In Brendan and Declan’s case (and mine too) it was for the purposes of holidays in “Ireland’s own Disneyland” at Butlins Mosney. This song has real resonance for anyone who travelled across the border when that involved queuing up to pass through the security check-point just outside Newry. “Maybe It’s You” and “ Good Bad News” are in there too before Brendan takes a break to explain that the next tune is played in Drop D tuning, noting “this is a guitar festival after all.” Easier said than done, as it takes some time for the two guitars to get tuned, but really this is just an excuse for Brendan to slip in a few more jokes before we finally get to hear “ Going South”. Declan throws everything into this – one foot working the wah-wah and the other thumping out a bass on his home-made stomp box. Another great pop song that really deserved to do better at the time, but as Brendan pointed out – it has lasted longer than Simon Bates’s radio 1 career.Ī bit more joking from Brendan about Declan’s tendency to get funky leads into “ Sensual Thing” and Brendan stands clear to let Declan get on with a fine spot of 70’s funk. This leads into “ She Hits Me” from the 1992 album Man Alive. Next up was the tale of how the band broke the British charts in 1993 via almost appearing on Top of the Pops, and travelled to London to promote their music. The track “ Sugar Island” for my money is one of the best pop songs written in Ireland in the last 10 years, referencing teenage relationships and break-ups, and the title, as Brendan points out, has a little more poetry to it that Newry’s other teen hook-up spot, Friar Tuck’s Chippie.īrendan’s vocals are sweet and soulful and Declan hits perfect harmonics on guitar. Sugar Island is one of their best albums to date and “ Bird’s Eye View” and “ Home Town on the Border” are great openers, giving Declan plenty of opportunity to warm up his percussive and energetic guitar style.īrendan introduces the title track from the album with stories of the nightmare that was (and maybe still is) single sex catholic schools in Newry. They open with three songs from last year’s Sugar Island, an autobiographical album centred on family life and growing up in and around Newry in the 70’s and 80’s.
One to watch I think, particularly if they start filling up their set with more original material.īrendan and Declan Murphy take the stage and Brendan very quickly starts his trademark banter with the audience, noting that the band rarely risk mid-week gigs at this stage in their career.
#Grow up song funky 2018 full
“Twisted” is a nice slice of power pop and “Wilderness” is full of big power chords and driving bass.
They also perform a number of tracks from their current EP Chains, and it is on these tracks that they shine their own songs seem to fit their style so much better than covers. Maybe a little bit nervous at the beginning, they play mainly covers of classic rock songs (Walk This Way, Paranoid, Whole Lotta Love) and more middle-of-the road fare (Rhiannon and Teenage Kicks). Tonight they are on the Queens Hall stage, the main venue for the festival and are playing to a packed house.įirst up are Orlaith and Mollie, two local teenage Youtube sensations who bring a lot of hair, smiles, and crushed velvet flares to proceedings. They play with guitar, bass (swapping instruments more than once) and drum machine and they give a performance that is full of an incredible amount of youthful energy. Two years ago, The 4 Of Us performed on a tiny stage at the back of the Ivy Bar as part of the Ards Guitar Festival and it was, to say the least, a lively affair.
Ards International Guitar Festival 2018 | The 4 Of Us – Lifetime Achievement Award
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