Boy Kil Boy at Heineken Green Synergy Festival, Whelan's, Dublin

It might be the opening night of their first headlining tour, but Boy Kill Boy singer Chris Peck has already mastered every cheap trick in the book. He encourages the audience to clap along, reassures us several times that we’re “ace”, and seems to make eye contact with almost everyone in the enthusiastic crowd at least once.
Starting off with the pulsating single ‘Back Again’, the set initially has real drive, full of impetus and without a second or note wasted. Even when things slow down with ‘Ivy Parker’, their gift for a poppy hook ensures that the audience is captivated.
But it becomes obvious that most of those initially scintillating hooks consist of more cheap tricks, like the call and response chorus of ‘On And On’ and the repetitive ‘Killer’. The impact continues to wane with the smattering of b-sides, EP tracks and new songs performed. These songs feel like unfinished work compared to the album tracks, which display more focus and energy.
‘Suzie’ is what everyone’s been waiting for, and it doesn’t disappoint. It’s a nice point to close the set, but it doesn’t take much hollering to get Peck and the boys back on stage for an encore, and it’s not just to tell us how amazing we are, though we get that anyway.
The hidden album track ‘Exit’ gets a play at this point, the maudlin number showcasing Peck’s voice and song writing, which can be forgotten amidst all the keyboard riffs. The show finishes with Peck shaking hands with some fans, and promising that the band will be out for beers. More cheap tricks, but it’s hard to argue when Boy Kill Boy deliver, as they do for most of the set.
All they need now is a few more tunes like ‘Suzie’.