With our magazine and mixtape attracting interest from readers around the world, our Faces of 2015 came alive on Friday. The night, as will the year to come, belonged to the four acts who helped make it so special and provided proof that the hype machine gets it right from time to time. Belfast’s Robocobra […]
“Imagine being irrelevant for 15 years, coming here and getting this reaction?” Not the knowing words of Korn frontman Jonathan Davis, but those of Overhead, The Albatross bassist Joe Panama, who State happily finds themselves planted next to for this evening’s entertainment. He’s not far wrong. Davis, still clutching his H.R. Giger-designed mic-stand, looks and […]
Ten years ago Canada was the big thing in indie music. Arts & Crafts Productions was co-founded by Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew and therefore connected indubitably with everything the band did as a whole, as well as the individual members. Feist and Emily Haines were gaining popularity. Amy Millan bounced between Broken Social Scene […]
In a year that has seen State expand our live shows to take in the Electric Picnic and Oxjam events, it was fitting that we returned home to the Mercantile for our last event of 2014. It was a night that brought together some familiar names with a couple of new ones, all giving their […]
Starting the year as one of State’s Faces, Simi Crowns is a name that has grown more familiar as 2014 has progressed. After supporting Pusha T in May and playing Electric Picnic this summer, he went on to play with Kid Ink and Mos Def in the past couple of months, leaving a lasting impression […]
While Run the Jewels’ self titled debut album gained Killer Mike and El-P plenty of well deserved attention, it was with the release of Run the Jewels 2 in October that they were finally able to establish themselves as the best act in hip-hop right now. They have accepted this position with grace and humility […]
It must be a somewhat perplexing year to be a Mark Kozelek fan. With the relative success of this year’s extraordinary album Benji, the former Red House Painters frontman (going under the Sun Kil Moon moniker tonight) has gone from ‘criminally underrated’ status to a singer-songwriter who, at last, is getting his just rewards on […]
Shuffling onstage like a Faberge teddy bear enrobed in a glitzy dressing gown, his sequence encrusted frock coat festively twinkling in the darkness- it’s time to step into a Sir Elt’s Christmas. With his piano stool firmly affixed to the floor to avoid any further legs akimbo escapades like last week’s tennis tumble he launches […]
At 8pm tonight Pater Gabriel walks onto an otherwise unmanned stage looking like a roadie. Head bowed, he walks to the mic a the front of the stage and one person at a time the crowd realise that this is the man they’ve paid to see rather than a tech. Slowly and forcibly the applause […]
“The loudest band on earth”, we’re told. It could have been anything because the utterances from the punter making vague word-shaped faces as we leave the venue are nothing but images at this point. Not quite deafened, not entirely sure my hearing will ever return. Swans are, without doubt, the loudest assault you’ll ever pay […]
Via a fast walk through relatively sketchy neighbourhood we find La Maroquinere on a crisp Parisienne evening. From the wonderful bar with its smoker-populated courtyard we descend in to the belly, to a small, dark, square, tiered room with a low ceiling supported by wide pillars. It’s an unusual space – a mini square amphitheatre […]
Morrissey, playing the 3arena on a miserable, cold, wet, wintry Monday Evening. Some headlines write themselves… digression aside, Morrissey is standing right in front of us in what looks like a shell-suit top with a green stripe and a pair of jeans…Sporty Casual, but somehow carries it off. He is angry but also seems sad. Maybe […]
The dirty, sleazy, soulful electro-funk of Little Dragon should probably come with a health warning; such is its relentless appeal. As Dublin once again provides the location, Yukimi Nagano and band provide the noise. The wonky rhythms and electronic textures of their music is effectively an airborne drug and as the tracks come and go […]
Friday night in Whelans and a small, but enthusiastic crowd have piled into the venue, fresh from battling the elements outside. Cold, wet and slightly miserable, many are in need of a suitable tonic to lift their spirits ahead of the weekend. A cozy performance from Galway folk singer Saileog ní Cheannabháin takes the edge […]