There’s nothing like a good two-for-one deal to make me as excited as a granny on Winning Streak. Thus the recent announcement of the Battles-Liars double bill at Vicar Street, guaranteed to be this year’s Deerhunter-YACHT equivalent, has my pink thoroughly tickled. But it also begs the question- Why does Dublin not have more arrangements like this? While May 15th is a night to look forward to, the 20th will be a day of dread. My Sunset Rubdown experience will be tainted by the constant nagging “you’re missing Broken Social Scene for this” in the back of my brain. Now quite how two bands that feed from the same fanbase can play in one small city on the same night at the same time and two different venues is quite beyond me. I’m willing to wager that at least 80% of the Spencer Krug brigade are all Broken Social Scenesters too, and the choice of the two will be based purely on the fact that BSS come around every year, and Sunset Rubdown may well be shelved for a few years after this tour. Given that we’re paying €24.50 (for those who like to put their feet up, €28.50) for tickets for one of the Canadian collectives should we not expect the most value for money we can get in the city that night? I know BSS don’t “do” support generally, but I doubt they’d balk at the idea of giving an hour of stage time to Sunset Rubdown. Those who plump for the latter will most likely end up having a half-baked local band who thought Snow Patrol were a good idea the first time, or The Next Laura Izibor thrust upon them for support.

Perhaps there is some controversy over the idea of foreign band supporting foreign band when the support slot is considered as a vital part of nourishing the local scene. But what happened to the concept of three bands playing one gig? Support slots for unknown bands are often too long, unwarranted by their popularity to date. For instance, Fiery Furnaces had the honor of a pseudo-Arctic Monkeys for support in Whelan’s last year. I decided after three songs, along with a majority of the already-assembled crowd, that the prospect of another six of them made me want to take up smoking to escape the impending torture. However, if I were at the 9:30 Club in Washington on the 27^thJanuary just passed I would not only have the delight of being warmed up by Holy Fuck, but Super Furry Animals would bring the room to the boil before the Friedbergers set foot on stage. Double-bill concerts are not as rare a treat in North America as they are here, where the tours may only be sustainable by teaming up with bands of equal stature and popularity. Recently announced tours include Man Man-Yeasayer, Okkervil River-New Pornographers and YACHT-Vampire Weekend (I may have subverted the last one in order of my own preference) not to mention last year’s LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire double whammy. Bang for the buck is not an adverse concept here. Last year’s Nokia Trends Labs gigs, despite gaudy advertising, threw the Go! Team and Cadence Weapon into one (reports tell me) enjoyable gig, and Final Fantasy not only brought along Miracle Fortress along for the fun, but went ahead and backed up Girl Talk two nights later.

Yet if you’re going out this weekend you’ll have to choose between Sons and Daughters and Von Bondies, surely two bands well-suited to the same show? So saturated is the calendar this year that even the richest of gig-goers will have to cut several bands out of their plans and sit in to listen to their illegal downloads instead. Perhaps more double-barrel gigs are the answer to the increasing problem of over-abundance.

Well either that, or an Analogue Festival…

Daniel Gray From the moment he put the first Steps album into his stereo he knew he'd found his calling.
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