Live Report: Shobsy shakes up Fishtown with electrifying tunes

Under, grandiose, golden back light, Dublin-based pop musician Shobsy slowly enters the stage of Fishtown, atmospheric synths and guitar riffs offering the perfect backdrop to his unshakably cool demeanor.

From the first track, the message is clear: Shobsy is about to offer 45 minutes of the most fun, intense 80s-tinged of the festival, both insanely powerful and unendingly catchy.

For the entirety of the set, his insanely powerful, wide ranging vocals are on full display, going all the way from bone-rattling belted notes and into low, mysterious melodies that hit deep in the feelings. His charisma, too, cannot be overstated: song after song, it appears clear that this man was born to be a frontman, as your eyes stay completely and unwaveringly fixated on his performance.

On his most recent single ‘Not Another Love Song’, an almost disco-y tune paired with a bone-shaking intensity, Shobsy turns up the reverb to offer a delicious amount of drama to his performance.

On ‘Animated’, he allows himself a stripped-back, soft piano ballad which lets his uniquely compelling voice take full control of the tent, as moving as it is technically impressive.

When Shobsy decides to lean into the stirring quantity of his songwriting, he manages to offer an amount of emotion that I can only describe as shiver-inducing, hopeful but also capable of moving the listener to tears with his commanding presence.

In the midst of a wonderfully entertaining gig, the anthemic ‘Champagne’ still comes on top as an absolute standout of the show, both groovy, vigorous and catchy, inducing the entire crowd to start dancing along its rhythms.

Leaving Fishtown on Electric Picnic day 2 early evening, one thing is certain: Shobsy is one of the best frontman Ireland has to offer right now.