"We’ve only played here a couple of times, but the party is escalating," says Mike Kerr halfway through Royal Blood’s set in Dublin’s Academy last night. Well if the party escalates any further riot police will need to be called. The euphoria was palpable as the packed audience crowd surfed, moshed, pogoed, sang and clapped along to the duo’s stellar performance.
Opening with 'Hole' and proceeding full force through a mesmerising set which never wavered in its potency, the show copper-fastened the band’s status as the hottest property of 2014.
Singles 'Little Monster', 'Come On Over' and 'Figure It Out' induced a frenzied response and when drummer Ben Thatcher jumped into the crowd during 'Ten Tonne Skeleton' the venue erupted.
Underneath the hysteria is the magnetic and skilful performance of Kerr and Thatcher, the bass and drums weaving compelling sonic structures that draw from a plethora of influences to create melodic, incandescent quality rock tunes.
Roll on next March!