Live Review: The Coronas at Royal Hospital Kilmainham

Last month, as The Coronas earned the title of being the only band capable of breaking the Ed Sheeran curse on the album charts (where Divide reigned for thirteen weeks) with their latest LP Trust the Wire, Saturday’s headliner at Kilmainham was shaping up to be one of the most anticipated gigs of the summer. But with not one but two opening acts, the crowd would have to wait a little longer- though it’s not like they didn’t have a way to pass the time.
For those lucky enough to get there early, BARQ kicked off the whole thing with their biggest gig yet. Winning the crowd over with “Gentle Kind of Lies” BARQ proved they belong on stages the size of Kilmainham. Passing the mic onto Norwegian indie-popper Dagny, there was no shortage of girl power on the stage before the Coronas took over.
It’s ambitious to start a gig with the boom of confetti cannons- usually that’s saved for the grand finale, but as the Coronas launch right into it with new tune “Real Feel”, Kilmainham is covered with a blizzard of snow-white flakes. The storm of confetti is still swirling in the wind as they go into pop crowd-pleaser “Get Loose”, and when Danny O’Reilly descends the stairs from the stage to greet the crowd, the sound of screaming girls is so loud you’d swear this was a reunion gig for One Direction. It’s not, though with three confetti cannons, two attempts at crowd-surfing from Mr O’Reilly, and a crowd the size of which doesn’t seem possible even at Kilmainham, a homecoming gig for the Coronas in Dublin isn't just any other gig.
“We’re gonna do that thing where we say this is our last song, but if you keep clapping, we’ll keep playing forever,” Danny tells the crowd, and everybody seems happy with that plan. Finale one is an emotional performance of “Mark My Words”, and then they’re not gone for too long before the stage lights start pulsing again to get the crowd riled up. It doesn’t even feel like an encore, it’s like the show’s just starting all over again. Then come the drumbeats of Trust The Wire’s single track “We Couldn’t Fake It”, and another new track, “Look At All The Lovers”. The first encore balances out the slow-dance piano ballads with finale two being the head banging “Just Like That”, and the night’s still not over.
Encore two brings the much-anticipated “San Diego Song”, the classic Coronas hit for partying hard through the lonely times (we’ve all been there) and the audience sings the closing chorus three times. Throughout the night, rumours were circulating around the fields that the lads from Picture This were lurking backstage, and for the grand finale, Ryan, Jimmy and co. emerge to join in for a cover of the Mic Christopher classic, “Heyday,” of course. It’s the kind of finale you’d only get at a homecoming gig here in Dublin. Welcome home, lads.