Culchie Calling Cards - Gigs - December 13 - 19

UPDATED : See below Villagers are (is) adding a second date for Vicar St on Wednesday 22 December. This gig is in addition to a 7-date tour of Ireland in December that will take in Waterford, Kilkenny, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Belfast and Dublin. Villagers have already had a meteoric year with the release of their debut album, Becoming A Jackal (Domino), in May, which went straight to Number 1 in Ireland and the nomination for this year’s Mercury Music Prize Album Of The Year, not to mention the heaving tents at both Oxegen and Electric Picnic. The full dates are Monday 13 December Waterford, The Forum Tuesday 14 December Kilkenny, Set Theatre Wednesday 15 December Cork, Savoy Theatre Friday 17 December Limerick, St Johns Church Saturday 18 December Galway, Black Box Sunday 19 December Belfast, Limelight Tuesday 21 December Dublin, Vicar St (Sold-out) Wednesday 22 December Dublin, Vicar St David … There’s more

Culchie Calling Cards - Gigs - December 6 - 12 2010

Sarah Blasko, the ARIA winner (Which country is the ARIA again), brings intelligent lyrics, mature musicianship and critical acclaim (so you either love her, or have never heard of her) to the Academy 2 in Dublin on Saturday 11 December. Finding an excuse to come home for Christmas is useful, and The Coronas have added a second Christmas show at The Olympia Theatre. The band will now play Friday 10th and Saturday 11th December. Tickets for Saturday 11 December. The tickets went on on sale on Friday 30th July. They seem to be popular with their shows last year completely selling out. In theory the gig will be supporting their new album “Tony Was An Ex-Con” but in practice, well as guitarist Dave McPhillips put it, “The last couple of years on the road, constantly gigging and developing our sound, left us with a better idea of the album we … There’s more

Culchie Calling Cards - Gigs - November 15 - 21 2010

GIGS Cork legends (sometimes for their music) Republic of Loose continue their four month live residency at the Academy, Dublin - one Friday each month from September through to December on Friday November 19th. These shows will be the band’s only Dublin gigs of 2010. After returning from the States to open for U2 in Croke Park on their 360 tour in 2009, they spent the latter half of the year writing new material for their fourth album. In May 2010 Republic of Loose flew to Baltimore in the US to begin work on their forthcoming album. Recorded in Wrightway Studios with Steve Wright who had just finished working on the new UNKLE album, the fourth Republic of Loose album is scheduled for an early October release with the lead single pencilled in for September 17th. The album marks a new direction for the Loose with Mik Pyro describing the … There’s more

Culchie Calling Cards - Gigs - November 8 - 14 2010

GIGS Darwin Deez self titled début album was a Top 5 hit in the UK indie charts on its release earlier this year. Their Red Bull Music Academy performance at this years Oxegen festival was one of the (lets face it, many) highlights of the weekend. Darwin Deez plays a series of Irish dates in Galway, Cork and Dublin. Sunday 7 November - The Roisin Dublin, Galway Monday 8 November - Cypress Avenue, Cork Tuesday 9 November - The Academy 2, Dublin Simple Minds Frontman Jim Kerr brings his new solo project LostBoy! Aka (yes, that is the name, complete with the !) to Dublin on Saturday 13 November for an intimate show at the Academy 2. Tickets. The album the tour promotes was produced by Jez Coad who also playedg guitars and keyboards, and features Charlie Jones on bass while drums are driven by Mel Gaynor (Simple Minds‘ drummer … There’s more

Culchie Calling Cards - Gigs - October 18 - 24 2010

One Night Only (terrible name for a band if you think of the posters) take their second album on tour stopping off, visiting the Academy 2 in Dublin on Wednesday 20th October. The first single from this album “Say You Don’t Want It” (embedded below) features an actress called “Emma Watson” that you might know from a few movies. By the way, is it just me or does the lead singer look like he’s channelling the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? No Age perform live at Whelan’s, Dublin on Sunday 10 October with Male Bonding, Silje Nes and Mice Parade. No Age’s album “Everything in Between”, release date Friday 24 September was recorded in Los Angeles from the end of 2009 and into 2010 by the duo of Dean Spunt and Randy Randall. They emerged from former band Wives in 2005, to become No Age, part of the … There’s more

Culchie Calling Cards - Gigs - October 11 - 17 2010

GIGS Jay Brannan is playing another Irish date as part of this almost world tour (The US, UK and Ireland). I guess he liked his last visit here. He plays Crawdaddy at Dublin’s Old Harcourt Station on October 16. As for his style, well he has an artistic crush on Sinead O’Connor. Cork legends (sometimes for their music) Republic of Loose continue their four month live residency at the Academy, Dublin - one Friday each month from September through to December on Friday October 15th. These shows will be the band’s only Dublin gigs of 2010. After returning from the States to open for U2 in Croke Park on their 360 tour in 2009, they spent the latter half of the year writing new material for their fourth album. In May 2010 Republic of Loose flew to Baltimore in the US to begin work on their forthcoming album. Recorded in … There’s more

Culchie Calling Cards - Gigs - September 6 - 12 2010

GIGS Keane’s Tim Rice Oxley and Jesse Quin are putting on a show as MT Desolation in Belfast’s Spring & Airbrake on Thursday 9 September and Whelan’s, Dublin on Friday 10 September. The location means something to the pair, for the legend of the PR flack says hat the pair did come upon the idea in Whelan’s while well on the way for needing a taxi home, but apparently not oiled enough to be refused. The plan being two English men trying to sing like Hank Williams. They sobered up, but the germ of the idea spread and they did something about it. The album is out in October. Let me know if its a disaster. Cork legends (sometimes for their music) Republic of Loose start their four month live residency at the Academy, Dublin - one Friday each month from September through to December on Friday September 10th. These … There’s more

Free Republic of Loose and Ash ?

I ‘ve been on guest lists before but when the ‘get in’ is by guest list only and Ash and Republic of Loose are the two acts playing…. I’ve seen ROL play in the academy before. legends….. whaaaaaaaaa Ash ? never seen them play. A day I will never forget. Then when Messr Pyro comes back on stage so the two can play together…… blown away!! So blown away I ran out of battery to record the session…. either or check this out! Thanks to Piaras for this one:

Competition: Are You 7Up For It?

*** Competition Closed *** *** Congratulations to Dermot, Lorraine, Btown, Fergal and Peter *** *** I will email the winners shortly and thank you to everyone who entered *** Look, the awful pun is not my doing. Blame 7Up Free. Would you be interested in an exclusive gig next Saturday night, where you can see the brilliant Ash, supported by the Republic of Loose? Well, pay attention and keep reading then. 7Up Free’s latest campaign was pretty awesome. They launched the ‘Bring them back for the craic’ competition to offer a group of 7 friends the ultimate Irish reunion this St Patrick’s Day. One lucky group would have the chance to come home from anywhere in the world to celebrate Paddy’s Day; whether they were in Tokyo, Sydney, Singapore or London, 7up Free offered to fly them ‘back for the craic’ on the 17th March. Last Monday, 7up Free announce … There’s more

Finding out about Republic of Loose with Mik Pyro

Mention Republic of Loose to most people in Ireland and like them or not, they’ve heard of them. A seven to fifteen member strong band, they’ve taken the music that they like - a lot of American soul, funk, blues, rap and hip hop and blended it into a fairly unique sounding style that gets the heart racing, feet moving and head bopping along. Since their first album - This is the tomb of the Juice - in 2004, right through Aaagh! in 2006 and last year’s Vol IV Johnny Pyro and the Dance of Evil, they have consistently proven themselves to be one of Ireland’s most versatile, random and hard working bands. I sat down with lead singer Mik Pyro to chat about the origins of the band, their musical style, supporting U2 at Croke Park, their next album, touring Ireland and their upcoming gig for Arthur’s Day on … There’s more