Cork’s Jazz Weekend – The Alternative
Posted on 4th Nov 11 by Alex Millar | 
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Last weekend, Cork city changed its colours. The real capital in the rebel county became an international city. A city where jazz is king. Or so they would have you believe…
Last weekend, Cork city changed its colours. The real capital in the rebel county became an international city. A city where jazz is king. Or so they would have you believe…
The reality of the situation in Cork is that while the weekend is synonymous with Jazz music, the majority of music going on over the weekend was a showcase of anything but jazz. It’s true that if you hit the Metropole, the Imperial or the Opera House, you’d be inundated with saxophones, upright basses and drum brushes. But the real heart of the weekend lay in the showcase of Cork and Ireland’s best alternative music being played out over the weekend. And we here at Drop-D decided to check it out…
FRIDAY
A lot of the alternative bands seemed to revolve around Tuckey Street’s The Bowery and on Friday night it played host to FRED with support from Marc O’ Reilly. Cork’s alternative statesmen (and woman) played to a crowd of “true rockers” in the dimly lit nightclub and their set was packed with tracks from their most recent album ‘Leaving My Empire’, as well as the hits ‘Skyscrapers’ and ‘Running’. Marc O’ Reilly’s set was something to behold too. Dressed in a t-shirt and sporting a scraggy beard, he warmed up the crowd with some incredibly energetic acoustic tunes. He’s one to check out.
Also featuring on the night was the all-star alt-rock line-up of Hope Is Noise, Time Is A Thief and Agitate the Gravel who, as if there was any doubt, absolutely rocked the tiny upstairs room of Fred Zeppelins. TIAT are in the midst of raising money through the organization Fundit to help fund their debut LP ‘We’re Not Strangers’ so head along to _ to help support the band. It’s one worthwhile cause.
SATURDAY
On Saturday afternoon, Oliver Plunkett Street’s An Brog gave itself over to all things punk and ska. Old school Dublin punk rockers The Pale were on show in the low ceilinged bar from 8 p.m. and they give off one hell of a live set. Still kicking after all these years, the band had the crowd moshing away their hangovers. Following on from The Pale were Pontius Pilate and the Naildrivers, a band with tunes as remarkable as their name. They’re Cork’s foremost ska players and they put on a great show for the packed crowd.
Over in the Bowery on Saturday were the alt-rock elders of the Cork scene, The Frank and Walters. Ahead of the recording of their new album, the gods of songwriting themselves ploughed through their all too short set with their trademark expertise. There are few bands in Cork that have the playing and recording experience that the Franks have, and you can feel it every time they play.
SUNDAY
Speaking of bands with experience… The legendary Rulers of the Planet rocked the Brog at 11 p.m. on Sunday evening, and it was a show to remember. For the last couple of years, the Rulers have been split up. But every jazz weekend the band reunite not out of love for the weekend, and not out of duty to their legion of fans. Instead they come back, as lead singer Barry tells the crowd, for the money. Well, once you put their money-loving ways aside, and in all fairness who doesn’t like a bit of money now and then, the band were absolutely on form. Two members shy of their original line-up; hits like Traveller and Backbencher were one show to a not altogether appreciative crowd for the first time since…last year. But that said, Rulers of the Planet were one of the hardest working and furthest reaching bands to have ever come out of Cork and any excuse to catch their show is a godsend.
Taking the stage before the Rulers were Pavlov’s Dogs. A deceptive looking band, they play a very nice mix of country, blues, pop and rock. I say deceptive because the come out dressed head to toe in black, most of it leather and to look at them you expect Creedance and Coltraine. But the reality is that they play some really nice and catchy tunes with serious proficiency. They’re releasing their debut LP ‘Truth of Your Lies’ this Saturday night in the Crane Lane Theatre.
MONDAY
Monday night was the final night of the Jazz and the bowery had the line-up for the night with Dublin electro-rockers Jape and our local popsters Toy Soldier. Toy Soldier opened proceedings and despite some technical issues out of the band’s control, they gave the slowly growing crowd a taste of what they had to offer. Fresh off a stint in Los Angeles and the momentum of their last single ‘Summertime’, the band are definitely on the up and up, and the more people that hear them the better. They’re great players and great songwriters.
Headliners Jape are a pretty good band too! It’s rare that Cork ever gets to experience ‘hip’ Dublin-based bands like Jape and every time we do, it’s a real treat and tonight was no exception. As the group builds up to the release of their new album ‘Ocean of Frequency’, they had the packed nightclub dancing. Songs like Floating stood up against newer tracks from the soon to be released LP and the flow to their set kept the audience going. Electronic musicians at their finest.
Cork may have turned Jazz on the outside, but under the skin, the real heart of this town marches to the tune of an electronic drum. Roll on next year!
Tags: alternative, Cork, dogs, Fred, Jape, jazz, Music, New, of, pavlovs, planet, rulers, Soldier, The, Toy, Weekend
