Okay, I’m going to get this out of the way now: on the night of October 12 Ireland drew 0-0 with Switzerland. The reason I bring this up when I’m sure most would prefer to forget about it, is that, even with so monumental a match taking place, The Rags, The Immediate and Koufax managed to almost fill Whelan’s.
This is exactly as it should be. On show were two of the hottest Irish bands on the cusp of discovery, as well as some guests from overseas.
The Rags, a fantastic sextet from north Dublin, were probably playing a little further down the list than they are used to. When they began, the venue was barely half full and the chances of whipping that small congregation into a rocked-out frenzy were pretty low. Not that that’s ever going to stop Danny Anderson from playing the ultimate lead-singer and flailing about the stage Doherty-style. Needless to say, the frantic conclusion to ‘Strawberry Bed’ didn’t fail to impress.
On come The Immediate. Possibly the most fun live band in Dublin, they play the hell out of their instruments as well as taking turns on vocals, drums, guitar or whatever takes their fancy. It shouldn’t work, but it does.
Tonight, the echoing, almost ping-pong harmonies are spot-on from the off with ‘Let This Light Fill Your Eyes’. Even when Peter Toomey jumps onto a less-than-packed floor for ‘Can’t Stop Moving’, it’s entertaining when it could easily have just been embarrassing. Plus Conor O’Brien can rock the tambourine, and that’s always a plus in my books.
By the time Koufax take to the stage, the audience are still reeling and ready for their perfected sunny-indie sound. I’ll say this much for them, they sure know how to work the keyboards in their favour and have clearly found some die-hard Irish fans already.
Who’d want to be at home shouting at the telly when this lot are playing?