The Goo 1
I Dreamed I Dream - National Concert Hall Previou
s guests of the National Concert Hall’s Metronome series, I Dreamed I Dream, returned as headliners in 2024. The opening act, The Next New Low, took the stage in staggered intervals, sculpting melancholic soundscapes with ease as each member joined the ensemble. There is a longing in The Next New Low, a yearning that is gorgeously captured by trembling cello and soft harmonies. A peculiar juxtaposition to the dissonant guitar screeching that occurred once I Dreamed I Dream took the stage. Bassist Claire Aherne declared “We’ve been paid by Bus Eireann to sing 45 minutes of songs about buses” before breaking into the first half of sean nós track 214. What follows is utter catharsis, rage bottled and drank slowly before inevitably smashing the bottle over an ex-lovers head. Betrayal and its accompanying fury are palpable themes in I Dreamed I Dreams performance. It is perfectly encapsulated in the unreleased track Banana Sushi, a murder ballad, served conversationally before descending into inaudible roaring. I dreamed I had a sound that was impossible to place, the self-proclaimed “nopunk bitch-wave” genre-defying five-piece swaggered through a hotchpotch of influence, blending noise, traditional Irish sean nós, and riot grrl sentiments seamlessly through their set. It is rare to experience artistry like I Dreamed I Dream, with reckless abandon to musical convention the five-piece feels hungry, this is a project that will only speed up, and I cannot wait to see the future of nopunk bitch-wave on the scene. SD .. THEIR COLLECTIVE MUSICIANSHIP IS BEYOND COMPARE .. PAGE 30 Curtisy - The Workman’s Cellar If there was a time to hop on the Curtisy hype train that time is now. With his debut album titled ‘What Was The Question’ dropping on the 3 rd of May the the next few months are set to be huge for the Tallaght native. On a rainy Thursday night in the capital a gig that was billed as ‘Curtisy’s Birthday Bash’ with support from rapper LIL Skag and Rising Dublin band Punches Pilot the the crowd were treated to a diverse show of talent. Curtisy is an artist who’s live shows are full of impressive wordplay over fantastic production with added laughs at the rapper's short monologues between songs. Kicking off with the single ‘Lower Your Hopes’ Curtisy did not slow down for the next forty five minutes rapping every bar for words barely taking a breath. The crowd were treated to unreleased material from the new album and crowd favourites like ‘Man on a Mission’ and ‘I'M DONE’. It was hard to ignore the real connection Curtisy had with the crowd as not only putting on a stellar performance his infectious personality shined through and I could really see the love the crowd had for him. As the show came to an end the crowd sang a beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday to the man on stage. With the Irish rap scene in such a healthy place at the moment it is great to see such impressive live performances from one of the brightest stars of the scene. JmB Pharcyde - The Sugar Club Hip hop is one of the rare examples of the inception of an artform still being within living memory and so it offers us a rare opportunity, namely to watch those who helped shape and progress it from a strange new thing shared amongst friends to what it is today. It’s hard to imagine hip hop and rap being anything other than what it is today, an all conquering cornerstone of chart and critically acclaimed music alike and yet its roots are humble and nothing quite brings that home like seeing 3 quarters of the Pharcyde’s original line up sharing a small stage, busting moves and delivering bars to a sold out Sugar Club. It’s an uncanny feeling and for me can only be reconciled through short bursts of hysterical laughter, a quirk that camouflages easily when watching an act as playful and hilarious as the Pharcyde. Hip Hop of this ilk has a gift of maintaining its adolescent brashness and off the cuff and occasionally even toilet humour sensibilities in a way that other genres simply cannot. Now middle aged pop punk bands from the late 90s/early 00s still singing about girls, masturbation, stealing beer and smoking cigarettes is inescapably cringey and they often find it difficult to transition to more sophisticated themes or sounds. Much of this is caused by the problem of a three chord structure, brilliant for producing no nonsense, amphetamine fueled catharsis, difficult for subtlety, nuance and complexity. I think why so much of the Pharcyde’s early work has stood the test of time is because behind the one liners, your momma jokes and odes to the bud, is the rich tapestry of jazz, gospel, soul & funk samples propping up the rhymes. A truly timeless act.EG PHARCYDE AT THE SUGAR CLUB