The Thrills impress at Whelan's secret gig

The Thrills' secret gig, held last night in Whelan's, was by all accounts a spectacular night of live music and onstage tomfoolery.

Having announced their appearance on the band website early last week, the super top secret gig was sold out well in advance, with streetside tickets being flogged at the phenomenal going rate of €250.

Hot Press' Damien Halpin, waxing lyrical at the water cooler earlier today, had this to say about the gig: "They played for over an hour and it was an incredibly fast-paced set. They seemed to be really feeding off the crowd."

Well, quite literally it seems. With Padraic McMahon on crowd-surfing duties and Daniel Ryan scaling his way up to the balcony, frontman Conor Deasy was left on stage to do his "usual gyration-with-the-mic-stand moves", according to Halpin.

Hot Press' Sinead Ni Mhordha, who also caught the gig confirmed that "they absolutely rocked the gaff."

"It was a special moment for the Thrills," continues Ni Mhordha, "considering the fact that the last time they'd played Whelan's there were only 55 people there, and that’s including friends and relatives."

In addition to the barrage of crowd sing-a-long singles (One Horse Town, Santa Cruz, etc), The Thrills tested out a number of new songs, including one titled 'Whatever Happened to Corey Haim', which got the thumbs-up from Hot Press.

The Thrills play the following live dates before the year is out: Dolan's, Limerick (December 15); Radisson Hotel, Galway (16); Royal Theatre, Castlebar (17); Ulster Hall, Belfast (18); and Olympia, Dublin (21, 22, 23).