Music for all ages

Anyone who has been keeping up with my blog knows what an eventful midterm I have had but there's only so many blog posts I can write on how exhausted I am and how I have pretty much forgotten what a day off feels like. I declined the offer of work for Saturday night because I had plans to go to a gig with the boyfriend and thought it would be nice to have some time off. I somehow got roped into doing a few hours Sunday which kind of undone that. Saturday itself was a bit of a wash out in that I got home from work shortly before 8 am and fell asleep for four hours, I had been hoping for more sleep but I am still adjusting to the different shifts and my scumbag body was feeling rather non compliant.  I did get up and go out for a bit but sleep deprivation gave me the attention span of a goldfish and a tendency to space out in the middle of my own sentences so it wasn't long before I needed to go home and rest before the all ages gig in Central arts.

They had a really good line up for the night ; crome yellow, younameus, feedback, Anna Liese (all local bar younameus who were from Carlow) and Brass Phantoms (all the way from Dublin's fair city). They were also supposed to have Ashley Loftus sing a few songs but she was being interviewed for tv earlier that day and somehow split her lip with her own guitar. I am impressed because it's the kind of injury I'd be likely to get myself if I owned a guitar. Ashley works for Central Arts but is now better known because she's appearing in this years the Voice of Ireland and seems to be doing quite well. I am pretty certain she is one to watch as she has an amazing voice.

I wasn't going to back out of the gig as it was the only event on my social calendar this week that wasn't work (next week is another story) and I am pretty sure Stephen was starting to forget what I look like but as headed into the gig at 7, I was feeling the effects of lack of sleep and was very glad I had a couch to sit on. It took some serious effort to not lie down on it but I am certain that the bands who came along to play their hearts out would have been quite insulted to see a girl sleeping in the front row even if she was really really tired. 

First on was Crome yellow, they are local lads and and great bunch of musicians. They were recently featured in Humans of the Deise and look the epitome of cool in their portrait. I am terrible at describing musical genres at the best of times so I will just try and avoid that less I get it horribly wrong and somehow insult someone. They have a very experimental sound that's quite funky and little bit indie and they have this really great song where they bring out a didgeridoo. It's an instrument I can't help associating with Rolf Harris and let me tell you these guys show you there's a lot more that can be done with the instrument. 

Next up we had younameus, a band with an impressive female component ( there were lots of women in the band but so much cooler than a girl band because they were actually talented) from Carlow. They describe themselves as punge which I can only assume is punk meets grunge and that's pretty apt. If you like shouty lyrics and a good beat then you'd have enjoyed them. A completely different sound to crome yellow but in a good, mixing things up kind of way.

They were followed by Feedback. They did a wide range of covers and their very funky looking lead singer had such fantastic vocal range that I can't help hoping to see them in near future with some of their own material. I try not to be a judge a book by its cover kind of girl (except when it comes to actual books and then I am happy to do it) but I had a feeling I was going to like this band and I was right. I enjoyed their performance almost as much as I enjoyed the feeling of being right.They had a really cool look to them and an even better sound. I am sure we will be seeing more of them in the near future.

After that we had Anna-Liese, I had recently seen them play at Central arts open mic night and somehow forgotten (let's blame the lack of sleep here) until the opening chords of their first song which was familiar and catchy. Once I had heard that I remembered seeing them and saying they were a band with great potential. These guys are fantastically talented and its such a wonderful feeling when you go out for a night with some music and no real expectations and get kind of blown away. By this point in the night I was really glad I had resisted the lure of my bed and stayed out to be entertained. As a band they have a quiet charm to them. They describe themselves as indie rock but I would say there's a tiny (just a tiny one) hint of pop to them in the catchyness in many of their songs, you can already hear which ones would make great singles. I was delighted to have the opportunity to see more of these guys. All going well ( If I don't get called to do an overnight shift) I will be getting to see them play again this Thursday in Murphys. It starts at 9 and it's a free gig. It's definitely one to check out if you're around. 

The last band to play was Brass Phantoms who hailed all the way from Dublin. They are an indie rock group and for me they confirmed my suspicion that I actually quite like indie rock as a genre. They are an up and coming band and Central Arts do seem to have a particular knack for finding bands that Waterford hasn't heard of yet but should already be listening to. Okay fine so my boyfriend is the person that does that for them and drives me crazy by constantly researching bands when were supposed to be spending time together, I only didn't mention it because it makes me sound biased. I swear I am not. He had been raving about these guys since he first found them and I will admit he did not over sell them. They really were fantastic even if by the time they got to the stage I was thrown across the couch in a very ungraceful manner (that was the tiredness).

The whole thing was over before 11 which ordinarily would have seemed strange but last night I was very excited about the prospect of reaching my bed at 11 instead of starting work. It was another great night for me in Central arts and if my week started on a Saturday I would say it was the start to a great week but it doesn't, I know how weeks work. Still it was a pretty awesome finish.