Author Archives: Jay Kenny

My first repeated band on my concert blog, The Frank and Walters performed their annual Christmas gig at Whelans, which has become a tradition for me, three years running now.

It doesent feel like Christmas anymore until this gig for me, with their Christmas song “Song for a Future Love” ringing in the Christmas season for me.

An absolutely wild night, I’ve never seen so much energy in a crowd, who admittedly, are mostly middle aged so it is impressive to see that level of energy.

From their big hit “After All”, to their slower songs like “Plenty Times”, they delivered amazing song after amazing song, with a wonderfully crafted setlist.

Once again, one of the best crowds of any gig out there, met up with quite a few people who I’ve met from the previous two gigs, a crowd that I moshed with so much, at one point I thought I broke my jaw from a stray elbow, and at another point I held a man up on my shoulders for a song.

Every year that I go to this concert I realise why it has become a yearly tradition, no bands music sums up quite how I feel about life like The Frank and Walters, who’s music is all about happiness, love and helping one another, truly the festive spirit.

Stage Setup: 7/10, I can’t dock too many points on this one as it is a tiny stage which you can’t really do much with, lighting work was well done though.

Band Performance: 9/10, These lads are on the top of their game 30 years into their career, with no signs of slowing down, with an incredibly rhythm and some wonderful melody pieces.

Support: 8/10, Singer-songwriter Withered Hand provides support, a very intriguing acoustic based artist, with some very well crafted lyrics.

Merchandise: 8/10, I’ve grown accustomed to the merch they have, as it has been quite similar in the three years I’ve been there, but in saying that, it is very nice merchandise, nice t shirts with “Who’s the langer in the franks t-shirts” written on the back, and a new addition this year, metal water bottles, a merch item you don’t see often, all at a very very good price.

Crowd: 10/10, The best crowd in live music today, amazing people who all recognised me and even remembered my name from the two years previous, a night full of jumping, moshing, and even holding a man up on my shoulders, as mentioned previously, an absolute gem of a crowd.

Overall: 9/10, I will absolutely be back for their Whelans gig next year, it has become an unbreakable Christmas tradition for me, and it’s something I wouldn’t miss for the world.

Next up: Picture This 30/01/26

A band mentioned on a blog here before, as they are fresh off of supporting Oasis on their record breaking reunion tour, Cast are now doing their own tour.

Celebrating 30 years since their debut album, and my most listened to album of 2025 according to Spotify, “All Change”, an absolutely beautiful album, with some of my favourite lyrics of all time, all about, well, change.

This is my third time seeing Cast live, but my first time seeing them on their own, I previously saw them last year supporting Liam Gallagher on his tour for Oasis’ album “Definitely Maybe”, and the aforementioned Oasis reunion tour.

This time, though, they were ten times better than the other times, a band suited for small intimate venues, with their acoustic driven guitar rock music filling the Olympia theatre beautifully, but was unsuited to Croke Park.

Playing some of the most touching music I know, songs like “Walkaway” and “Live the Dream”, and then flipping one hundred and eighty degrees with the high energy guitar rock songs such as “Sandstorm” and “Alright”.

A band that often gets lost in the discussion of the britpop movement of the 90s, but who can confidently stand on their own as one of the best bands that movement has to offer.

Stage Setup: 8/10, A very standard stage setup, but I have to give extra points for the excellent lighting work that was done during the show, the spotlights and stage lights were perfectly synced and really complimented each song.

Band Performance: 10/10, An amazingly talented band, with all individually talented members, but it may be one of the best bands I’ve seen play with each other, the band was so in sync the entire night, with some of the greatest live harmonies I’ve ever heard.

Support: 10/10, A band I’ve been waiting to see did the support, Pastel, a new band that feel like they’ve been plucked right out of the 90s britpop scene and placed into today, one of the best sounding new bands out there, and perfectly suited for the show.

Merchandise: 8/10, A lovely selection of t shirts featuring the Cast logo and a list of all their releases on the back, a tour t shirts featuring the dates, a hoodie, a polo shirt and even scarves and hats, bonus points are given here because I am very biased in how much I love their logo.

Crowd: 10/10, A crowd that was full energy the full show, I ended up jumping and moshing with random people I’ve never met before and will most likely never see again, a passionate crowd who truly got the music.

Overall: 9/10, One of the best live bands I’ve seen in a while, which I know I say a lot, but I mean it here specifically, it has really raised my standards of how a band can play together on a stage.

Next up: The Frank and Walters 13/12/25

Irelands leading pop star CMAT performed her largest headline show ever last night in the 3Arena, an artist I’ve seen before at her last headline show, her biggest to date at the time, in fairview last year.

On the final show of her tour for her new album “Euro-Country”, she left no holds barred for the last leg, an absolute stellar performance full of energy.

With songs like the country ballad “I Wanna Be a Cowboy Baby”, a song which the entire arena did a two-step dance for the entire duration, and extremely powerful emotional songs like the title track of the new album “Euro-Country”, a song held by many to be responsible for Bertie Ahern’s withdrawal from presidential consideration.

A star in the height of her fame, and the height of her performance, she topped last year’s concert, one I would’ve found hard to believe would be topped.

An artist that will just keep getting bigger and bigger, it won’t be long before she’s headlining bigger arenas worldwide.

Stage Setup: 9/10, a stage featuring a giant euro coin, the centre of which was used as a screen instantly puts this stage above most of the rest, an incredibly well done and remarkably unique setup.

Band Performance: 10/10, CMAT is at the top of her game, and it’s hard to see what she left on the table after last night and imagine there was much, if any, left.

Support: 7/10, Support was provided by Fancy Hagood, an American modern country singer, very soothing and very fitting music for the support slot.

Merchandise: 8/10, a nice selection of tour t shirts, sweatshirts and long sleeves, even football scarves and rosettes, very standard prices, got myself a nice blue tour t shirt, as it’s nice to see concert merch in other colours.

Crowd: 10/10, What a crowd, between the raw energy of the crowd, and the fan interactions, including CMAT herself performing the last song in the crowd of the arena, that woman knows how to get a crowd going, and that crowd knew how to go.

Overall: 9/10, an incredibly talented, incredibly energetic and one of the best stage presences you’ll ever see, CMAT is one of this generations top live acts.

Next up: Cast 7/12/25

Viral sensation The Last Dinner Party took to the stage at Dublin’s 3Arena last night, a pretty horrible night in the weather outside, considering the storm and the orange weather warning, thousands of people still turned up for this concert nonetheless.

A band I have seen now three times, once as support for Hozier in Belfast, and once on their own last year, and once again they did not disappoint.

A five piece all female band from England, who make music that is very hard to pin a genre to, but would be somewhere along the baroque pop lines. With haunting music and enchanting vocals, they are certainly a hard band to imitate today.

The first stop of their tour for their second album “From the Pyre”, an album just as a good, if not better than their first outing.

They delivers an amazing show, with high energy throughout, and amazing band to crowd interaction and chemistry.

I also had the privilege of meeting the band earlier that day, in an organised meet and greet in Spindizzy Records in Georges Arcade, which was also a good bonus.

Stage Setup: 10/10, One of the best stage setups I have ever seen, with their baroque-art pop style, they had to have a stage to match, and they matched it well, incredibly intricate designs that must’ve taken innumerable hours to design.

Band Performance: 8/10, the band delivering a wonderful performance, with every member doing everything right, and an all round good live sound and band chemistry.

Support: 8/10, Support last night was a band from Nottingham called Divorce, certainly an interesting name, and makes it very difficult to say “I am a fan of Divorce” to someone who isn’t aware of the band, but they gave an amazing support slot for a band that isn’t used to the stage sizes they occupied last night.

Merchandise: 8/10, The Last Dinner Party have always had great merchandise designs, much like their stage designs, their merch never disappoints, with every piece designed with a familiar style unique to the band, and also a partnership with a food bank charity, where upon donating you got a The Last Dinner Party ribbon, fittingly called “Ribbons for Provisions”.

Crowd: 7/10, a very standard crowd, but a crowd that you could tell was truly passionate about the music, with many there knowing every single word that was being sung and singing them right back.

Overall: 8/10, The Last Dinner Party are showing the world what they can deliver onstage live, and I for one am glad I’ve gotten to see it multiple times, and despite the torrential rain, and some of the strongest winds I’ve felt in my life, I’m glad I went and I would absolutely go again.

Next up: CMAT 5/12/25

1990s punk legends The Offspring took to the stage of the 3Arena in Dublin last night, a long awaited concert for me, as I was meant to see them a few years ago, but couldn’t because of the COVID pandemic, this had a lot to live up to with the wait.

The Offspring show what they’ve learned touring the world for the last 35 years, with not necessarily one of the best concerts I’ve been to, but certainly one of the most fun.

The band themselves played great, they’ve honed in their technique over the years and deliver a stellar show night after night.

A particular highlight was the acoustic piano rendition of their song “Gone Away”, a heart wrenching song about the early loss of the lead singers loved one, which then turned into a full band performance for the last verse, incredibly powerful and incredibly moving:.

A concert with the bands hits of course, but also interspersed with snippets and covers of other songs, such as Black Sabbaths “Paranoid” and The Beatles “Hey Jude”.

The main spectacle of the show was surprisingly the part that I usually hate, the wait between the support act finishing, and the headliners coming on, but The Offspring came prepared.

With a man in a gorilla suit running around the stadium on camera, t shirt cannons, a miniature blimp, a kiss cam, a lookalike cam and so much more, that half an hour between flew by like nothing.

A band I am incredibly grateful to have finally saw after all this wait, and they did not disappoint.

Stage Setup: 10/10, an amazing set up, featuring inflatable tube men, giant inflatable skeletons, smoke, pyro and sparks, the aforementioned blimp, and so much more, a very well done and intricate setup, that was executed flawlessly.

Band Performance: 8/10, a very good performance from all the guys last night, obviously they may not be in their prime anymore, but they still deliver a high energy hour and half of a show with near perfection.

Support: 6/10, Canadian pop punk band Simple Plan were on the support slot, a band big enough in their own right to do a tour, but not really a band I was much impressed by, I kept feeling myself waiting for it to be over, with every one of their songs blending into one another as almost one long song, their hit “I’m Just a Kid” was a good crowd pleaser though.

Merchandise: 8/10, very nice merch selection, very standard prices, with some really intricate and well done artwork on all the t shirts and hoodies, with numerous unique t shirt designs and almost all of them featuring the tour dates on the back.

Crowd: 9/10, a remarkably energetic crowd, with it being hard to find a time where there wasn’t a mosh pit going, with great fan interaction the band knows exactly how to hype a crowd up, and even a band rendition of the famous Irish even chant “Ole Ole Ole”.

Overall: 8/10, A band that has successfully shown why they’re a staple of live music and touring for the last 30 years, with members on still performing lay greatly and amazing interaction and setup, their concerts are well worth a look.

Next up: The Last Dinner Party 14/111/25

Rising Irish Born, Raised in Portugal and now based in London, grunge rock band Keo played the Academy Green Room, and also recently announced a concert for the full Academy venue next year.

A concert I wasn’t necessarily inclined to go to, but went on the request of a friend. A really raw sound, that kind of pure distortion and scream singing that would’ve been worldwide had it come in the early 90s.

An energetic live band, with a sound that was perfectly suited to the venue, a sound so raw and so dense you could nearly feel it when you walk through the venue, a wall of sound nearly made physical.

This is a band I’m sure will be playing venues much bigger than this very soon, as said before there coming back to to the Academy, which is a little under a thousand people, but after doing their rounds as support for ever other band going, their fan base has grown, and when their first album finally comes out, I’m sure it’ll be a big hit, with a big tour to go with it.

Stage Setup: 7/10, As I’ve said in other blogs, it’s hard to do much with a small venue stage setup, but they added their own little touches to it, some very nice lighting and smoke effects, and a few decorative pieces like a handmade flower piece showing the flower off the cover of their latest EP.

Band Performance: 9/10, A young band in top form, it would be hard to expect them to keep up this level of energy for long, or for the lead singer to put his voice through that much strain for many years to come, catching them at this time was the perfect flashpoint between their rise in talent, and their eventual rise to fame.

Support: 10/10, Brooki did the support for this gig, the same band that did the support for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah in September when I saw them, and if there’s anything to be said about Keo being a band to watch, I’d nearly watch this band more, the amount of pure emotion and talent in that band, with a sound so unique and so captivating, I’d be surprised if they weren’t headlining bigger gigs than the ones their supporting soon.

Merchandise: 6/10, Decent selection of merchandise here, four different t shirts, although none with dates, which are the kind I like, their EP on record, and a t shirt from the support band, very nice t shirts but all around very standard merch selection.

Crowd: 6/10, a very half and half crowd for me, people were nice for the most part, but also a bit entitled, featuring my least favourite thing in all of my concert goings, the number systems, where people in the line will impose their own system of putting numbers on people’s hands, and then using them to push up to the front of the crowd. Didn’t expect to see that system in play for a venue of 300 people.

Overall: 8/10, A great gig from a band that are sure to be doing much, much more in the future, with a support band that could be doing even more than them in time, with a divisive crowd and decent merch options, certainly a band I would follow.

Next up: The Offspring 12/11/25

American 2000s band who are very hard to place into any genre, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah played The Button Factory in Dublin, playing their debut album, also called “Clap Your Hands Say Yeah” on its 20th anniversary.

Their debut album is one of my favourite albums of all time, incredibly strange but incredibly beautiful, with lead singer Alec’s certainly very odd, but very charming, vocal style, and their very layered lyrics that seem nonsensical but when you delve in actually have incredibly deep meanings.

A very energetic live act, delivered a set to a very responsive crowd, full of loads of genuinely nice people, I got talking to many different people at the gig, including a woman from Bahrain, who I cut my setlist in half and gave half of to.

Songs like “Details of the War” and “Where They Perform Miracles” were incredibly and soul-moving live, and songs like “The Skin of my Yellow Country Teeth” and “In This Home on Ice” were so upbeat and got the entire building moving. “Where They Perform Miracles” was probably my favourite song of the night, a song that I think perfectly encapsulates the concept of love.

A great live act performing their best album, and one of the best albums ever, live in full, is something not to miss, and I’m glad I didn’t miss it.

A band you have to listen to quite a few times to get past what initially sounds very grating, but become very endearing, making you feel like you’ve unearthed something people aren’t wise to yet.

Stage Setup: 7/10, I enjoyed the large graphic of the album cover, and it certainly a unique album cover, that they had behind the band, other than that a very standard setup but it does what is needed.

Band Performance: 9/10, Hard to fault the band on much, they performed incredibly but well, and Alec’s voice is, of course strange, but hauntingly beautiful nonetheless.

Support: 10/10, Brooki gave an absolute killer support slot, probably the best support hand I have ever seen, a singer with a soaring voice at times, and a rough proper grunge sounding voice at others, also the bass players string broke halfway through a song and he spontaneously retuned another string and improvised it on the other string with perfect accuracy.

Merchandise: 8/10, for a small gig, the merch selection was massive, jumpers, jackets, t shirts, records, CDs, patches, pins and more. All very reasonably priced (by concert standards anyways) and good quality stuff.

Crowd: 10/10, Sometimes a good crowd can make or break a show, but this crowd was intense and passionate, they sang to every song and gave it their all, filled with incredibly nice people and all around were good fun.

Overall: 9/10, an absolutely savage gig, by one of the most underrated bands to come out of the 2000s indie scene, playing one of the best albums I’ve ever heard and then some, amazing live and was certainly a bucket list item ticked off.

Next up: Keo 1/11/25

Only two days out from the end of Electric Picnic, Ireland’s biggest music festival, attracting over 80,000 people to the small village of Stradbally in Laois, less than a fifteen minute drive from where I live (a drive turned into an hour long one over the course of the weekend), I instead chose to opt for a much, much smaller event. While Chappell Roan played her international hits on the biggest stage in the country, my mind was transfixed on this gig, of only over 500 people in Dublin.

There’s something to be said about the contrast between largest crowd in Electric Picnic history, gathering to watch a worldwide pop star, and me and two of my friends going to The Button Factory to see one of the actual best talents in what could be called pop music today, although her style does delve heavily into rock aswell.

Blondshell is an American pop-rock artist who has only really emerged into a spotlight over the last year or so, and who I imagine I will never see on such a small stage ever again.

In support of her newest album “If You Asked for a Picture”, she headlined The Button Factory in Temple Bar.

For her first ever gig in Ireland, she left very little on the table afterwards, everything was spent out at the crowd. From bigger songs like the social media made famous song “Olympus”, to cuts from her new album, to unreleased songs and even a cover of Addison Rae’s “Diet Pepsi”, a song which my friends assure me is a big hit. Blondshell shows why it should be her up on those main stages of festivals, and why I’m ever so glad it wasn’t 80,000 people screaming in a field.

Stage Setup: 6/10, A somewhat unfair category when it comes to smaller venues, as there isn’t really a lot of room for intricate and complex stage design as there would be in the likes of the 3Arena or bigger, the stage did what it was supposed to do and served well at it.

Band Performance: 10/10, it’s hard to score Blondshell any lower, she’s in the (current) peak of her performing journey and she held nothing back on her opening night of the European tour.

Support: 7/10, Westside Cowboy gave a very good support slot to Blondshell, a band I would find it hard to pin down to any one genre, with four members, all of which providing some sort of vocals on varying tracks, with nobody really being a lead singer overall, a very intriguing band who I’m interested to see where they go.

Merchandise: 6/10, A much smaller selection of merch over here than on the American leg of the tour, but still a decent variety for the gig size, three different t-shirts and a baseball cap, and very nicely designed too.

Crowd: 7/10, A very excited crowd, all singing along and jumping around, although there were a few outliers who didn’t look that bothered to be there, but you get that at most gigs, overall a good crowd with a decent amount of energy.

Overall: 8/10, A rising talent, in a small intimate venue, that I doubt they will ever be booked to play the small size of again, made for a great night and an amazing gig, excited to see the next steps in her career.

Next up: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 16/9/25

The self dubbed “King of Entertainment” Robbie Williams delivered the final date of his Britpop tour in Croke Park, a tour he actually announced at a press conference in Croke Park, for a man from Stoke-on-Trent, this tour seemed to all come to a focal point at Jones Road.

Robbie Williams is one of those people that just exude natural stage presence like it was second nature to them, say what you want about anything to do with him, even people who hate him and his music cannot deny, the man can run a stage like nobody else in the business can.

A week after seeing Oasis in the same venue, poor old Robbie had quite a lot to live up to, and dare I say it, he delivered.

With a show that started with a strange monologue delivered over the speakers about the socioeconomic implications that social media and AI has, and will have on the music and entertainment industry.

The energy of the stadium could be felt, it was as if your head has tapped into a reserve of energy fuelled by 80000 screaming fans singing along to songs that mean something to them, it’s a feeling that I could not describe, but is a feeling that needs to be felt to understand.

Halfway through the concert Robbie brought on a special guest, TikTok sensation from Mayo, Garron Noone, and delivered a cover of “Take me Home, Country Roads”.

All I can say to sum up this review is, if he ever comes back around, go, don’t think about it, don’t wait to see if you want tickets closer to the gig, just go, it’s more than worth it.

Stage Setup: 10/10, As a natural born showman, Robbie’s stage setup had to match his energy. Including a main stage, a B stage and a C stage, and even a rocket that Robbie took off on, and descended down from at the beginning of the show.

Band performance: 10/10, There’s nothing I can say to convey the presence and talent that man brings to the stage, these are just words on a page, but in the best way I can try to explain, Robbie had the entire stadium of 80000 people balancing on his every word sung, and every dance move done.

Support: 7/10, Support was very half and half, the first support act The Lottery Winners, were amazing, with a very charismatic frontman who was funny and charming, while also being incredibly talented, after them was Elbow, a band big enough in their own right, who only provided support for this specific show, a good band, but something just felt missing, it’s a very common occurrence with stadium gigs, where the stage is so intricately set up for one specific act, for one specific show, that when a support act is thrust out onto it, many can find it difficult to fill those shoes.

Merchandise: 5/10, very standard merch at this gig, first one in a while I didn’t pick anything up, but ordered some bootleg merch online instead. I fear this concert may be setting a standard of t shirts being 55 euro each.

Crowd: 9/10, One of the loudest crowds I’ve been in, Robbie does a lot of crowd work and lets the crowd sing a lot of parts, and the echo throughout the stadium was immense at every single opportunity.

Overall: 8/10, Robbie shows why he’s been such a big name for such a long time in music, a lot of times when artists say that the crowd of the night is the best crowd they’ve ever had, it’s quite easy to dismiss it as them just saying it, but this time when Robbie said it, I actually believed it.

Next up: Blondshell 2/9/2025

The world’s most anticipated reunion, of one of the greatest bands to ever do it, the brothers duo of the Gallaghers and their generation defining music with Oasis.

A band that has had more than its fair share of ups and downs, they seem to finally be mostly up rather than down, from Liam abandoning the band for two Irish gigs back in the 90s, to the bands breakup in the late 00s that made headlines worldwide, to the gap in the world of music left by them until now.

This is a tour that anyone with a bit of knowledge could’ve seen coming, as I walked out of the 3Arena after Liam Gallagher toured for Oasis’ first album “Definitely Maybe”, I told my friend, also named Liam, there was no way they wouldn’t reunite for the anniversary of “What’s the Story (Morning Glory)”, and I was right.

As opposed to most other people I got my tickets on the morning of general sale, without much hassle and at a reasonable price, but I would’ve payed hundreds more had I known what was in store.

The brothers Gallagher sound as good as they ever have, and seem miles better than they were in the last decade of Oasis, this may truly be the peak of the band, which coming 30 years after their biggest album, is saying something.

A setlist stocked with fan favourites, deep cuts and smash hits, 23 songs in total, a 2 hour show, which you don’t get off many acts these days.

Opening with “Hello” and going straight into “Acquiesce” gives whiplash that feels severe enough for surgery, in the best way possible.

The setlist was crafted perfectly, with every song feeling like it was in the perfect place.

Highlights for me include “Slide Away” (One of the greatest love songs ever written) and Noel’s solo section in the middle consisting of the heartstring tugging “Talk Tonight”(Also one of the greatest love songs ever written), into “Half the World Away” finishing with “Little by Little”, before Liam joins him back for the second half of the show.

Oasis filled a void that thousands across this country didn’t know they had until it was fixed by the pure, unadulterated, raw, rock and roll sound the world needs.

Stage Setup: 9/10, A massive stage with massive screens behind it, showing footage of the band, interspersed with visual effects and images made a feast for the eyes.

Band performance: 10/10, I have watched many, many live videos of Oasis, from when they first released “Definitely Maybe”, up until their last shows in 2009, and I genuinely can’t find another instance where they sounded more cohesive than they do now.

Support: 10/10, I don’t think I’ve seen a better support lineup at a concert, not only were they big names many would recognise, but they were pulled right from the same era Oasis came from. Cast (A personal favourite band of mine, who I’ll be seeing later this year) were the opening support slot, and delivered a classic upbeat rock show, then up next came Richard Ashcroft, former lead singer of The Verve. Ashcroft came out and gave off the energy of a man who was actually headlining Croke Park, a lot of times support bands have a hard time playing properly to a stadium, when everything is clearly setup for a different band, but Ashcroft knew exactly what he was doing and just how to do it.

Merchandise: 9/10, The merch stand at the concert wasn’t particularly appealing to me, but that was because I had already visited the dedicated Oasis store that opened up in St. Stephen’s Green, which had an amazing selection of Merch, I personally picked up a bottle, keychain and a hoodie. All very good quality and amazing designs.

Crowd: 9/10, I’m sure down if I was down in standing getting covered in pints that people were throwing, be they of alcohol or something else I won’t mention, that my rating would be lower, but the crowd immediately surrounding us in the stands were some of the nicest people I’ve met at a concert, two people infront of us who flew in from Japan for the gig, who were incredibly nice, and some people behind us coming down from Belfast, significantly closer than Japan, who were also a great bunch to be around.

Overall: 9/10, Oasis prove once again why they are one of the best to ever do it, and even if they break up tomorrow, their legacy is cemented in music forever.

Next up: Robbie Williams 23/8/25