off his set, the crowd of Saturday night revellers are getting restless, and it seems like nothing, not even a singer flipping freely between a drum-kit and an electric keyboard, can silence them. I guess it’s their funeral, though, because this roomful of Chatty Cathys missed an intriguing display of shapeshifting experimental pop.
Aptly named and just the tiniest bit too big for the stage (remember what I said about the sardines?), The Young Folk bring a flash of Celtic swing to the Workman’s Club, as well as some scrumptious Mumford-esque harmonies.
Next up is promising new electro-funk duo I’m Your Vinyl with a performance so shambolic, I have to watch it through my fingers. The moral of the story? Don’t drink and shred, kids. I will say this much, though. Anna Calvi-brand triple threat Dana Donnelly is a superstar in the making.
Leave it to impossibly gifted jack-of all-trades Daithí to close the show with his ingenious blend of rock, electro, traditional, and a million other genres besides. Songs from his stunning Embrace EP sound best tonight, all lovingly worked through his headspinning technical set-up, which you may know revolves around an electric fiddle. Of course, the Clare-born Galway guy is a live favourite at this stage, having impressed at Electric Picnic, Castlepalooza et al for the last two years.
Yup. The experimental loopmaster is only 21 and he’s already a veteran of the Irish music scene. Perhaps there’s room in the can after all.