The Goo 1
Reviews Live Reviews Ones To Watch 2024 Whelan’s
Opening night of the behemoth that is now Whelan’s Ones To Watch opens on the main stage with explosions of noise and subtly crafted tunes courtesy of Pier. This man can sing and the songs are very promising. A flying start. The Drive know a thing or two about the dynamics of noise and play it loud - very loud - over an ear crunching set that whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Another great set. Hotgirl ooze cool - they have Ashley Abbedeen and Jake Hurley in the band for fecks sake - and possess a sound that makes you wanna dance and mosh at the same time. Cool never goes out of fashion so I’m hot tipping this eclectic four piece for greater things. Fizzy Orange are a band that every scene needs. Big, bold, brassy and fun fun fun, their songs are catchy and hip. A hit single beckons! Upstairs saw Winemom hold court and I loved their singer’s distinctive voice and delivery. The tunes are excellent too, very promising. Next up was my highlight of the night, Punches Pilot. Wistful tunes, great chord progressions and an inherent good vibe and chemistry that all great bands have earmark this band out. Shades of Grandaddy, Pavement and The Magic Numbers come to mind, pop with attitude. PAUL FITZPATRICK / ETHAN GOLDING / BETTY STUART / ALAN MONNELLY / DIANA STOKES / ORAN O'BEIRNE PIER Limetree have a following in the house and over a set that sparkled with sax driven, pop/ funk nuggets it’s not hard to see why. Essiray has a hard task following bands of this quality but absolutely slays it over a set that showcases a truly wonderful voice and some genuine electro pop bangers. She stands alone on stage but swiftly commands it with beguiling moves and an energy that proves less can be more. Genuinely, an artist to Watch out for. PF As always there’s too much good stuff to shine a light on everyone at Ones To Watch so I’ll be swift. Honourable mentions from Saturday and Sunday. Silverglass, a post rock act who made use of some interesting voice recordings to invent a subtle narrative in their act, reminiscent of The Nouns. Sheep: Three-piece with some deceptively meat textures coming from predominant clean tones. Sheep managed to sound like everything from Radiohead’s ‘Pablo Honey’ to Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’. Calum Agnew and Georgia G. The former a Sam Smith type with tons more charisma and humanity, the latter a neo soul, bedroom pop star who wouldn’t feel out of place as the local talent in the opening slot of a Prince tour stop. The Late Late is missing a trick if their booker doesn’t book either of these potential pop gems. Peer Pleasure & Onion Boys: These two bands did not perform together but I can’t help but feel as though a collaborative, monster super group is inevitable. Both bands wear the blues on their sleeves. These two bands were very much responsible for the comradery and party atmosphere which permeated the closing days of Ones To Watch 2024 with the party on stage spilling over into the crowd both at their own sets and their fellow performers’. Two bands not to be missed live. Finally, my pick PAGE 18 of the bunch for Ones To Watch 2024 are Shark School. The best thing that can happen at these kinds of showcases is ending up at a set of an act you’ve never heard of before and feeling like you’ve discovered something special. At 1am on Saturday night I found myself hanging around for Shark School holding out for I don’t know what but finding myself once again in the wonderful position of feeling like I was witnessing the beginning of something big. There’s something so appealing about a three piece that knows when to be loud and when to be quiet, when to put their tongue in their cheek and when to inject a dose of sincerity. I cannot speak highly enough of this band. Enrol as soon as possible. DC. The Amniotics - Such a fun band who are always smiling and enjoying the stage and the crowd. With chanting lyrics like “his girlfriend goes to NCAD” you can’t help but sing along and smile too. Lots of radio friendly tunes that I look forward to hearing lots more from in the future. Bucket - This tight Dublin 3 piece was straight on stage with big dirty bass lines, slamming drums and hard hitting melodic vocals. Dressed in black with only raw flashing white light to light themselves and the crowd we were all picked up and moshed along on Bucket’s journey to big things. One of the most exciting bands on the scene at the moment. Last Apollo - Lucy Rice and her amazing band. Special mention for the stomping drum solo and dreamy melodic guitar waves. BS. A fantastic start to the evening’s proceedings as Ellen Sleator’s stunning voice warmed the room and it wasn’t long before the attentive crowd realised they were witnessing something special. Sleater has great stage presence and delivered the songs with natural