Rads , Whelans , April 3

[johnfoyle]

Epic gig. Phil doing his best Jasper Carrott look , cool brown suede jacklet with multitudinous tassles , roaring out the vocals , ripping out the guitar cords , slaying all around . Steve did his best Robin Gibb impersonation, sleeveless newspaper print t-shirt , banging away at the keyboards. Pete was Ziggy Stardust , a golden shirt and leather trousers combination that had to be seen to be believed. Cait was menacing , all dressed in black and taking no prisoners as she spanked out a rock solid bass line. Johnny bashed the nuts out of his drums - but in a determined , controlled way.

With a delightfully relavant intro of ' Young people of Ireland I love you' ( as said by the late Pope in Galway back in 1979 , if you really need an explanation) the Rads came on stage at about 9.45 , the stage front area being reasonably full . The set consisted mostly of songs from the two albums . Great as they were , what was even better was the two news songs performed.

'She says I'm a loser' featured an absolutely stunning harmony vocal effect by Pete , Cait and Phil. Combined with some delightfully intricate bass playing by Cait this was tantalising indicator of , what Phil mentioned , the third album they hope to record later this year.

' The Girl With A Gun' was just as good , a real 'Kill Bill' of a song , as my slightly drunk friend kept calling it. More harmony vocals, more bass - Cait is clearly well settled in to the Rads line-up.


There seemed to be a real confidence about the songs , representing a group with a focused vision. Faithful as most of the versions of the songs from the albums were , I got the impression that the musicians were impatient to move on to articulating what they feel now.

'Faithful Departed' was given a great deconstruction job, loads of shimmery guitar effects echoing all over the place , spot-on audience inclusion ploy by Phil getting all of us ( well , some of us..) to sing the 'Whiskey In The Jar' line.

The encore was wig out stuff. Cait belted out ' Haunted', the song she first did with Shane MacGowan on the 'Sid ' n Nancy 'soundtrack. Steve absolutely shreiked the Flaming Groovies 'Teenage Head'. That kind of stuff.

I stumbled out on to scummy Wexford St. , ears dulled by the deafening noise , happy . Only for the fact that I have a six o'clock start tomorrow I might still be there ...


Oh, and by the way , Phil confirmed that the Rads will be supporting U2 on the June 25th Croke Park gig......yippee!!!

[Stephen]

Just a couple of things to add to johns pretty accurate and well written review

I thought "under clerys clock" was really well done and one of the highlights - too bad its not on the re-release of Ghostown

deffo look forward to hearing more new stuff -

Have to disagree on Faithful Departed - I hated the special effects , although I thought it was Steve who was doing them

I had a friend with me who hadn't heard them before and he loved the gig. He couldn't believe how he had missed out before

I was curious as to why they were only selling the triple pack - which were gone by the time my mate went to get one . I have Ghostown ordered, but not delivered, on Play.com but would happily have bought it last night if it was there.

and finally John, which of us were you?

Stephen

[Frank Cronin]

Great review, could not disagree with a word of it. You never mentioned Pete's new guitar though? I cannot help thinking the U2 support slot is a bad move, great for profile and that aspect, but they will be on at probably 3pm when there will be few people there, and those that will be there will be kids who won't get it. Anyway, the media were out in force last night, Brian Boyd & John from The View, so more coverage of The Rads is inevitable.

Next time don't play a Sunday night guys, it's a bastard to get people out!

Hats off to all the band. I saw Cait 3 times over the weekend, Blood Or Whiskey @ Tower, then at Voodoo and last night. What happened to Enemigos, that's 2 if not 3 support slots they have pulled from, not clever?

[Pete Holidai]

Thanks for the review John, i can only agree with you. It was as good for us as it was for you.
The new songs felt really good (there's more stunners to come) and relevant to play to our established audience along with a lot of new curious faces.
Frank, I take your point in relation to Enemigos and agree its bad form and i am as guilty as hell but circumstances required 100% focus for Whelans.
As for Croke Park, Its likely that Doors are at 2pm Rads on stage at 6pm to an estimated 50k. were not doing it for old times sake but new times sake why not take this opportunity to let that size of an audience hear OUR songs (first time?)

[johnfoyle]

' and finally John, which of us were you?' asks Stephen.

That was me in the corner (' losing my religion etc.' ) , left of the sound desk , my mate ( another John) moaning about the lack of chairs ( he settled down after he 'phoned his wife to remind her to tape Midsomer Murders ; yes - he is that sad!), me nearly getting a heart attack when the divine Cait actually , like , sat at me feet in front of the desk during the support slot.

John Kelly ( The View, Mystery Train etc.) stood in front of the pillar in front of us for most of the gig and , goodness , isn't he tall!

I'm remembering one great bit of dialogue by the Rads. Between songs someone shouted up 'f**k the Rats !'. Phil responded ' I did ! Well...... three of them , anyway!'. Pete chipped in ' That's two more than me!'.
Immortal lines , indeed!

[Stephen]

for the record John,

I must have been about 5 or 6 people in front of you along the side wall. I was about 3 - it changed during the night- people before the jacks door.

I must admit I was looking around wondering which of the more obvious characters were posters to the board - and in some cases afraid to ask.

I doubt I'll see you at Croke park - on account of me having no intention of going - but hopefully the Rads are enjoying themselves and there'll be more shows to go to.

Stephen

[Frank Cronin]

Pete, I know most bands would give their right nut to secure a support slot like that. 6pm changes things indeed. All the best with it, I don't do "fields" - never even went to Iggy Pop at Slane supporting Madonna, so won't be at U2 either. Still hope to catch the Enemigos one day!

[roy evans]

firstly
A HUGE THANK YOU, TO PETE FOR THE HOSPITALITY SHOWN TO ME BY LETTING ME STAY AT HIS HOUSE
AND ALSO TO ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE I MET ON MY TRIP TO DUBLIN TO WATCH THE RAD'S
I HOPE I NEVER UPSET ANYONE !!!!!!!!!!
I HAD AN ABSOLUTE RIOT
AS FOR THE GIG
I HAVE BEEN TO ABSOLUTELY HUNDREDS OF THEM IN MY 49 YEARS ON THIS PLANET
AND SUNDAY'S RAD'S GIG IS IN THE TOP 10, ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT
I HAD A SMILE ON MY FACE FROM START TO FINISH ;D
(APART FROM WHEN I WAS POURING BEER DOWN IT )
I EVEN MANAGED TO STEAL JOHNNIES DRUMSTICKS
I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL I RETURN
TEXT
THANK YOU DUBLIN
I HAD A WONDERFUL TIME
TEXT
p.s.
THANKS FOR THE BAG OF COAL ;D
p.p.s
i bumped into phillip at dublin airport on his way to the states

[DrugProwlingWolf]

Yes, excellent gig, really tight and loved the new material.

Great news about the support slot, won't be there sadly as I don't buy into the Benetton2 myth anymore.

[HnZ]

After this i can only say: "wished i was there!"

[harryhooper2]

have to agree with everyone elses opinion that it was a great gig, probably even better than i expected. i cant judge new songs on first hearing but was delighted to see all the band enjoying them.
i was surprised at the amount of people who were at their first rads gig. i had one with me and he was blown away. he was disappointed to miss out on the triple pack as it was sold out very early (did anyone get one?) maybe they could be sold online here!!!
was hoping for a picture ticket (ala hawkins) but thats a small point.
where do we get croker tickets?

[Pete Holidai]

re triple pack.
Gael linn are distributing the cds in shops here, at this stage i dont know how many they are taking in from the UK.
On Sunday we made available what we had left from our allocation (the rest were used as promo) that figure totalled 4 so there were only 4 triple packs available on the night. frustrating i know for those of you who were interested in them. hopefully the new faces who were at the gig will go to tower records and buy out the stock available there.
remember these releases are a limited edition
If you type in (the radiators tv tube heart ghostown) it should list on line outlets

[Philip Chevron]

Greetings from New York, where I am writing some new songs in between catching some Broadway shows and hanging out with Marty McDonagh. Anyone remember the movie Dirty Rotten Scoundrels? It's now a musical starring John Lithgow. Great first act, too plotty after the break. Marty's play The Pillowman opens on Sunday with a cast that includes Billy Crudup and Jeff Goldblum. Thanks for all the positive feedback about the gig - we still have work to do but this band band feels great. There's a real confidence in the music.

[CAL]

When you playing again?

[HnZ]

Yes, and will you be comming over to Europe?