Now that the renovations are all finished, Whelan’s is looking better than ever. Although some may lament old-worldy messiness of old Whelan’s the extra space means more room for all at the busier gigs, surely a good thing even though there’s still a bottleneck at the bar. So to break it in and to acclimatise myself to these new surrounds I spent the week going to gigs all in the same venue. Well technically it was more like eight days, but that’s not the point though because over the week I caught Super Extra Bonus Party, Nouveaunoise,You’re Only Massive, Boss Volenti, New Amusement and Sons and Daughters all at Whelan’s.

This all started last Saturday with Nouveaunoise. Although their live show has little to recommend it, they are as interesting as two guys behind laptops can be on stage, their music redeemed them. It isn’t for everyone but their sprawling live electronic collages are hypnotic and enjoyable if you like that sort of thing. Certainly one to watch for the future and one for fans of Four Tet to check out. On the other hand although Super Extra Bonus Party can seem a bit dull on record, for these guys the live show is where it’s at. They were like a deranged circus troupe, dancing, jumping, thrashing guitars and hammering out beats with such enthusiasm that you couldn’t help getting swept up in the energy. I do have one gripe with them tough, I just wish their songs were a better. Sure they’re fun, but they’re not going to be blowing minds anytime soon despite the Portuguese rapping.

The next double bill then was Boss Volenti being supported by You’re Only Massive. This was a strange pairing and the crowd who mostly seemed to be there for Boss Volenti knew it. Their lukewarm response to You’re Only Massive’s electronic stylings was in stark contrast to the warm reception they gave Boss Volenti. However in my books You’re Only Massive were easily the better act. Sound and image wise Boss Volenti are stuck in a time warp, they desperately seem to want to be the new Thin Lizzy. However even the presence of ex-Therapy? drummer Graham Hopkins can’t save them. In contrast You’re Only Massive are so fresh for an Irish act that putting them on the same bill as Boss Volenti’s nostalgia parade seemed ridiculous. The result was that they rightly showed up the headliners and played a great set despite the crowd’s ambivalence. Since talking to Analogue in Issue 1 they’ve made plans for their summer 32 County Tour, a fantastic idea, and their musical-walking tour of Dublin DISCO-NNECT in June.

Finally the week ended last night with Glasgow’s Sons and Daughters, supported by New Amusement, another young indie rock band. This proved to be the one show of the week where the support act didn’t show up the headliner. Sons and Daughters were on form. They are currently touring on the back of their latest album This Gift, so a lot of new material was the order of the day. It’s a lot rockier than their previous output, but it lends itself well to the stage because they really seemed to be enjoying themselves playing in this harder mould. It was met with mutual enjoyment, for Whelan’s was packed to the gills with fans who held out to the end on this cold Sunday night. Once they were gone however it still wasn’t the end for me as there was some sort of country and western hoe-down going on in the main bar, but it had been a long week and from here on in it all gets a bit fuzzy…

Paul Bond "Today you play Jazz. Tomorrow you betray your country."
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