Live & On Tour, Part 1

Apologies for the recent absence, but I’m making up for the gap with something fun! Recently one of the groups I’ve previously reviewed Silver Relics did an international tour, and they wanted to document their journey and some of their experiences. So I was more than happy to play host to it! Enjoy part one of this two-part installment, featuring the duo’s jaunt around Ireland.

Day 1: Drop Dead Twice : Dublin, Ireland : 6.27.19

Today Justin and I are running around city centre looking for a voltage adapter after we absolutely fried the shite out of our rack late last night. Complete with smoke and sparks by the way. 7 shops later, we’re back on track. Also, something we noticed was how helpful every single shop owner/worker was to us. If they didn’t have it then they pointed us to a place they thought might. So we were a little thrown off by that level of kindness. Not exactly something New Yorkers are used to but we but love everything about the welcoming aspects of Dublin. We arrived for our first show at Drop Dead Twice. Here are a couple of shots of Justin and me at the venue:

We sat around with our new friends from the Dublin quartet Magazines before we went on. These guys have an amazing sound and we can’t wait to see what happens next for them. Overall, the night was fantastic and I really don’t think we could have had a better experience for our first show.

Our dear friends Dermot Lambert and Craig Kingma at Garageland Ireland set us up at all three venues in Ireland. They’re amazing guys and we can’t thank them enough. Here’s a quote about the show from Derm:

“It can be quite difficult for an artist to win over a new audience, especially in a faraway land which they’ve never been to before, but the room came alive when Silver Relics took the stage in Dublin on that beautiful June evening. Heralded only by some specialised radio play from their tracks Time Bomb (T2), and Generic, the band found themselves in the company of a room full of instant fans, as the smokers came in from the beer garden and the private party-goers came down from the upstairs club to see who was driving the bass and killing the tunes. Justin swaggers and Alex swoons as the whole room became transfixed, hypnotised by proceedings. A set list of 7 songs disappeared all too fast in a haze of blistering anthems and killer hooks, delivered by actual real life rock stars. On this occasion I am happy to report ‘I was there’. ”

-Dermot Lambert

Day 2: The Sound House : Dublin, Ireland : 6.28.19

Today we’re over at the Garageland RTE2XM station for a live broadcast with Dermot, Craig and our producer, Howie Beno. We talked a lot about a little of everything. How the record was made, how we got to where we are and where we want to go. Always a pleasure to sit around with these guys. Here’s a shot of Justin and me in our new Garageland tees.

We got to the venue for soundcheck and right away we knew it was gonna be a good night. The venue overlooks the river and the space itself is gorgeous.

But this wasn’t an easy show. We were the first to go on and there weren’t a lot of people there when we started our set. These things happen from time to time but it never changes how we actually play. So we gave it everything like always and we started to see more and more people pile in by the time we were close to finishing out the set. The other bands were fantastic just like the night before at Drop Dead Twice. There’s an incredible amount of talent in Dublin. Every single group/artist has something to offer. They play together and you can feel how important it is for all of them to be up there.

Day 2: success.

Day 3: Pharmacia : Limerick, Ireland : 6.29.19

On the road to Limerick with Derm, Howie and Brandt. Before we even got to the venue we stopped off at Cashel somewhere between Dublin and Limerick. This was an experience along the way that made us realize exactly where we were. This is the type of place that makes you shut the fuck up and appreciate what’s right in front of you. The castle and the landscapes are incredible. We walked away grateful knowing that we had this to remember.

We didn’t get to see as much of Limerick aside from the ride through the city and the spots surrounding the venue. First thing’s first, Pharmacia is a great spot. It’s quirky and tasteful. The lineup was fantastic thanks to Garageland. The Revolators, In The Black and Norma Manly have amazing energy. They’re bold and it’s evident they felt right at home, which made the night a lot of fun. This was a great show that was worth the midnight journey back to Dublin without an ounce of sleep before we jumped on a flight to Manchester.