Is there anything better than a new night devoted to metal in the capital? Me thinks not. It wasn’t all that long ago that Dublin had two haunts for heavy metal. The downstairs bar in Brux (if you were looking for ridiculously egotistic metal snobs who all at one point or another had managed to ingest pool cues up their rear ends) or the classic Fibber MaGee’s, who in fairness had their moments of hesitation when it came to metal (smell of foam has officially left the building though).
Now things are different. Despite the closure of Fibbers II and the turncoat Pint, we still have Gypsy Rose, Fibbers, Brux, Club Carnage, Club Hell, Club Poison and more to keep us entertained. However – if there’s one thing the city needs is more regular nights with live bands and that’s what Whelan’s are hoping to cater for with their new monthly night, The Lycan Sessions.
Snowblind and Theories Divide are the first acts up to launch metal latest newest night and you’d be hard pressed to come up with better. Theories Divide are first up (at some massively unholy hour when the world wants to sleep but metal heads awake) and you just know they ooze presence. Having seen them a few times it’s obvious that they’re not going to disappear anytime soon (unless they break up for some random reason of course) and you’ll only hear more about them in the coming years.
Snowblind next and God! What can you say about Snowblind that falls short of naked, biased, all out love? Snowblind are just incredible. It’s rare to find a jam metal band in Dublin these days, especially one that can work a room but they do it at the drop of a hat. They’re easily one of the most talented bands in the city, perhaps the country and they gel together so well you could be forgiven for thinking they never leave the stage. Despite the talent and tightness, they still make their show seem like an easy going, on the spot jam. They kick about song ideas, glide through their numbers with casual ease and find subtle opportunities to display each of their own respective talents. Incredible as always and what a start for Whelan’s first metal night. Roll on the next session!
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