Live Report: Soda Blonde effortlessly command the Button Factory

Having the pleasure to see Soda Blonde play in a filled-to-the-brim Button Factory, is being hit with the knowledge that you are watching one of the greats.

Opening track ‘Live And Let Down’ reads as a statement of intent: dark, languorous soundscapes of melancholy-filled reverbed guitars, with the occasional dip into chest-heaving heaviness, and a lineup of musicians that you will not, even for a second, take your eyes off of for the entirety of the set.

Having performed together as Soda Blonde since 2019, and before that as Little Green Cars since 2008, Faye O’Rourke, Adam O’Regan, Donagh Seaver-O'Leary and Dylan Lynch are bustling with a chemistry usually reserved for legendary rock bands from the last century.

Soda Blonde at The Button Factory on July 25th, 2025. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

From the look to the coordinated dance moves, Soda Blonde have it all: incredibly crisp sound, a lineup that can only be described as shit-cool, and, maybe most importantly, a frontwoman with an inimitable charisma.

O’Rourke is an absolute powerhouse of a performer in a way that cannot be overstated. With endless amounts of charm and showmanship, the singer effortlessly commands the room track after track. Her dancing, smooth and hypnotising, accompanies each note perfectly, adding a significant layer of grandeur to an already outstanding show.

Soda Blonde at The Button Factory on July 25th, 2025. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

Her vocal performance, too, is like no other, hitting every register with inhumane precision, clear as crystal water and measured to a T. On the new EP’s title track ‘People Pleaser’, O’Rourke shouts out the line “I think you’re a little old for me”, making the tune even more heartwrenching than it already was.

Allowing herself a stripped back number on the moving ‘Less Than Nothing’, the singer also proves that her voice alone can shine just as brightly as when it is backed by her full band. When accompanied by O’Regan and Seaver-O’Leary’s backing vocals, though, the songs take on a new layer of sentimentality and complexity that perfectly compliment O’Rourke’s performance, like on the hard-hitting 'Holy Roses'.

Soda Blonde at The Button Factory on July 25th, 2025. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

In the midst of a relentlessly great show, Soda Blonde still manage to offer a wide array of standout moments that are as memorable as they are hypnotising. On ‘Small Talk’, as O’Regan delivers a burning-hot guitar solo, O’Rourke lets go of her mic to dance alone in the centre of the stage, under flickering lights and heavy instrumentation, for a performance attaining levels of intensity that make the heart pound against the chest.

Throughout the set, the audience answers the quality of the show with appropriate excitement, singing back the words of almost every track – but reaching a peak on fan favourite ‘Holy Roses’, where the response is enough to make the band share joyful glances and unrestrained smiles, like they can’t quite believe what is happening.

Soda Blonde at The Button Factory on July 25th, 2025. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

Dangerously approaching the end of the set, the band offers another memorable performance in the slow-building ‘Dream Big’, complete with glisteningly powerful guitar solos and the entrance of The Button Factory’s iconic disco ball, tainting the room in gleaming silver lighting.

Closing with the heart-wrenching, but no less dance-inducing ‘Terrible Hands’, Soda Blonde leave their audience with the powerful feeling that they have just seen something truly grandiose, from some very special musicians.