Back in December my wife announced that she had gotten two tickets to her favourite artist called Dermot Kennedy. This did not really excite me a whole lot but pints in a field is never bad so I am always quite happy to go to any sort of music in any venue because the substitute is probably me being at home changing nappies.
The kids were to go to their grandparents for the day and we set off to drink pints in a field and listen to some deep meaningful romantic music. Dermot Kennedy got huge during covid in Ireland and now he is a global success getting in 100 million listeners per month on the old Spotify. For a guy that used to busk at the top of Grafton Street I say fair play to him. Well done for selling out a 30,000 capacity stadium 3 days in a row and selling out another park in Dublin a few weeks ago.
Dermot is actually getting bigger in the states now because he is right up their street and his songs pretty much melt the hearts of any girl and they all look like they would marry him in a split second. I have to say I do like a few of his songs seeing that his 2 albums were on repeat for the last 4 years on my Sonos so I was surprised at how many of his songs I knew all the words to.
Anyway children were packed off to the grandparents and the car screeched out of their drive way. Now all we had to do is travel an hour to Limerick. The new plan is to get a bite to eat before we head in. This has only come in in recent years and I do quite enjoy the 3 course meal before a gig. So we went to a place called Spitjacks which was unreal. After coffee and dessert we then sauntered our way to Thomond Park which was a 15 minute walk.
My wife informed me that our tickets were seated which was news to me but again it was welcome news. Was this gig going to get any better. Sitting down having pints in a field is way better then standing up doing it. Everyone was relaxed around the venue as the majority of people were female of course. However I could see whatever male presences was at the concert it was the husband category. The husbands were all eyeing up the bar and were coming back with 2 or 3 pints which I found funny. They were making the best of their day and were thinking like me. If they were going to go to the concert then there had to be something in it for them. And this of course was a good few pints. I was up at the bar like a bullet and ordered 2 pints of Heinekein or as they call it in Ireland, Leinster handcuffs. We got in to see the second support act. Her name was Nell Mescal who is sister to the now famous actor who has just got the starring role in the upcoming Gladiator movie, Paul Mescal. She wasn't bad and she set the atmosphere nicely for the next act. She spoke quite a bit but nobody could really under stand what she was saying but it was all nice and the vibe was good. I was keen to see the next support act as he had risen to fame recently. His name was Cian Ducrot and my wife got me onto a few of his songs. Bit like Dermot Kennedy but there was something about this guy. He had a bit of a swagger and was well able to chat to the crowd. At one stage he announced that he was going to play his first single which he thought was shit. It wasn't that shit actually. I liked it. He played his hit songs which are I'll be Waiting" and "All for you". I have to say he has a great voice and I can see him getting very big fast. I even think right now he was bigger than the support act had billed him but it was only his second time playing a stadium. The first time being the night before in the same location.
So around 9 bells. Dermot came on and he got straight into it. Dermot is famous for being a man of few words but because he packed out a stadium on his own , he had to liaise with the audience a bit. His voice was stunning which kind of blew me away. I realised it was not being of ignorance that he was failing to liaise with the crowd. It was being he was genuinely shy and nervous about it. Once he sung a few numbers he started loosening up and got the crowd to sing along. With these singer songer writes such as Ed Sheeran and Lewis Capaldi, their have a big female following who know every word of every song. I was quite amazed at the sound of the fans singing back every word to him. It was quite deafening in fact and I have not experience noise like that since an Oasis gig in Landsdowne Road.
It's amazing how one person could hold a stadium for that long. He did make his songs more rockier for the live shows and his drummer was fantastic. The thing I noticed about Dermot was that if the crowd were making noise, as soon as he opened his mouth he drowned the whole stadium out. It was awesome and I'm glad I have seen him. Here are a few photos of the gig.
So my next gig is actually Sunday. Morrisey of all people. My wife bought her dad a ticket to him but nobody will go with him. I bit his hand off so I'm driving up to it and he can do the boozing as its his birthday present. So if anyone in Ireland has two tickets and nobody to go to a gig with then I am your man. I am thinking of setting up a business. I like pretty much any music and I will happily hum along to any old song. I am actually looking forward to Morrisey as I quite like the Smiths so even if he does one oldie then my journey to Vicar Street Dublin will be worthwhile. I saw many people bring their mammys to Dermot Kennedy and the mammies looked like they didn't want to be there so there is a market for it. I can even go up and buy you drink provided you buy me one as well. So two accidental gigs in two weeks for me. Keep them coming.
https://twitter.com/DermotKennedy/status/1678308110807494657?t=RCsxWYI6PjPEqUUonsuCDA&s=19
- DermotKennedy
