This week sees the launch of RTÉ 2XM‘s new schedule. The guys have been hard at work getting new studios sorted in Dublin for 2XM and from the photos I’ve seen, they look shit-hot!
That does means, however, after four years of having a show (The London Ear and Culture Cafe before that) on a Wednesday, we’re moving to Saturdays at 1300.
I’m really looking forward to having the show on a Saturday and I think it’s a great move to try and do more for the Irish community in London. Most people tend to work Monday-Friday, so there’s no excuse for not listening on a Saturday.
Plus, if you miss it then you can always listen on the RTÉ player and on Mixcloud.
So remember, new time, Saturday 1300, same Bat channel!
There are some things you miss out on when you’re not living in your native land. One of the things I’ve been missing is going to gigs and checking out brand new Irish music.
I don’t know an awful lot about Sinéad White, she’s from Leixlip, and most of what I do know comes from her being chosen as one of Goldenplec’s Picks for 2015. What I do know is that the Bold Blend Remix of Better is an absolute stomper and you should go and download it right now!
The remix comes courtesy of Dublin based DJ/Producer, Blend Bold, who has a new album coming out in October and has just, at time of writing, 98 likes on Facebook, C’Mon People !! I’ve been listening to some tracks on his Soundcloud page and he definitely desrves more likes than that.
The remix is spot on, melodic, compliments the original song and catchy as hell. Go download it now!. You can hear me play it on the next episode of The London Ear.
I picked up the phone and texted ‘Hey you! Welcome back! Fancy going to the Barenaked Ladies tonight?’.
My Russian buddy, IT, had been back in Moscow for the summer. It was now September and university was about to start up again. This was a time when I wrote lots of music reviews and that particular Sunday night, I was to review a show by the Canadian band in Dublin’s Olympia Theatre.
Sometimes there are perks to things like this, getting to see decent gigs and the treasured +1 on the guest list. My OH, Tahlulah, (who also likes to call herself my subeditor – I wonder if she’ll leave this in?) couldn’t make the gig that night so I thought I’d phone a friend.
IT replied ‘Yes! What time do we need to leave at? I’ll meet you at the bus stop’. We meet and chat, I get all the news about loves, losses and life in Moscow.
Jumping off the bus at Trinity College, the city centre is bustling with the return of the culchies (country folk who go home at weekends to their Mammies) and cases being dragged along the street.
We walk along the south side of Dame Street, the opposite side from the Central Bank. We chat as we pass pubs and a couple of basement gentleman’s clubs. The red man is out, we stand at the traffic lights waiting for our turn to cross. The lights beep, the red man turns green and we cross the road.
As we reach the other side, IT asks ‘Nessy, where are we going ?’. I signal towards The Olympia, visible two minutes walk away.
‘Oh!’, IT says with a slight surprised but definite disappointment in his voice. ‘You said Talulah was away’. Pointing towards a gentleman’s club he says ‘I thought we were going to see bare naked ladies’.
Stardate 02062015, time 0645, it’s the day you wake up and remember you’ve bought tickets to a gig in Brighton. Me and my buddy Alex had purchased tickets to go see Shura.
I’ve been playing Shura for a while now on the radio and Alex raved about her Village Underground gig in March so there was no Indecision on our part to get tickets. Yes, I know that was a terrible pun. Plus, attendees of these couple of dates around the UK would also get their mitts on some free limited edition vinyl of a Warpaint-Steez remix of 2Shy, pressed on one side only. #YummyVinyl
So working in London, myself and Alex legged it out of the office at 5.15 and got the Gatwick Express to Brighton, which I have to say, was a quite relaxing journey, fuelled by music discussion and goss. We arrive in Brighton, find the venue and find an eaterie.
We go to the venue, get our hands on our vinyl and pop out to say hi to Shura and get our vinyl signed (fangirl or wha?). We head back upstairs, hopefully proving we’re not psychos and wait for the show to begin.
It’s a small venue, maybe 200 people in there. The band have added an extra guitarist for live duties. The short eight song set starts with ‘Figure it Out’.
It’s Shura’s first time playing in Brighton and the crowd react well to the opening notes of ‘2Shy’, ‘Indecision’ and ‘Touch’ but for some reason never completely let loose.
In reality, these shows are probably good run throughs for festival season and set lists change and evolve. Included in today’s is a Fine Young Cannibal Cover, She Drives Me Crazy, while a good cover, if someone is driving you crazy, you need a little more Grr!
Honourable mention must go to the guitar at the end of the second track of the night, ‘Kids n’ Stuff’, if Top Gun needed a new piece of music for when the plane takes off the runway and Tom Cruise is on his motorcycle, well, this is it. This leads really nicely into ‘Indecision’.
Shura’s sound is definitely eighties throwback, with Ms Janet Jackson sprinkling her fairydust over everything. But it’s when the last song of the night kicks in, I realise what was slightly lacking. A few more uptempo tracks.
When people go to to gigs they want to dance and ‘White Light’ definitely makes you want to do that. (I might be wrong as I recall the evening but there could have been a Madonna sample thrown in to the live mix there). Shura is a new artist and it’s fascinating to see artists change and evolve in the time before they even get to release an album and then between a first and second album. ‘White Light’ seems to be the sound of an artist maturing, getting to know where they want to go, how to manipulate and create to be exactly where they want to be. It works, it’s bloody great live. The following night it got it’s debut on Annie Mac on BBC1.
Good night’s entertainment, if Shura keeps producing stuff like this, she’ll have a decent career.
There are some things you miss out on when you’re not living in your native land. One of the things I’ve been missing is going to gigs and checking out brand new Irish music. 
