Archive for Gavin Fox

TURN Announce Additional 2012 Tour Dates

Posted in Gig Listing, Music, News with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 25, 2012 by Tickets There

The mighty TURN have expanded their list of shows this December by adding on Cork, Galway and Dundalk shows to the previously announce Button factory gig. Tickets There expects a few more announcements before they’re through with Limerick and Sligo likely to feature in (potentially) their final tour together.

The band, comprised of Oliver Cole, Ian Melady, Gavin Fox and Ciaran Kavanagh, made their live return in late August with a warm up show in Whelan’s before venturing down to Laois to play in front of a packed tent at this year’s Electric Picnic. The band currently have no plans to record new music together or continue this tour past December, so fans this could be your last chance to catch one of Ireland’s legendary live acts.

Full list of currently announced dates are below and tickets for all shows are on sale now through ticketmaster.ie (except Dundalk, but these can be purchased HERE)

Dec. 20th Roisin Dubh, Galway
Dec. 21st The Button Factory, Dublin
Dec. 27th Cyprus Avenue, Cork
Dec. 31st The Spirit Store, Sundalk

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TURN Live @ The Button Factory – December 21st – TIX ON SALE NOW!

Posted in Gig Review, IRISH NOISE!, Music with tags , , , , , , , , on October 5, 2012 by Tickets There

Just click HERE for TURN tickets.

Oh really, we’ve written about this before? Don’t care! TURN are coming back for one last show down and Tickets There won’t rest until everyone in the country hears about it. Tickets on sale now, check out the awesomeballs poster they’ve put together for the gig and enjoy some TURNAGE (trying to do the whole TURN – TUNEAGE thing there) below.

Oh, very soon Tickets There will publish a list on the best places to find TURN material on-line so all you folks searching will be sorted – propers!

UPDATED: TURN Announce Button Factory Show

Posted in Gig Listing, IRISH NOISE!, Music, News with tags , , , , , , on September 26, 2012 by Tickets There

The wonderful TURN have announced a show in Dublin’s Button Factory for this December. It hasn’t been confirmed if more shows will be added to make this TURN’s first fill Irish tour in seven years, but they confirmed this will be their last show ever. The band announced the show through their official Facebook page. It all takes place at The Button Factory, December 21st 2012.

UPDATED (02/10):Tickets are on sale from Wednesday, Oct. 3rd from Ticketmaster.ie and all the usual outlets for €15 plus booking fees. Click here to purchase.

Last month the original lineup of TURN (Oliver Cole, Gavin Fox and Ian Melady) reformed with 2005 era bassist (Ciaran Kavanagh) to perform at Whelan’s and Electric Picnic. Fans of the band will fondly remember the Temple Bar Music Centre as being the epicentre of their early career where the band would launch their debut album plus singles and EP’s afterwards.

Review: TURN – Live @ Whelan’s (August 31st, 2012)

Posted in Gig Review, IRISH NOISE!, Music with tags , , , , , , , on September 2, 2012 by Tickets There

Re-capturing youth? Nah; TURN fans are still too young to worry about such things. It was only seven years since their last show together and most of us remember it like it was yesterday. In their time, TURN managed to release three critically acclaimed albums, achieve success both at home and in the U.K. with fiery, brooding heavy singles such as ‘Beretta’ and ‘Beeswax’, sell out almost every venue Dublin had to offer and tour the country relentlessly, assuring their place in Irish music history. Now they’re back (for a little while at least) to play a much anticipated show at this year’s Electric Picnic and tonight’s ’secret’ warm up show.

There’s not many local bands who could pack Whelan’s with an unannounced show on the starting day of the nation’s biggest and most beloved music festival; but that doesn’t seem to stop the Kells’ legends from doing just that. Taking a break from their solo ventures, Ollie Cole, Gavin Fox and Ian Melady are back together along with former bassist Ciaran Kavanagh on guitar. As the house lights go down and the excited crowd grin from ear to ear with excitement, the four familiar figures stroll on stage and kick off the show fan favourites ‘Never Needed’ and ‘Beretta’.

Turn both look and sound sharp, losing none of their on stage performance and power. ‘Anti-Social’ thrills Whelan’s with bar staff even attempting a look in for the obligatory sing along. ‘Summer Song’ and the sombre ‘You Got Style’ move us towards Turn’s seminal years before the gentle yet booming, ‘Heart Attack’, causes the band and crowd to explode to life with Ciaran’s second guitar giving the song the extra hitch it needs to fulfil it’s true quality.

As well as losing none of their power, it also appears that Gavin and (the recently married) Ollie have also retained their classic on stage quipping and banter, joking together and sharing a dedication to Ollie’s new bride. There’s a little more nostalgia when the band pause during ‘Queen of My Heart’ to allow Ian his classic live solo, aided of course by chants of ‘IANO’ before launching into ‘In Position’, one of the band’s most accomplished songs. The thundering ‘Harder’ ups the volume a few notches before the colossal ‘Beeswax’ shreds through the PA, sounding as fresh as the day it was written. Before bowing out to travel towards Stradbally, Turn thrill fans with one final performance of ‘Another Year Over’. Obviously delighted with the turnout and success of their first reunited show, the band amble off stage, ready to take on the waiting hordes at Electric Picnic tomorrow. Whatever their plans for the future, it would be a shame if this was the last we saw of them.

Never Needed

Beretta

Anti-Social

Summer Song

You Got Style

Heart Attack

Queen of My Heart

In Position

Harder

Beeswax

Another Year Over

TURN Announce Free Whelan’s Show Tomorrow Night

Posted in Gig Listing, Music, News with tags , , , , , , , on August 30, 2012 by Tickets There

I cannot get over this news, but on top of TURN reforming for Electric Picnic this weekend; the band have just announced a free headlining show in Whelan’s tomorrow night (yes, FREE!)

Whelan’s have just sent their newsletter out and confirmed the whole thing. TURN live on stage almost seven years since their last performance. Oliver Cole, Ian Melady, Gavin Fox and Ciran Kavanagh will revitalize the classic turn sound with a brooding double guitar density and four capable singers for harmonies…yadayadayafa – I almost too excited to write this properly (almost – feck off).

If you’re skipping the picnic then make sure you head along tomorrow night and catch one of Irelands greatest live forces tear Whelan’s apart!

TURN Set to Re-Unite For Electric Picnic

Posted in Gig Listing, Music, News with tags , , , , , , , , on August 9, 2012 by Tickets There

A very exciting moment for Tickets There as our favorite Irish band of all time, TURN have announced they are officially rehearsing again and preparing to play Electric Picnic this year. Lead singer and guitarist Oliver Cole posted the following message on his facebook page confirming the news in the last hour,

Well it’s true. Gavin, Ian, Ciaran and myself have been rehearsing with Turn for electric picnic this year.

We play the Cosby tent at 5.30 on Saturday.

It’s gonna be awesome. It sounds so good. Expect a greatest hits set. It’s good to rock

The legendary Kell’s rockers formed in the late nineties and went on to produce a number of hit singles, several EP’s and three critically acclaimed albums before calling it a day in 2006. Now they’re coming back – as a foursome. Founding members, Oliver Cole, Gavin Fox and Ian Melady are all confirmed to take part, as is 2005 era bassist, Ciaran Kavanagh,also playing an unconfirmed role in the reunion.

So far only an appearance at the Picnic has been confirmed, but in subsequent comments to the post, Oliver stated there could be a couple more …()… Will keep everyone abreast of goings on’.

Are you excited? Hell yeah you are and this is going to make it even better – Ollie has also confirmed it’ll be a full on greatest hits set for the show so all you EP heads make sure you’re there on Saturday and see one of the best live bands we’ve ever produced, ply their trade as it should be – in front of thousands.

Tickets There will make sure we keep you updated on this. Good times! Anyone want to refresh some details about the band, here’s your chance,

TURN – A History: 1998 – 2006 https://ticketsthere.com/2009/07/18/turn-a-history-1998-%e2%80%93-2006-2/

The Walls – Stop The Lights (Album Preview)

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, News with tags , , , , , , on November 24, 2010 by Tickets There

It may not be any great secret, but The Walls are currently Tickets There personal favourite Irish band (oh yes). How did they achieve this mighty honour? By release two albums of great material and lining up a third one which could be their best yet.

Over the past six months, The Walls have been playing shows (three of which we’ve been fortunate to catch), released two album previews (Carrying The Fire / Phantom Power) and music videos for the album’s first single, Bird In A Cage and new song Stop The Lights.

 On top of this, they’ve invented a whole new stage show to aid the new albums promotion by making it cost effective for the band to travel far and wide without comprising the music or resorting to the bog standard two lads and guitar. We have DVD’s now and don’t need no Dylan’s!

Anyhow, with the album’s release year getting close, Tickets There thought we’d share the info we have so far with you fine people so you can start creaming yourselves in anticipation just like us….in a non weird way.

What do we know? Well we have the set-list from the bands show at The Sugar Club earlier this month. We’re not saying that the majority of those tracks will be on the final cut but there’s several titles for ye to play with.

Then we have the two previews, Phantom Power and Carrying The Fire which were released on ITunes earlier this month. To hear these, simply visit The Walls Last.FM profile (Click here). Oh, as of Friday Nov. 26th, you can now Download Carrying The Fire – FOR FREE- Click This Link.

And finally, videos. We have two official videos from the band and both can be viewed below. Believe us, this material is well worth seeing and hearing. Both fantastic, lovely songs that will add a little light into this bleak week of financial ruin for the country. One spin of Stop The Lights and problems shall recede.


(Video Trivia Bird In A Cage was shot at the first ever Temple House Festival held in Co. Sligo this year while Stop The Lights was filmed at half time during the Ireland Vs Australia Rules match in Croke Park and features Gavin Fox (of Idelwild / TURN / Concerto for Constantine fame) handling Bass duties while Joe plays keyboards and guitar)

Follow The Walls on Tickets There and more importantly the following sites,

(UPDATED) WANTED: TURN – The Christmas EP (2000, 7″)

Posted in General Tickets There Blog, IRISH NOISE!, Music with tags , , , , , , , , on July 20, 2010 by Tickets There

‘Ladies and gentlemen, WE GOT IT!!!’

Tickets There are proud to announce we just tracked down a copy of The Christmas E.P. (it was on CD all along, not vinyl :D). The years of searching are finished – we can now step back and enjoy a healthy social life!

Folks, if you’re ever wondering what record Tickets There wants more than anything in the world, it’s this baby right here…well, up there!

The Christmas EP from Turn. Came out in 2000 and has eluded us for the past eight years. Getting a little tired of searching for this but the struggle still continues. If anyone ever wants to sell the mighty TT a copy or exchange one for Beretta or Beeswax, please don’t be afraid to get in touch – ticketsthere@hotmail.com

Concerto For Constantine – New Website almost There

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, News with tags , , , , , on October 11, 2009 by Tickets There

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Things seem to be moving along for Concerto for Constantine’s new website. It’s been added to Wikipedia and the address is showing up on search engines. Also, when you open the site the images are coming through so it looks like any day now we’ll see an announcement (hopefully)

I see a lot of people searching for ‘Concerto for Constantine Album’ and Concerto for Constantine ep’ Just to let you folks know, there is still no official word from the group on this subject. There have been rumours of the band recording material in Canada and Dublin but nothing confirmed. However Tickets There does have a feeling the band has something very special up their sleeve and we’re positive we’ll find out more soon.

Until I know more, have a good night.

TT

Oliver Cole – What Will You Do? (Single Review)

Posted in IRISH NOISE!, Music, News, Single Review with tags , , , , , on October 2, 2009 by Tickets There

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In Tickets There’s opinion, Oliver Cole is one of Ireland’s finest songwriters. After three incredible albums with his former band Turn, he’s now taking the first steps to launch his debut solo record. Since Turn disbanded three years ago, Ollie has spent most of the time writing, recording and playing sporadic solo shows around the country. Now, with a fresh record deal with EMI in place, he’s ready to show his eager fan base what he’s been up to.

For fans of Ollie’s solo material, What Will You Do? might seem like a strange choice for the album’s first single. It’s an ‘out of the ordinary’ little number that sounds like….well, it sounds like Ollie. It’s off beat piano, thumping drums and the start-stop feel of the choppy chorus and bridges. All this considered, it works quite well. There’s a lot of repetition in the lyrics  but each verse, chorus and break see’s something new being added and at a short three minutes in length, it never manages to go stale. It’s quirky enough to keep any first time listener interested and strong enough to make the single appealing to anyone wishing to spend €5 on a sure thing.

Second track, Holding Your Heart is a much more straight forward number. It starts off nice and quietly before the band come bursting in with a loud sound that still manages to stay slightly contained. This keeps a constant feeling of building throughout the whole song that does (you’ll be happy to know) get released at the end.

Sweet & Soft is the final song on the single and it’s a lot softer than the previous numbers. Its style is also quite different ,which is a big characteristic of Ollie’s solo material. Off course some traits can never be forgotten (and shouldn’t be anyways) and Ollie’s love for harmonies and melody shine through on this number. It’s got a nice, sweet, well rounded kind of feel and adds a lovely closing feeling to the single.

Now that the first single is out, fans can expect the album to follow early next year, Keep checking Tickets There for more information about future release and a review of last night’s launch show will be posted later today.

Official Concerto for Constantine Website – Coming Soon

Posted in Music, News with tags , , , on September 20, 2009 by Tickets There

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To all the people out there in TV land and mama I’m coming home soon…

Concerto for Constantine’s official website is going live this month according to a note currently displayed there. Not sure how hush hush it’s meant to be so I wont give the address until the band make their own official announcement but it’s easy enough to find for any who’s used Google before.

Here’s a couple of snaps from the site.

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Tickets There HY-GIY?: Turn – Forward

Posted in Album Review, Hy-Giy, Music with tags , , , , , on August 19, 2009 by Tickets There

forward

Without a doubt, this is Tickets There’s favorite Irish album of all time. Now, when it comes to Turn I will happily admit to being fully biased, as I am with almost everything I write except the majority of the MySpace reviews. As far as I’m concerned, Turn were one of the greatest Irish band ever to emerge from the great Emerald Isle in the last twenty years. Oliver Cole’s vocals, guitar melodies, riffs and songwriting talent, mixed with Gavin Fox’s force, energy and writing skills all backed by Ian Meldays forceful command of all things rhythm makes the Kell’s trio kings in my book. Now, that may seem a little over the top and dramatic but I’ve been watching a lot of ROME recently so forgive me.

I first discovered Turn around 2002, shortly after the released the Another Year Over / Summer Song single and within a few months that opened my eyes to an amazingly impressive Irish scene I knew nothing about before. I hadn’t even heard a whisper of bands like Bell X1, Berkeley, Paddy Casey or many of the other big names around the country at the time. For someone who was as devoted to music I found this a little odd and began a quest to seek out some of this country’s finest talent. After seven years I still haven’t found many bands that compare to the power of Turns records and even fewer that can match their amazing live shows.

When Forward came out in 2003 it was praised as the album everyone who’d been following them from the late nineties knew they had in them. In sharp contrast to their third and last album, Forward’s sound was generally down beat with very few exceptions. It saw them grow from the hard guitars sound of their debut (Antisocial) and move onto more melodic song structures. Opening song, You Got Style really captures the feel of the entire record. A slow bruising  piece that builds and builds as the song evolves. Dumb as it Is follows and adds some light after the darkness of You Got Style. A nice, upbeat with restrained bass lines thumping throughout with a sharp change to guitars for the chorus bursts. This is the second song written by Ian Melady to appear on a Turn record (the first being Queen of my Heart from Antisocial). Third track Harder is one of few heavy guitar tracks on the album and in comparison to the likes of Beretta, Beeswax or Too Much Makeup from the earlier outputs, it comes cross musically light but atmospherically heavy.

Summer Song gives the album a slower, more acoustic based before the bands legendary anthem, In Position comes in and blows everything away. One of the most perfectly composed songs the band have ever written and a solid fan favorite. Without You is more obviously a love song than any of the others on Forward with more harmony based melodies and upbeat guitar and piano’s rather than the down trodden sound that dominates the rest of the album. Another Year Over is another one of the albums upbeat anthems. Not much you can say about this except the fact that it’s fucking amazing and the chorus is so heavy live it’ll make your ears bleed. Ain’t it a Love is possibly the heaviest song on the album and it harks back to their earlier material without copying the same styles the band used before. Very fast, very heavy and very brilliant (Can you say very brilliant? Well I just did).

Can’t keep Waiting is similar in tones to You Got Style and at the same time, sounds nothing like it. It’s a little sadder in its tones and much more simplistic. Really atmospheric and well done. Like Never Needed from the bands Check my Ears EP, Can’t Keep Waiting doesn’t rely on several verses of poetry to carry it though, it’s a one liner folks and it works well. No More (I Close My Eyes) is another of those lovey songs, like most of Turn’s outputs. A lot of vocal stretches and a very low, smooth sound…until you get about half way in and the full guitars and vocal harmonies are released. Even Though is one of the nicest acoustic songs the band have ever written. Very emotionally based again and only listenable sometimes. Definitely not for people in a good mood. And finally we come to the album’s title song, Forward. It’s great as well 😉

Turn have been split up for over three years now though (god, it seems like a hell of a lot longer than that), but their music is still out there with new fans still discovering them. If you didn’t like Humanzi, make Forward the album you send your scouts out for this Christmas.

CONCERTO FOR CONSTANTINE: A BRIEF HISTORY 2007 – 2008

Posted in General Tickets There Blog, Music with tags , , , , , , , on July 21, 2009 by Tickets There

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Ireland has always had a reputation for great music. It’s been part of tradition and heritage for as long as any one can remember. However, another more recent element of this tradition is many of our acts getting lost in time and passed over for the sake of another group. Off course this is a common occurrence in the rest of the world and not just an issue within the Irish scene. Unlike other countries though, Irish people embrace American and English music far more than their own. Our country is small too sustain many acts due to most Irish people’s lack of interest in their local scene and therefore these bands are under pressure to make it in England and America or simply disappear if they can’t. With the exception of Aslan, very few bands can survive by touring and releasing albums in Ireland alone.

Therefore, I decided to write up a small piece of my favorite group on the scene at the moment Concerto for Constantine. While the members of the band have all carved out their own place on the Irish scene, they are now working together for something much bigger. National and International acclaim.

The band comprises of Mark Greaney (former vocals and axe man for JJ72, a very successful Irish group for the late nineties/ early millennium). Mark managed to amount great success in his time with JJ72 as they released two albums, selling nearly a million copies, and toured the world for years. An astonishing feat, especially considering that JJ72 was formed while all the members were still in the middle of their leaving cert. Unfortunately, JJ72 ran into difficulties. Original bass player Hilary Woods left to peruse a college degree and a family in 2003, leaving remaining members Mark and Fergal Matthews to carry on with her replacement Sarah Fox. The band appeared as if they were on a hiatus for two years while they wrote and recorded their third album. They returned in 2005 with a single She’s Gone and a tour in support of its release. Later in the year they released a second single entitled Coming Home and promoted it by doing a tour of small venues across the UK and Ireland culminating in a main stage slot of Donnington’s Download Festival.

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In early 2006 JJ72 split under the frustration of issues with the release of their third album. Mark carried on working on solo material after the split and even went on a UK tour in support of Simple Kid to preview some of the material. While Mark was writing material for his solo début in New York, he received a call from old friend Gavin Fox that lead to the formation of Concerto for Constantine.

Even, Mark at one stage hinted that I might join JJ72 and play guitar on tour with them, but at the time Turn had just formed and were kicking off and JJ72 worked well as a three piece. Eventually the chance came up when I left Vega4. Mark was in New York working on his solo album and I gave him a call and said ‘Let’s do this, lets form a rock band now‘ – Gavin Fox, 2008.

Gavin Fox has an equally full experience on the music scene as Mark. Gavin first came to prominence with Irish indie legends ‘Turn’. The Kell’s group formed by Ollie Cole, Gavin and Ian Melady in 1998. Gavin spent roughly four years with Turn before leaving to join Idelwild. Like JJ72, Turn experienced many issues from the start of their career with the record industry. Although their first three singles and first EP (Facedown, Beretta, Beeswax and Check My Ears) all came out in quick succession, they were self financed and uncomplicated. It was their début that marked the start of Turn’s problems. (2000’s Antisocial). The album gained high acclaim from most critics, however, lack of endorsement from their label (Infectious) and no advertising or promotion budget forced the band to leave the label and once again try on their own. In 2001 the ‘In Position EP’ was released on their own ‘Nurture‘ label and once again put the group back in the Irish spotlight. Although once again the band didn’t have the funds to advertise or promote the album outside of touring.

While recording their follow up ‘Forward’ in late 2001, Gavin got a call from ‘Idlewild’ with an offer to join their group. Frustrated with Turn’s lack of growth, Gavin left to join the Scottish Rockers and remained art of the group for over four years. After Idelwild, Gavin joined ‘Vega4’, a London based group which he played in for just under a year. It was after leaving Vega4 he decided to call Mark.

The line up was completed by Paul ‘Binzer’ Brennan after an invitation from Gavin to come down and join himself and Mark for a rehearsal. Although Mark had never met ‘Binzer’, he was welcomed with open arms to the group on their first meeting. Paul has played with some of ..Ireland.. best acts and on many famous recordings, including ‘The Frames, Dance the Devil’ and ‘Bell X1’s Music in Mouth’ to name but two. He has toured and recorded with other acts such as ‘Paddy Casey, Mundy, Gemma Hayes, Halite‘ and many more.  His experience and talent behind the kit made him the perfect choice for Concerto and completed the lineup.

Concerto started rehearing new material and songs that Mark had been working on for his sole release were shelved as the band decided to turn back to their roots and starting writing music based on their influences (Early 90’s alt/rock such as ‘Nirvana’, The Pixies ad The Smashing Pumpkins) while also giving the songs a more modern touch. Rehearsals started in late August 2007 and the band started writing and recording demos’ instantly. In September, they were invited to perform on the 2FM 2MORO 2OUR. A nation wide showcase held twice a year in order to give new groups a platform to play their music in front of live audiences and promote themselves. It was this invite that promoted the band to consider a name for their new group that properly reflected their new sound.

We were confirming the details and they asked ‘what’s the name of the band’ because they were doing up posters for the tour, so I said yeah it’s ready I’ll call ya back in a couple of Hours‘  – Mark Greany 2008.

The name was completed by using ‘Concerto for’ which Gavin had seen on ITunes while scrolling through song names and completed by ‘Constantine’, A name the Synonymous with a recurring dream Mark’s mother had been having for years about a young boy walking a lobster (on a leash) on a beach at night while a voice calls the name ‘Constantine‘ from beyond the sand dunes. Marks mother had told him only the week before the 2FM call that she had the dream again and Mark felt it was a sign.

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Concerto for Constantine continued rehearsing and on the 28th September, made their radio début on the Jenny Huston show on 2FM. The band played two tracks acoustically which were recorded live on air. On the 15th November 2007, the group played their first live show at the Sky venue, Portlaois. The band later claimed this to be the worst show of the tour. They played a further 10 dates on the tour in venues across Ireland. By the end they had established a basic fan base.

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The group spent a further two months rehearsing and recording before returning to the stage. The future single ‘Minsk’ was recorded between December and February’. An early version was posted on their Myspace along with four other songs ‘Gaps, Killing Fields, WASP’s and Cat’s Cradle’. However, this version was replaced by newer recording featuring a much raunchier bass line. In late January, the band announced that they were invited to support ‘The Smashing Pumpkins’ at their Irish dates in Dublin and Belfast (9th and 10th February 2008 respectively). They were also invited to support ‘The Futureheads’ for a one off show in Sligo’s newest venue ‘The Clarence’. The Smashing Pumpkins support slot fulfilled a life long dream for Mark who had come close to supporting Billy Corgan on to previous occasions while he was with JJ72. The band even managed to find three stage props for the occasion. Three box’s made to look like Amp heads with each word of the bands name in ‘Georgia’ font, that lit up.

During the Pumpkins support slot, the band announced their first headlining show at Dublin infamous rock bar ‘Fibber Magee’s’, an event organized by ‘Muzzle Music’. On February 22nd the group took to the stage playing nine songs, the five that had been previewed on their MySpace and four un heard tracks, ‘Silver, Falling, Everything and Knife’. The show was sold out and promotion for the night included everything from posters and flyer’s to stickers. It was considered a triumph and the band wasted no time announcing another headlining show in the same venue on the 17th March 2008, this time for ‘Secondlife.com’ who were web casting the show. They were also confirmed as special guests for 2FM’s ‘School of Rock….’ showcase. A competition for younger groups to play in a large venue and win prizes such as vouchers for musical equipment and recording time. Concerto played the event on the 9th March making it their second appearance in Whelan’s and also their second day time show (the first being the Village on the 25th November as the last date of the 2FM 2MORO 2OUR).

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Unfortunately, the second headlining show in Fibber’s didn’t capture the magic from the first. The promoters for the event hadn’t advertised the show anywhere and there wasn’t so much as a poster put up about the performance. There was also an issue with stage times as the band were originally scheduled to appear at 8:00pm. However, the pub was next to empty (being St. Patrick’s day and a Monday, most people had finished drinking at 18:00 in order to be able to work the following morning. Instead they went on-stage at 10:30 and played for just under an hour. Their performance was further hindered by problems with Gavin’s Bass head and the lack of a crowd.

The following day, Concerto embarked for London to play two shows, the first at The Dublin Castle (March 18th), a legendary underground venue for Indie and rock talent. The second was at Club 229 (19th). Both shows were described as a massive success.

On March 11th the band announced their first headlining show in Whelan’s on April 15th. The event, which is being promoted by MCD and Phantom FM is the set to be the biggest headlining show the band have played to date. The are also set to play the IMRO showcase on the 11th of April in The Sugar Club. They also announced on the 8th April that they have been asked to support The Enemy at their show on the 9th in Dublin’s Ambassador.

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08-04-2008 Update:

Concerto for Constantine have gotten ‘Minsk’ remixed by classic JJ72 and Turn producer Marc Carolan’. The original recording and mix of ‘Minsk‘ was done by ‘Neil Mitchell’.

After only eight moths together the band have already achieved more than most bands with records and more dates under their belt could dream of in their first two years. Some critics of the band base this on each members already established reputations on the scene. Although this has made thing go a little smoother for the group, it would be very wrong to deny that their music isn’t up to scratch for the offers and acclaim they are receiving.
Fans of the band are hoping to see some material released in 2008 such as an EP or even a full debut album. In the mean time, the band are content with promoting themselves through their incredible live performances which show the work they have been putting in during breaks between shows. They have also amassed an albums worth of material which can only be added to over the year.

Concerto played their first full headlining show in Whelan’s and blew the place away. The venue was packed and the upstairs section had to be opened to deal with the amount of people who turned up. They played 12 songs with ‘Minsk’ opening and closing the show (I assume they played Minsk twice as a result of running out of songs and also to ensure the audience got to hear songs they knew as they still have no Single, EP or album for sale) They truly pulled out all the stops for what I can only describe as their best performance yet.

27th July 2008: OXEGEN Update.

Concerto have played four shows in July without much noise surrounding any of them. The biggest was their début performance at Oxegen. They opened up Saturday in one of the tents and I’m told there was a massive crowd in attendance. The word is (from people who’s taste I respect) that they were stellar and played a fantastic show.

However, the other ‘official report’ from Ireland’s leading U2 fanzine ‘HOT Press’ that they weren’t much of s spectacle. Read Stuart Clarke’s words below.

(Intro about finding an undiscovered gem in the morning and bragging about watching their show with 50 people when their headlining a stage next year)

Unfortunately for me (and therefore for you), the bands I happen upon in the early hours – namely Concerto for Constantine are unlikely to trouble such heights, mainly because their both pretty boring: the former throw all the right shapes but make none of the right noises.

Stuart Clarke – HOT Press Vol:32 Issue: 14, p.40.

This follows on from their last bad review in the Independent by infamous music knocker John Meagher (indecently a man who thought the Flaws released the greatest Irish album last year…J).

Check it out – http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/uninspiring-constantine-a-sight-for-sore-eyes-1352872.html> John Meagher’s Review @Independent.ie

With two of Ireland’s leading respectable Music writers against them, Concerto will have to continue to prove themselves as a band for some time to come.

**Whelans Review**

Whelan’s – April 15th Set list:

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  • Minsk
  • WASP’s
  • Cats Cradle
  • The Last Swim
  • Falling
  • Everything
  • Knife
  • Silver
  • Gaps
  • Killing Fields (With a drum solo intro)
  • Death in Lisbon (Instrumental)
  • Minsk (‘One for the Road’)

Fibber MaGee’s – Feb 22nd 2008 Setlist:

Fibbers

 

  • Minsk
  • Wasps
  • Cats Cradle
  • Silver
  • Falling
  • Everything
  • Knife
  • GAPS
  • Killing Fields

Concerto Gig History: (Tickets There attended gigs in Bold – Pictures and Set lists available)

2007

Nov 15 – Sky Venue, Portlaoise
Nov 16 – Electric Avenue, Watherford
Nov 17 – Cyprus Avenue, Cork (All Ages Show + Evening Show)
Nov 18 – Trinity Rooms, ..Limerick..
Nov 19 – Roisin Dubh, Galway
Nov 21 – Left Bank Sligo
Nov 22 – Spirit Store, Dundalk
Nov 23 – The Stables, Mullingar
Nov 24 – Whelan’s, Dublin
Nov 25 – The Village, Dublin

2008

January

Jan 31 – The Clarence, ..Sligo.. (Heineken Green Sphere’s supporting The Futureheads)

February

Feb 09 – The R.D.S., Dublin (Supporting the Smashing Pumpkins)
Feb 10 – The King’s Hall, Belfast (Supporting The Smashing Pumpkins)
Feb 22 – Fibber Magee’s, Dublin (First Headlining Show) *(See Set list above)

March

Mar 09 – Whelan’s, Dublin (2FM School of Rock show)
Mar 17 – Fibber Magee’s, Dublin (St. Patrick’s Day Show)
Mar 18 – Dublin Castle, London
Mar 19 – Club 229, London

April

Apr 09 – The Ambassador, Dublin (Supporting The Enemy)
Apr 11 – The Sugar Club, Dublin (IMRO Showcase)

Apr 15 – Whelan’s, Dublin (First Headlining show in Whelan’s)

May
May 08 – TBC ***Postponed***
May 09 – The Trinity Ball (Trinity college Dublin)
June
18th June – Red Bull Oxegen Promo Tour – Waterford (Venue TBC) (This show seems to be cancelled)
19th June – Red Bull Oxegen Promo Tour – Ennis (Venue TBC)(This show seems to be cancelled)
20th June – Red Bull Oxegen Promo Tour – Letterkenny (Venue TBC)
21st June – Red Bull Oxegen Promo Tour – Belfast (Venue TBC)
July
12th July – Oxegen
13th July – T in the Park
October
3rd Oct – Andrews Lane Theatre (With the Aftermath, Phantom Show).
18th – The Ambassador, Dublin (Oxjam 08)
November
20th – Heineken Green Spheres – Crane Lane Cork
28th – The Academy (DJ Set Only)

2009

February

28th – Radio City (Revolver), Dublin (With The Aftermath)
March
1st – The O2 Dublin, Supporting Snow Patrol
15th – The O2 London, Supporting Snow Patrol
April
25th – Radio City, DJ Set Only

Recording’s

Four songs were recorded for a 2FM Live Session in September 2007. ‘Gap’s’, WASP’s, Killing Field’s and Cats Cradle‘. All current recordings are considered Demo’s and will be rerecorded for any official release.

‘Minsk’ was recorded between January and February 2008 and produced by Neil Mitchell. Two versions were mixed and previewed on MySpace. On the 7th April 2008 a new mix of the song was posted to MySpace. Mark confirmed this version had been mixed by long time JJ72 and Turn producer ‘Marc Carolan’ who now mixes songs for ‘The Cure’ and ‘Muse’

On April 10th, Minsk was released as a free download on Phantom FM’s official website,

Minsk @ Phantom FM

There has never been any official word of Demos for ‘Silver, Falling, Everything or Knife’ although it’s more than likely that all four songs have been recorded for demo’s along with other unheard tracks especially considering Binzer’s comments about the support slot for ‘The Enemy’….

‘We figure it’d be a good opportunity to road test some new tunes for our Whelan’s gig on the 15th‘ – Binzer April 8th 2008On the 29th May, Concerto confirmed on their MySpace that they have spent the time since Whelan’s writing new material and getting ready to enter the studio to record their ‘first proper single’ the following week.

On August 18th, Binzer posted a blog on MySpace stating that Concerto or now preparing to record their debut album and are hoping to head into the studio in October/November, Currently the band haven’t confirmed if they have a decided on a studio or a producer yet.

groups

TURN – A History: 1998 – 2006

Posted in General Tickets There Blog, Music with tags , , , , , , , , , , on July 18, 2009 by Tickets There

TURN – A History: 1998 – 2006

Dedicated to everyone that made t  

Oliver Cole | Ian Melady| Gavin Fox

Alan Lee | Ciaran Kavanagh | Terry McGuiness |Martin Quinn | Fiona Melady

turn06

It’s All Over Now

16th July 2006, Oliver Cole, lead singer of Turn, posts a blog on the bands MySpace announcing that the three piece have decided to call it a day, citing personal and professional circumstances as the main reasons for the breakup. After eight years of line-up and record company changes and many up’s and downs, the band finally had enough and thus ended one of Ireland’s most critically acclaimed, accomplished and talented acts.  In their time together, they managed to release three studio albums, three EP’s and several singles as well as playing almost every single venue and major Festival Ireland has to offer, including several slots at The Point Depot, Witness and Oxegen. Their mix of alt rock and soulful song writing won over almost everyone who heard their records and their raw/energetic and always engaging live shows cemented a devoted fan base. From their first show in Da Club in Dublin to their very last in Sligo, December 2005, they gave it their all on stage every night and in the studio.

Writing about the origins of Turn is a done thing at this stage. When they started off in 1998, their reputation ad popularity grew so quickly that 11 years later, the internet is still awash with interviews, early stories and press releases. But any good history has to give all…..well, most of the facts so bear with me.

Oliver Cole and Ian Melady grew up in the small town of Kell’s, Co Meath. Both of them had played in bands in their younger years and had developed tastes for all kinds of music. Ollie is well noted as originally being influenced by bands such as AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. The first live show he ever saw was Thin Lizzy and this set his dreams of becoming a rock star into motion. As with most kids, the metal phase wore off and a new door was opened by the Pixies whom Ollie caught on TV one day when he was home sick from school. Ollie was captivated. The Pixies represented a mix of the hard sound he’d grown up with and a softer, more melodic side that he yearned to produce in his own song writing. Everything seemed to make sense all of a sudden and he realized that bands didn’t have to play one style or the same riff for ever.  Ollie’s first foray into the band world was handling singing duties for his brother’s band, Black-Hawx when he was sixteen. Apparently Black-Hawx played spandex, Slayer metal but I think any recordings the band made have long since been destroyed by Ollie. The group disbanded after a short spell together and his brother moved to Boston. Soon afterwards, Ollie moved to Dublin in search of a real band to join.

At the same time Ian Melady and his sister Fiona were discovering their own musical abilities and tastes. Ian learned to play drums while Fiona concentrated on piano and they both worked at song writing. Ian’s first band, Little Palace managed to achieve some measure of success and released two warmly received EP’s before disbanding. Little Palace was also home to future Turn collaborator Martin Quinn.

Swampshack | Revelino | Nero

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Ollie and Ian first played together in Swampshack, another relativity successful band on the verge of bigger things before breaking up. Founded in late 94/early 95, Swampshack managed to release a EP and single in the year they were together. Playing bass duties in the band was John Mulvaney. Despite playing tours with Teenage Fan club, Soul Asylum and Ice-T, the band parted ways and cited ‘musical differences’ as the cause. Ollie admits to taking the breakup badly and rather than forming a new group, he shied away from the ‘band’ idea and reportedly spent two years on the dole playing chess and smoking dope but still writing material. He had also gotten a job in The Factory Rehearsal Space where acts such as U2, David Bowie and Def Leppard used to practice for European tours and store equipment which gave him much of his technical experience and introduced him to a massive variety of industry contacts. Ian on the other hand, went on to join Dublin band Revelino.

While working in the Factory in 1996, Ollie met Gavin Fox, a young bass player from Dublin on work experience. The pair became inseparable and shared a love for music, chess and general mayhem.  Gavin was playing in a band called Nero at the time and Ollie and Ian had just rejoined forces and had started searching for a bass player. As the story goes, Gavin was asked to fill in on the drums for Ian one day because he couldn’t make a rehearsal with a new bass player they were testing out. Not happy with the new member, Ollie and Ian decided to drop him and Gavin suggested he jam with them until they found someone permanent. According to interviews with Ollie, the first song the three lads played together was I Still Believe and suddenly everything felt right. Gavin made the decision to quit Nero and concentrate on playing with Ollie and Ian full time. Since Gavin also played Guitar and drums, he was able to contribute to the song writing which strengthened his position in the group and ensured he became a key contributor to defining Turn’s sound. Years later Ollie admitted that one of the factors that led to Turn’s demise was Gavin’s exit from the band and the song writing duties falling solely on him. Ollie and Gavin shared a love for raw, energetic rock and the trio really started to connect after rehearsing a few times and band started to prepare for the next step.

TURN

turn09

After a handful of rehearsals the band really started to connect and wasted little time before settling down, perfecting their songs and lining up gigs. Ollie and Gavin’s strive for perfection ensured the kinks in their sound were worked out early on and new songs were written and laid down to a T in record time. The band started to line up shows around the country after playing their first gig in Da Club, on South William street in Dublin. According to Ollie there was about two people in attendance. Thanks to Ollie’s connections and the bands infectious sound their second show was playing support to Teenage Fanclub in the Olympia, quite a step up for a new bands second live show together and a tribute to how well the band was performing so early in their career. The band quickly started to focus their attention on the U.K. market with all three members knowing how hard it is to make it big by staying in Ireland. They decided to balance out their raw, slow, heavy sound by adding some theatrics to their live show. This included wearing custom made suits and light makeup. The band feverishly continued writing and rehearsing new tracks such as Beeswax and Gav and Anne.  Not too long after forming, Ollie suffered a massive electrical shock from a mike stand (Reports of the incident vary on where the shock happened. Some suggest it was on stage and others report it was during rehearsals) . The shock was so powerful it left burn marks on his hand and even dislocated his shoulder meaning he had to visit a chiropractor for regular treatment. This incident led to a bout of depression which led to some major life changes for the singer and also altered his song writing and outlook on life. Rather than take the shock as a bad omen or let it develop into a fear of playing, Ollie started to write faster, heavier material while still keeping with the same basics of song writing as before. Tracks like Beretta and Facedown started to become fast fan favourites for the group and they finally had enough material to make a stab at showcases around the U.K.

In 1998, the band started to make regular trips to London to play on stage with several other bands each night in order to try and secure a record deal and cut a name for themselves in one of the toughest cities in the world. The band describes these visits and essential to the band early success but also some of the hardest shows they’ve ever played. Not being able to afford a roadie or any assistance, they used to use all their money to pay for travel expenses over and back, lugging all their equipment by hand and setting up every night by themselves. This left them drained and exhausted before most of the British shows and sometimes affected the performance. Despite this, the work started to pay off and the British Press started given the band a good deal of attention and their profile started to increase. After one show, a PR from Infectious Records approached the band and said the label might be interested in working with the band. Knowing their live strength was at it’s height in Dublin, the band asked if Infectious would be interested in travelling to Ireland to see them play to a home crowd. Less than a year after forming, Infectious signed the band.

Facedown | Beretta | Beeswax | Check My Ears

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With things moving along for the group, they were given a new lease of life and they continued to play shows across the UK and Ireland, primarily showcase gigs in the UK. In 1999, the band travelled to Wales to record their first proper batch of material (although they had started recording demo’s in Oct. 97)  at Rockfield Studios with Hugh Jones at the helm. At this point, they recruited Ian’s sister Fiona into the band to add more depth and power to the songs. Fiona because a short lived member and departed from Turn shortly after recording was completed but did manage to stay on board to play some of their bigger live shows in order to fill out the bands performance. The band worked for 15/16 hours every day to perfect the recordings. In the biography release by Infectious Records, Ollie Cole remembers these sessions as being quite gruelling.

I felt really self-conscious”, he says. “Like I was getting too much attention. So I started drinking lots of beer and smoking.  It helped. I just started going into the studio and singing along to the big speakers with no headphones. It was kind of trial and error.”[1]

The sessions resulted with enough recordings to start releasing their first material. On February 13th, 2000. The band released their first single Facedown, on their own Nurture label. Despite it being one of the least obvious choices for a début single, the band jumped to its defence by claiming it as being the “final jigsaw piece” that promoted them to record more.

“When we signed the deal with Infectious, in many ways it still meant that we had to make it happen, not them. ‘Facedown’ is probably the least obvious and strangest choice for a single we could make. ” [2]

“Facedown ties the whole new Turn, old Turn together I think. It sums up that whole time perfectly, when we affected change in ourselves as a unit. The album was nearly there and ‘Facedown’ was the final jigsaw piece that spurred us to record more, even though it’s not on the album.”[3]

Gavin also claims the release was a tactic to stop the band being labelled in the media,

Facedown was released first so that people couldn’t pigeon hole us[4]

early_group

Despite a record deal under their belts and building up a respectable fan base around Dublin, mainstream television and radio stations continued to ignore the band and refused to give then any attention except for Phantom FM who got behind the band after the release of Facedown. Again wasting little time, the band released a follow up single in April 2000. The fast, had hitting Beretta quickly secured new fans for the group and was featured on several compilations and promo CD’s. Like Facedown, Beretta was only publicly released as a limited edition clear 7” vinyl by the band. This only added to their underground status and their records quickly sold out due to high demand for their material. In order to continue their success, the band released a third single in May 2000. Beeswax was already a firm favorite among their fans and was also one of the earliest songs the band wrote. Again, it was released only as a 7” and added to Phantom’s playlist. Beeswaxs’ release was followed by their debut EP, Check My Ears, which was a compilation of the three singles and their B-Sides (Truth, Never Needed and Plan, respectively).  The EP was a great success and finally gave Turn a CD format release to sell to a wider audience. Things were going brilliantly for the band and a successful tour around England with Seafood and Wilt in March/Aril 2000 had now provided for their very own fan base in the UK. Melody Maker, Hotpress, NME, Rock Sound and several other publications got behind the band and continued promoting them regularly. Turns crowd started to grow at home and abroad with every show and they still strived to improve every aspect of the band so things wouldn’t waver. The band spent the rest of the summer playing shows and recording material at Roundhouse Studios and Thomas Reed’s pub in Dublin. After 12 months of grueling work, single releases and non stop touring, they were finally ready to release their debut album.

Antisocial | Too Much Makeup | The Christmas EP

toomuch_anti

“Antisocial is the best indication of where we are now, for me it’s the best song we’ve done, maybe because of the strange music. Gav (Fox, bass) and Ian (Melady, drums and all-star backing vocalist) are playing a real off beat and I’m playing the most complicated guitar playing I’ve ever done. Something happened with that song. I broke through a wall or something, all of a sudden I was playing a different style and it’s probably the most representative of what the next album might sound like. ‘Queen Of My Heart’ is great. Hopefully we can release it as a single in November or December, although the record company might want to re-release ‘Beretta’ but I hope we don’t have to, you know, if people know it they do. If not, they’ll get to know it. I don’t want to go down a Muse path and release it a dozen times or something. So we’ll see.”[5]

Antisocial was officially launched at the Temple Bar Music Center on the 6th of October. It was met with critical acclaim in both Ireland and the UK. The hard work put in by the band had paid off and a wide range of music publications including Kerrang, Hotpress, Melody Maker and many others gave the album glorifying reviews with an overall agreement that Turn had managed to reproduce their energetic live performance in the studio. After the albums release, the band continued touring around the UK and Ireland to promote it as much as possible. The first official single from the album, Too Much Makeup, had come out in August and proved to be another great success among fans of the band. It seemed things couldn’t get any better for the trio and the buzz that surrounded the band was only getting stronger and stronger. They finished off 2000 by touring extensively which carried into early 2001 and even managed to release a mail order/gig only EP entitled The Christmas EP which featured Teen Star and a cover of Aerosmiths Sweet Emotion. For the remainder of 2001 the group returned to the studio to begin writing their next album and only played a handful of major festivals and showcases including the legendary SWSX Showcase in America.

band_1

By this time relations with Infectious records were turning sour and the label refused to put any financial backing behind the group. Hammered by a lack of activity for the first time since they formed, the band started to become frustrated and after a few months they eventually parted ways.

Nurture Records | In Position | Another Year Over / Summer Song

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The split with Infectious was Turn’s first serious set back but they didn’t let this affect them as much as other bands would. Rather than parting ways and trying again separately, they regrouped and decided to go down the D.I.Y. route. They started touring again in late 2001 and in March 2002, the band released it’s third EP, The In Position EP on their very own Nurture label, which was once again well received by the media and the bands loyal fan base. Despite the maturity of song writing on Antisocial, In Position saw the bands sound develop even more and songs like Catch On You, Heart attack and the title track became massive fan favorites. Being on their own gave them complete control and freedom over their music releases and tours. They followed In Position by releasing a double A-Side single, Another Year/Summer Song in July 2002, which went into the top 30 in its first week. The band continued touring constantly and continued recording tracks for a second album. A nationwide tour of colleges and venues around the country helped push the single and once again it became a favorite on Phantom FM while Another Year Over took over from Too Much Makeup as their live closer. Once again everything seemed to be falling into line until another tragedy struck the group.

“There was always tension when making a Turn record and it was really nice not to have that”[6]

While recording their second album, inner relations in the band started to rapidly deteriorate and shortly before the mixing stage was complete, Gavin Fox received a phone call from up and coming Scottish rockers Idlewild who offered him a poison in the band. With Turn on the verge of cracking anyway, Gavin decided to jump ship and take a golden opportunity while it was on offer. He played his final show with Turn on New Years Eve 2002. Gavin’s departure from the band was a much bigger shock to the band than any of the events beforehand and the one the Ollie took mostly to heart. At the time, he was the glue hoping the trio’s relationship together and the end looked pretty close for Ollie and Ian.

Fortunately, Ollie’s girlfriends’ (Danielle Harrison) band, Skindive, were just after breaking up so he roped their bass player in to handle bass duties for the final mixing stages and the proceeding tour. Alan Lee was officially introduced as the new member of Turn in 2003 when the band started playing some live shows, including a slot on the 2003 Heineken Roller Coaster Tour around Ireland’s colleges, in order to generate some hype before the release of their second full length record.

Forward | Alan Lee | Martin Quinn

turnbandpic001

Forward brought about a change in the band. They had stopped wearing the full suits on stage in the previous years and had also ditched the makeup. Now Ollie started wearing leather jacks and Jeans while the other members dressed casually. Turn had lost the theatrics they worked hard on in their beginning and more and more, let the sher power of their performance speak for itself. The release of Forward in March 2003 saw the band achieve their best reviews to date and even managed to reach number eight in the Irish Charts after just a few days of sales.

They launched the record in Dublin’s renowned Vicar Street venue with special guests Mundy and Bell X1 (Turn would return to Vicar street in September 2003 to return the favor by supporting the Bellies at their Music In Mouth Launch), and played a set mostly comprised of material from the new record, a lot of which they had been keeping to themselves in order for it to be a surprise. From the stage, Ollie and Ian were both visibly relieved at the sell out crowd in attendance with Ollie even joking how their road manager (Terry ‘Batman’ McGuiness) had remarked there was only a handful just before the band walked on stage. New songs such as Cant Keep Waiting, Harder, Ain’t It A Love, Dumb As It Is and Even Though instantly became smash hits with the crowd and stood up considerably well beside the old favorites in the ensuing tour. Turn were firmly back on top and doing it by themselves. They followed the launch gig with a nationwide tour consisting of ten headlining shows, all of which were sold out. Press interest started to kick off again for the band and interviews, articles and reviews started popping up everywhere. Forward was one of the most popular Irish albums of 2003 and both Turn and Ollie ranked highly in Best Album and Best Songwriter categories in several Irish publications. Although the success didn’t carry over to their once thriving UK fan base, Turn were once again strong enough to make another stab at the big time, despite the absence of a record label. Their Irish fan base increased dramatically by word of mouth and they returned to play slots at the summer festivals and show case shows including the opening of Dublin Venue, The Village which they headlined with Paddy Casey.

forward_era

Turn spent much of 2003 on the road and commenced on an even bigger nationwide tour in September. They enlisted x-Little Palace guitarist, Martin Quinn for the shows, to help boost their live sound. Much like they did with Fiona years beforehand. Martin’s presence with the band enabled Turn to perform a greater selection of their material which otherwise wouldn’t have had the same impact , such as Heart Attach, You Got Style and No More. Along with their own headlining shows, the band also hit the road with the Frames and played several large headlining shows in Dublin, including a headlining slot in Whelan’s.

 

TURN | Ciaran Kavanagh | Setanta Records

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Turn toned things down in 2004 but did manage to play a headlining tour in February/March, most notably, a sold out gig in The Village on Wexford. Once gain the band faced line up issues as Alan Lee left the group. Although Alan was a long time friend of Ollie’s and was more than capable of handling bass duties, the band never seemed to connect as well on stage as the original line up. Ollie had also lost his song writing partner and friend when Gavin left. On stage, Alan and Gavin couldn’t have differed any more. Gavin’s love for classic 70’s rock stars had sharpened his performance to perfection. When ever a technical problem that even slightly threw them off, he’d be on top of it and when everything was running smoothly, he was every bit the iconic rock star he strived to be. Alan on the other had didn’t hold such a presence on stage. Off course being the new member in an established band is never easy and Alan also didn’t get to play with the band for as long as Gavin but the difference was noticeable on stage and the regular banter previously passed between Ollie, Gavin and Ian was now restricted to occasional moments between Ollie and Ian. In June 2004, Alan was replaced by Rags bassist, Ciaran Kavanagh in mid 2004 and made his live debut with the band at Oxegen a month later before Turn fell off the radar. For the rest of the year, Ollie continued writing and recording material for their third, and what turned out to be, final album.

“The writing process was never the same after Gav left. I was doing a lot more writing by myself and bringing completed songs to the rest of the band. We weren’t rehearsing as much as we used to either, so songs were not coming out of jams anymore. People always seemed to be in a hurry somewhere else[7].

The mood in the band was bleak by late 2004. According to an interview with Ollie in 2007, the band weren’t rehearsing nearly as much as they used to and Gavin’s absence from the group was adding a major strain to the song writing, leaving Ollie to write all of the material for their third record. Ollie even admitted that he tried leaving the group around this time. It was beginning to seem that every time Turn managed to get one step ahead in the business, they were instantly brought two steps back and this habit was taking a major toll on Ollie and Ian’s friendship and working relationship.  The situation had gotten so bad that Ollie had stop writing ‘Turn’ material and had started on more acoustic melodic music instead. Things were on the verge of collapse for the band until a saving grace arrived which boosted them enough to make one more stab at success.

When Turn signed a deal with Setenta records in early 2005, everything seemed to be back on track. Ollie, Ian and Ciaran went into the studio to record the follow up to Forward with the hopes that they might get support in the UK once again, something they hadn’t enjoyed since before the release of Anti-Social. Working between the legendary Grouse Lodge Studios in Westmeath and Joe’s Garage (studio owned by Def Leppard lead singer, Joe Elliot) in South Dublin, the band readied the most radio friendly album of their career. The band only took time out to play the 2005 Oxegen Festival where they attracted a massive crowd for a mid day tent performance. Songs such as It’s About Nothing, Stop. No One’s Gonna Change Your Mind were a step in a very different direction that Turn fans were used to. They dropped the dark, raw sound of Forward and the heavy/blistering energy of Antisocial and Check my Ears and instead focused on more poppy songs with a catchy chorus. The band also brought back the idea of wearing suits and promotional pictures appeared featuring Ollie and Ian decked out in white suits and new hair styles. It looked like Turn were being groomed for success and also looked like they really had the goods to tap into the chart world.

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Turn, their self titled third album was released on the 23rd September 2005 at a launch gig in the Village. Their set relied almost entirely on new material and in the proceeding promotional tours, many of the standard Turn classics began to disappear from their set lists. Tracks such as Beretta, Too Much Makeup and Ain’t It a Love completely disappeared, much like Beeswax, Facedown and Never Needed had years before. The album was met with massive critical acclaim, even managing to attract the attention of Irish pop mogul Louis Walsh who praised the new direction. Turn followed the launch with a massive tour of the country that included their own headlining shows and Irish support slots with Weezer(The Point) and Bell X1 on their tour for the massive selling Flock album. The group was now appealing to a much wider audience and their success started to grow all over again. Promotional tracks It’s About Nothing and Stop became regulars on several radio playlists and their support shows gave them exposure to a new breed of Irish music converts who were brought into the scene by Bell X1.

Just when tings were starting to look bright for the band, they got another surprise. On the 30th of October, at the last show of the Bell X1 tour in Sligo, Turn joined the Bellies on stage during their encore to play a cover of David Bowies We Could Be Heros’ and brought with them a special guest. Decked out in black jeans, a black top and Ciaran’s White suit jacket, Gavin Fox made his return to the group. There was a roar from the crowd at the sight of Gavin on stage again with Turn after a three and a half year absence. A few weeks later, Gavin was officially back in Turn and the band announced a December tour of the country.

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The tour proved to be their final effort together. Despite Gavin’s return, Setenta records refused to put any further financial backing behind the group which meant they couldnt release any singles from the album or make any promotional video’s. It also meant they couldn’t travel abroad to the UK or the states to promote the release of Turn there and the band was once again back where they started. The shows themselves proved to be a big success but the mood of the band was beyond the point of saving. Their last show together was in Sligo at a venue called The Left Bank (formally The Garvogue) and for the first time in years, the stress of the last seven years was clearly visible. With technical issues (Their sound desk blew during rehearsals and had to be replaced with one that hadn’t been used in over fifteen years) and a half full crowd, Turn made a shambolic scramble through some of their greatest hits before concluding the set with a blistering and reworked version of Beeswax. It turned out that this was the night Ollie decided he had finally had enough of the chaotic, up down world of Turn and privately made the decision to end the group.

“As some of you might have already guessed, at the end of this year Turn will call it a day.”[8]

On July 16th Ollie made the announcement that Turn was finished and the band were to go their separate ways after one final farewell tour which sadly never took place.

2006 – 2009

2009

 

‘The label we signed to was a joke and we really should have just brought the album out on our own label as we had with “In Position” and “Forward”[9]

Having done nothing together from January to July 2006 before their breakup, Ollie was now solely concentrating on his solo material while Gavin had moved on to join London outfit Vega4 in December 2006 while Ian took a break from playing with a band. None of the bane did much press about the breakup and it wasn’t until December 2007, at the 2FM 2MORO 2OUR showcase in Whelan’s that Ollie finally spoke about the real reasons behind the bands demise. In an interview with Claus.com, Ollie openly discussed the frustrations of the previous eight years, the inter turmoil among the band members and his new solo career. On the same night, Gavin also appeared with his new group, Concerto for Constantine which he and Mark Greaney, formally of JJ72 fame, had formed together a couple of months beforehand.

2008 saw Ollie start to make his live return, playing the HWCH festival and a handful of support and headlining shows around the country. Meanwhile, Gavin and Concerto For Constantine started to attract a massive underground following very quickly and played a handful of sold out headlining shows in Fibber Magee’s and Whelan’s along with a slot at the HWCH festival and the 2FM SKool of Rock.  They also went on to play an early slot at the 2008 Oxegen as well as support shows for The Smashing Pumpkins and The Futureheads. They also managed a trip to London to play a couple of nights over there in order to grab the attention of a label rep. Currently the band are recording material for their first proper studio release with a summer 2009 date on the cards. Ollie is still working on his own solo material and reportedly has three albums worth almost fully recorded and ready to go. He spent much of the summer 2007 in Germany recording songs which will also guest star members of Bell X1 and Therapy. Currently Gavin Fox is filling in on bass duties until he finds a permanent member for his live band. And finally Ian has also made a return to the live circuit with his original band, Little Palace (also featuring Martin Quinn) and they’ve been in the studio and on the road re-building their profile and a solid fan base.

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Conclusion

Turn’s story is like many Irish bands but there is still a lot to learn from their years together. Although the story of new bands being mis-handled and left to rot by their labels is as old as the recording business it’s self, Turns constant determination to struggle through the hard times for as long as they did should act as an inspiration for any new acts in this country. Despite some bad times, the bands dedication and commitment to each other paid off more often than not and the future for all three members holds great things judging by their solo projects. Whether the original line-up will ever re-unite seems unlikely at the moment but for almost ten years, Turn gave Ireland a truly great band we could be proud off and call our own.


[1] 2000. Infectious Records Biography | http://www.turnwebsite.com/biopress/bioinfectious.html

[2] Feb, 2000. Hotpress Interview with Oliver Cole | http://www.irishmusicdb.com/t/turn/turn_pre2.htm

[3] Oct, 2000. Claus.com Interview with Oliver Cole | http://www.turnwebsite.com/biopress/bioinfectious.html

[4] 2000. Gavin Fox Bio | http://www.turnwebsite.com/biopress/bioband.html

[5] Oct, 2000. Claus.com Interview with Oliver Cole | http://www.turnwebsite.com/biopress/bioinfectious.html

[6] December 2007. Claus.com Interview with Oliver Cole | http://www.cluas.com/music/features/ollie-cole-turn-interview-8791.htm

[7] December 2007. Claus.com Interview with Oliver Cole | http://www.cluas.com/music/features/ollie-cole-turn-interview-8791.htm

[8] July 16th 2006. Blog Post on Turn’s official MySpace | http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=4471165&blogId=145122710

[9] December 2007. Claus.com Interview with Oliver Cole | http://www.cluas.com/music/features/ollie-cole-turn-interview-8791.htm

CONCERTO FOR CONSTANTINE / THE AFTERMATH / ANIMAL CHANNEL – RADIO CITY

Posted in Gig Review, Music with tags , , , , , on June 3, 2009 by Tickets There

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Stop the presses; Tickets There is doing a review of Concerto for Constantine and The Aftermath!!! Holy God, I’ll bet no-one say that coming.

OK, so my interest for these two bands may be the worst kept secret in the world but when two of 2009 Tickets There’s Choice Award Winners get together to play a show, I sure as hell aint letting it go without dishing out some praise. It’s been a few months since I did a live review and I have written about these bands so much I’m running out of things to say, so please bear with me.

Radio City is less than packed when I arrive. The first band of the night, Audio have already finished and the fifty or so people in attendance are evenly divided between the smoking area and bar. Good atmosphere in the place and the Guinness aint too bad. Radio City is a nice little venue. Very small, very poky, dark and a lot of little nooks and crannies, all the perfect trademarks of any underground club. It’s also on the north side which makes a nice change from the Wexford street scene.

With pints in hand and Animal Channel all set up, it’s straight to the smoking area I go. Despite the fact that it’s been about three months since I saw an Irish band live, I have no interest in watching one I don’t know tonight. Especially when they sound exactly like every other indie/Franz Ferdinand wannabe out there. I did give them a few go while en-route to the bar but they just didn’t grab me. They sounded great and the songs were tight but just too done before. Thank god the real support of the night are just around the corner.

After last seeing them supporting The Stunning in Tripod, it was great to see The Aftermath back on a small stage. Johnny and the boys never have any trouble filling a big space but they completely own Radio City tonight. With an enthusiastic crowd down the front the band belts out one perfect song after another. Six Days to Saturday, All I Want Is For You To Be Happy, I Wish My Love Would Die, One is Fun and many more I cant remember (blame the booze) thrill the growing crowd. There’s no ego in this band and there’s no experimenting or retro rehashing attempts, just good, solid, catchy, perfect rock songs. How anyone could not love this band is beyond me. Also, how Michael Cronin (Drums) can play a set in a leather jacket is a mystery. Hopefully more people will start paying real attention to The Aftermath soon, because these guys deserve it.

It’s hard to believe it’s been year since Concerto’s first headlining show in Fibber Magee’s. 2008 saw Concerto’s audience grow from former JJ72 die-hards and local hanger on folk, into a real fan base. Mark Greany’s days with the popular trio are well and truly over and it appears he has found his niche with Gavin and Binzer. The sher presence of the lads ooze’s stardom as they command the stage and crowd alike. By now, their fans have become more than familiar with tracks like Gaps, Minsk, Wasps and Killing Fields. While newer tracks like The Last Swim are fast becoming favourites. Sadly, Concerto play a very short set, only consisting of seven or eight songs but the audience laps up every minute of it. There’s even some light moshing up the front for the heavier material.

Despite several notable missing songs such as Silver, Everything and Cats Cradle (I don’t think they played this, beer again), the band did treat the crowd to, two brand new songs. Hard riffs with some serious blues style lead all backed by furious bass and drum beats. With an announcement about an EP coming our way in May, the band jump into The Last Swim before departing the stage without an encore.

It may have been short but it was sweet. Sadly Sinead what’s her names DJ’ing manages to clear the venue out before Tickets There decides to throw in the towel and head home. Looking forward to the next one.

The Aftermath

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Concerto For Constantine

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TURN

Posted in General Tickets There Blog, Music with tags , , , on June 3, 2009 by Tickets There

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When you’re a fan of a genre, it’s generally because you found one band you fell head over heels in love with and you try desperately to find similar bands in order to discover new areas the sound can be brought to. My love for Irish music started with a truly legendary three piece from Kell’s, Co. Meath called, TURN.

The first time I saw Turn was in 2002 while the band were on a promotional tour for their latest single Another Year Over / Summer Song single. They were playing Rag Week with The Australian Nirvana as support. I remember having a week long debate with my friend Bob about who was supporting. How could some crappy little band no one’s ever heard off headline above Nirvana I wondered? Jesus, I was thick back then, hopefully I’ve lost that over the years. Well, it turned out Bob was right, Turn were headlining and I’ll never forget the last sight of the Nirvana tribute singer leaving the stage and three hundred people suddenly disappearing from the venue. What had been an over crowed grunge indulgence fest, turned into an empty, sweat smelling room as the nights headliners started setting up their equipment. Bob filled me in on the few new facts he’d acquired about the band and you could see the excitement build in him. Never one to write something off before I see it for myself, I caught the buzz.

Oliver Cole’s small, thin frame is hardly imposing, even in a suit, but the man’s power as a lead singer is astonishing. Physically, Turn all looked about the same height and weight, leading many first time viewers with a few laughs up their sleeves (you have to remember Lord of the Rings was still everywhere). There’s nothing as frustrating of realizing you’re watching a truly incredible band and not knowing any of their songs, Turns music pulled me in so fast, it was hard to stop it. Songs like Beeswax, Antisocial, Beretta, Too Much Makeup, Queen of My Heart and In Position are greatest songs any Irish band of the last twenty / thirty years. Turn embodied the raw, brute force of rock n roll, while still maintaining a powerful grasp of melody and beauty. Everything flowed so well and around every corner there was a surprise. I instantly became a dedicated fan, very rare for me to latch onto new bands….up until that point anyway.

Turn quickly became the number band of my college years. I stayed with them over four years going to ever show possible, buying every single album, single, ep or vinyl I could get my hands on. I saw them play with Bell X1, Mundy, Paddy Casey, Weezer, The Frank and Waters and .many, many more I saw them play Oxegen, Merion Square, The Village, The Temple Bar Music Centre, McGarrigles Pub, Collera House, Whelan’s, Vicar Street, The Point Depot, The Sligo Rocks Festival, NUI Maynooth and the Left Bank. I think I got to about 20/30+ shows all together, sometimes to going to three a week. I managed to get to two album launches and get to know each member and their tour manager well enough to have a drink with. I watched them lose Gavin and get Alan, only to lose Alan and replace him with Ciaran before Gavin rejoined the group again. I got to see them play some of the best songs I’ve ever heard in my life countless times.

Am I bragging with all that info? Nope, I’m listing all the truly thrilling things I got to do for the last four years of Turn’s existence. My previous favourites included Guns N’ Roses, Def Leppard, Oasis, Nirvana, Blur, Meat Loaf, Megadeth, Slayer, Cradle of Filth, Sepultura and Metallica. Not exactly touchable bands. But here was this amazing band, that were Irish and easy to go and see. Not touring once every ten years or past their prime. More bands fell into my heart after Turn, including The Future Kings of Spain, Bell X1, The Frames, Berkeley, Indigo Fury, Paddy Casey, Wilt and many more. I couldn’t believe that I’d been so unaware of the Irish talent that swarms this country. There were so many unique acts that all formulated their own defining sound. They could make you mosh / pogo / sleep / dance or rock out, all on the same album at times.

2006 marked the end for Turn. The lack of success, internal issues and record company fuck up’s that hounded the band all the way through their career, finally caught up with the members and over-whelmed them. The band simply disappeared after initially hinting at a final tour before the split, something that sadly, never materialized.

Three years on(well, 2 and a bit), and the members have all moved on. Ian moved home to raise a family, Ollie has recorded enough material for over three solo albums which he’s hoping to have out this year while Gavin Fox has gone on to form another exciting band in the heart of its prime, Concerto For Constantine. Things look grim for any hopes of revival in the near future and honestly, there are good things to come from the individual projects that should be heard before they ever consider a reunion.

Tickets There generally doesn’t condone reunions and objects to any legendary band cashing in their legacy’s and artist integrity for a few easy bucks and hamper any chance of a respectful future or musical advancement, but if Turn did reunite for a jaunt, I’d be there.

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Concerto for Constantine – Fibber Magee’s AGAIN – March 17th 2008

Posted in Gig Review, IRISH NOISE!, Music with tags , , , , on March 18, 2008 by Tickets There

St. Patrick’s Day in the capital always seemed like too much of a nightmare to get involved in. For years I have avoided going near the town on ‘Ireland’s biggest drinking day’. So being forced to choose between another Paddy’s day on the couch or Concerto for Constantine live in Fibber Magee’s was …..not that difficult J

Entering the capital was a little strange. Talbot street was packed with people walking towards Connolly station. Little green hats and American accents filled the eye’s and the ears for the 10 minute walk, St. Patrick had arrived. Once on O’Connell street, it was very clear that most people had already left the northside. The pubs were half full, the streets were as busy as a normal Friday night (possibly quieter).

Concerto were scheduled to go on stage at 7.30. Whoever, the site of two dozen people, some of them young children, caused the management and the lads to agree on 10:00 o’clock instead.

Across the road I settled down in an amazing pub called ‘The Shakespeare’. Possibly the funniest pub in Dublin. I advise everyone to check this place out because you’ll never see anything else like it. Just think of Father Ted’.

By 9:45 it was time to head back to Fibbers. The crowd had certainly changed by them. The kids and families were gone (thank god) and the second support band were just finishing up. The crowds were nothing like those at Concerto’s last headlining show in Fibbers three weeks previously. Although, for a show with no advertising, no official announcements and changing stage times, there was enough of an attendance to show Concerto have already established a dedicated fan base.

Concerto eventually got to the stage at 10:30. Forthcoming single ‘Minsk’ once again opened their set. A song that only gets better everything you hear it. Unfortunately, Paddy’s day drinking got the better of me and I can’t remember the exact set list. I can remember ‘Gap’s, Cat’s Cradle, WASP’s’, and new song ‘Knife’ all being played to the high standards Concerto have set for themselves. Even Gavin’s Bass head shorting out didn’t manage to kill the mood of the night.

The set was short, although packed with nothing but incredibility savage rock songs. For a band with no release’s and only a handful of shows under their belt it’s a lot more than you would normally expect. ‘Killing Fields’ closed the show. Afterwards the band jumped of the stage and put their bumpiest show yet behind them.

Despite the changing stage times, no advertising, faulty equipment and missing members, Concerto pulled off another fantastic show. Afterwards, the members left early enough as the band were heading to London the next day for their first English dates. Hopefully they will come back to our shores with AnR interest.

 Be sure to catch Concerto at Whelan’s on the 15th of April and (not or) the IMRO showcase gig at the Suagar Club on the 11th April.

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Concerto For Constantine – Fibber Magees – Feb 22nd 08

Posted in Gig Review, IRISH NOISE!, Music with tags , , , , on March 14, 2008 by Tickets There

Concerto for Constantine’s first headlining show in Fibber Magee’s last Friday was certainly an experience I hope to cherish for some time. Fresh from supporting the Smashing Pumpkins at their recent Irish dates, this three piece have managed to form, rehearse and write some ridiculously great ‘in your face’ rock songs all in the last 5 months. How do they do it? well, when you have of Mark Greaney (former JJ72 voice box and axe man), Gavin Fox (formally of Irish indie legends ‘Turn’ and Scottish favourites ‘Idelwild”) and off course, Paul ‘Binzer’ Brennan (who has played with The Frames, Bell X and Mundy, just to name but a few) together, it’s going to be special…or more to the point, it’s Concerto for Constantine and on Friday they ‘ROCKED!’

Support of the night was provided by ‘Power, Jazz trio’ Simon and the Ghost. The group manage to distance themselves from the over ego’d Irish scene they seem to dislike but unfortunately they don’t seem to have the songs to make a real go off it yet. I will say that Jazz to me is like a heater in an igloo, just doesn’t make sense but they are very good at what they do, so for any fans out there, check em out and make your own mind up.

Concerto hit the stage at 10.30 and wasted no time in getting down to business. They opened with ‘Minsk’, a hard, fast, adrenaline fuelled rock n roll anthem that is destined to becoming a fast radio favourite. ‘Minsk’ set the tone for the night as there was no let up in the set. ‘Wasps, Cat’s Cradle, Knife’ and a host of other newly written songs were belted out by the band and sounded like they had been playing them for years. While watching the set, it became very hard to remember they had only formed so recently. It was also hard not to notice the band enjoying them selves so much which can be very rare on our cold, motionless scene these days. Concerto are enjoying what they are doing. Three guys who have played for long enough to understand the importance of having fun.
After an hour and some change they were finished leaving ‘Killing Fields’ to close the set as there was no encore, explained by Mark as being a result of having “no more songs left to play”.

It may have been a short gig by a very new group but it was a certainly the first of many for one of Ireland’s brightest hope’s for a great Hard Rock Band.

Wasps
Cats Cradle
Silver
Falling
Every Thing
Knife
Gaps
Killing Fields

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