Halves- Whelans June 09

Definitely a better late than never…

As my usual guessing as to what time the support will come on at was off, I arrived in Whelans and Chequerboard was already on- shame since I have been trying to catch him over the last year for his sublime electronica tunes. Unfortunately a loud and busy Whelans is not the place to fully appreciate him- much to the dismay of a couple of Italians who were trying to shush the crowd.  Some great sounds from him though and interesting to see how he performs live- a solitary guitar along with some pedals and some effects which is surprising given the complexity of some of the tunes.

After the excellent Pivot album playing in the intermission, Halves were then up and it’s still great to see all the different instruments on display and the string players on the stage.  Great tunes from them again with the old favourites Take Exact Revenge, Medals, May Your Enemies Never Find Happiness along with some excellent new ones which seem to be more punctuated by the shoegaze element that they incorporate so well.

The good news is that they announced they are working on a new album…the bad news is that one of the members will be leaving the band and heading to Canada so he won’t be there for the recording.  Something good to look forward to at least since I have yet to be disappointed by them.

Just a sidenote on the way up to Whelans…you know you’re in Dublin when a skanger stops you in the street and says ‘Jaysus you’re a tall cunt aren’t ya?’  Ahh you gotta love Dublinese.