Sinead O’Connor

The beautiful Sinead O’Connor rocking the Olympia with that shiver inducing voice of hers.

Friendly Fires

At the Olympia, Dublin. Man, that boy can move.

 

The Darkness

They believe in a thing called love…. and you know what? So do I… so do I.

Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 2011.

Noel Gallagher

Probably one of the hardest gig’s I’ve snapped due to the impossible restrictions and my complete lack of God given height.

Shot with a 200mm from waaaaaay back behind the crowd.

Queens Of The Stone Age

The hottest tickets in town apparently. A bit wasted on me in fairness as I can’t claim to own any of their albums (I just heard you all scoff with disdain). We were made shoot from the very side of the stage in front of the 1700 foot tall speakers which blew my wee ears away. I’m now 98% deaf and I’m sure that pleases the giant ginger lord.

*some slight exaggerations may be present in the above blog.

Sufjan Stevens

With a buttery melty voice such as his, he really didn’t need all the theatrics. I’m glad he brought them along anyways. Every lead singer should wear 5 foot fairy wings.

Manic Street Preachers

We are indeed of walking abortion. Another stonking set list from these old dudes. Lots from the Holy Bible with a splash of Motwon Junk and M*A*S*H*.

Here’s a point of interest: The Manic Street Preachers were formed in the same year as I was.

Beady Eye

Yea, I’m not a fan, in the slightest. So i’ll keep this short.

Here’s pix of Beady Eye in the Olympia.

Thin Lizzy

Old school rockers hit the Olympia.

Previous Thin Lizzy Stuff:

Vibe For Philo: Here

Brian Downey: Here

Imelda May (Olympia)

I love that this little lady is doing so well. She is so lovely, “Salt of the earth” as my Mother would say. She’s talented and persistent and after years of hard slog it’s paying off. Congrats to this very stylish Liberties lass.

The Frames

The first night of their Dublin tour. Amazing as ever, warm and welcoming. Glen spending more time telling stories than playing songs. Perfect!

Goldfrapp

She made a dress out of Video Tape, nuff said.

Placebo (Olympia, Dublin)

Now here is a band which completely hold my heart. Their debut album was my debut album. They are the reason I drew black biro under my eyes. They’ve grown in odd directions with an element of electro and rap and other dodgy mixes along the way… but everyone has to experiment in their lives and i did all mine through this one band.

I’ve seen them play countless times in various countries. For my 18th birthday i travelled to Manchester to see them. I sneaked my 35mm SLR passed the bouncers and snapped my heart out. Brian (glorious Brian) noticing my blatant disregard for the “No Photography”  rule he strutted over mid song and stood about a foot away from me on stage and screamed to me “keep taking photos, never stop taking fucking photos”… …. … God I love him.

This Olympia show was particularly special as it was nearly 9 years to the day since they first played in the Olympia theatre. A show which was halted mid song as the ceiling began to collapse. During this 20 minute interval the mosh pit turned into an androgynous teenage orgy, which I’m sure many of you will remember well, even if you claim not to!

I could go on and on with more embarrassing Placebo related stories of my teens, but i’ll save them for another time. Maybe when I get them for a shoot in the studio.

Faith No More (Olympia Dublin 09)

wowza! A complete and utter mosh down memory lane. Incredibly tight preformance if not a bit short. A few bars of the Eastenders theme song too many..and a bit heavy on the Irish gags too (anyone actually know what a Shelaliegh is anyways?…and yes, i did google that spelling). Dressed in a full salmon coloured suit, Patton looked rather like an extra from Goodfellas, but has aged notably well. Proper showmanship and cracking tunes…good times all round.

Manic Street Preachers (Olympia)

right, well I’m a massive MSP fan, lets just make that clear from the get go. I don’t actually own any non Richey stuff though, chalk that down to personal taste or teenage angst or what have ya… but anyway.  The gig was split in a quite a novel way. They played the new album in its entirety for the first hour… they then took a wee lil break (just long enough to pop to the bar) and then came back for a glorious second half that was filled full of classic hit and rarities! La Tristesse, Little Baby Nothing & Sorrow 16, c’mon folks, bula bus!

falling in love all over again.

R

xxx

HOTPRESS will have a full review of the show (written by a proper journo, not a snap happy photographer!) and printed pictures in the  June 18th issue (so go buy it!!)!

PIX ALL UP!