{"id":58525,"date":"2019-12-20T08:33:35","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T08:33:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=58525"},"modified":"2019-12-20T08:35:00","modified_gmt":"2019-12-20T08:35:00","slug":"soda-blonde-held-us-in-the-palms-of-their-not-at-all-terrible-hands-at-whelans-dublin-16-december","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2019\/12\/soda-blonde-held-us-in-the-palms-of-their-not-at-all-terrible-hands-at-whelans-dublin-16-december\/","title":{"rendered":"Soda Blonde Held Us In The Palms Of Their Not At All Terrible Hands At Whelan\u2019s Dublin 16 December"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a concert that wasn\u2019t meant to happen but due to popular demand and a sold out Sunday night show, I was privileged to see Soda Blonde in action at Whelan\u2019s in Dublin on Monday night, supported by The Junior Show, with their \u201clast show of the decade\u201d.<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\"The
The Junior Show, Whelan\u2019s 16 December, Photo Credit Lisa Hafey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ve long been interested in seeing what Soda Blonde\u2019s live show was like, and I wasn\u2019t disappointed. But first I enjoyed The Junior Show, who had supported Soda Blonde on several dates of their Irish tour, and whose EP, \u2018Maybe.Even.Great<\/a>\u2019 I am now privileged to own on CD. The Junior Show is a Dublin duo who cite such diverse influences as Iggy Pop and The Go-Betweens; while there wasn\u2019t much evidence of Mr Pop (humour notwithstanding) it was certainly easy to see how they have taken inspiration from the legendary band from Brisbane. Who knows – maybe one day The Junior Show will also have a bridge named after them in their home town. Acoustic and sweet voiced the pair performed with good humour and a whole lot of fun – case in point asking the audience to buy their CD for \u20ac5 then when there was massive reverb and some worrying popping from the speakers asking the audience to buy their CD for \u20ac5 so they could afford new equipment.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Junior Show, Whelan\u2019s 16 December, Photo Credit Lisa Hafey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The age range of the audience for Soda Blonde surprised me. For some reason I generally expect to be the oldest at a lot of the gigs I attend but I wasn\u2019t by a long shot this time, and I suspect it\u2019s because the group attract fans of music and not necessarily the often fickle younger fan (although younger people were also present in the audience). A lot would also have been fans of Little Green Cars, from whose ashes Soda Blonde have risen, phoenix-like.<\/p>\n

\"Soda
Soda Blonde, Whelan\u2019s 16 December, Photo Credit Lisa Hafey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was observed by some in the audience that lead singer Faye O\u2019Rourke resembled – and sounded like – Lady Gaga. I would go one step further and suggest that Faye is what Gaga would look like if she had been Irish-American and not Italian-American.<\/p>\n

\"Soda
Soda Blonde, Whelan\u2019s 16 December, Photo Credit Lisa Hafey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ably supported by the rest of the band, Adam O’Regan, Donagh\u00a0Seaver O’Leary, and\u00a0Dylan Lynch, O\u2019Rourke\u2019s voice at times soft and almost imperceptible and at others strong and ferocious, was marked by a passion not unlike Gaga; feeling the music with her whole body she held the audience in the palm of her hands as she and the rest of the band led us through songs from their debut album, \u2018Terrible Hands<\/a>\u2019, the title track of which she dedicated to the UK. It was when she dueted with O\u2019Reagan, and also when she picked up her acoustic guitar that O\u2019Rourke was clearly in her element – and we lapped it up, transfixed.<\/p>\n

\"Soda
Soda Blonde, Whelan\u2019s 16 December, Photo Credit Lisa Hafey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u00a0was the final show of the tour and Soda Blonde didn\u2019t hesitate to show how grateful they were to have the chance to perform to two sell-out home town crowds, all of whom clearly loved them, as evinced by the resounding round of applause at the end of the set. No encore was given but it wasn\u2019t needed – we got what we came for and then some – we felt loved by Soda Blonde, even relative newcomers such as myself, and went away with songs earworming in our heads and hearts light and filled with the knowledge that we\u2019d been witness to an incredible event.<\/p>\n

\"Soda
Soda Blonde, Whelan\u2019s 16 December, Photo Credit Lisa Hafey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stream and download \u2018Terrible Hands\u2019 here<\/a>. You can find Soda Blonde online on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, Spotify<\/a> and Apple Music<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can also find The Junior Show online on Instagram<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>, and SoundCloud<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a concert that wasn\u2019t meant to happen but due to popular demand and a sold out Sunday night show, I was privileged to see Soda Blonde in action at Whelan\u2019s in Dublin on Monday night, supported by The Junior Show, with their \u201clast show of the decade\u201d.<\/p>\n

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The title track, their second single, is out now.","rel":"","context":"In "Concerts"","block_context":{"text":"Concerts","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/music\/concerts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Soda-Blonde1.png.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Soda-Blonde1.png.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Soda-Blonde1.png.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Soda-Blonde1.png.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Soda-Blonde1.png.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50369,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2019\/06\/soda-blonde-release-debut-single-swimming-through-the-night-today-first-headline-show-the-grand-social-tomorrow-night\/","url_meta":{"origin":58525,"position":1},"title":"Soda Blonde Release Debut Single ‘Swimming Through The Night’ Today – First Headline Show The Grand Social Tomorrow Night","author":"Essentially Pop","date":"07\/06\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Soda Blonde is the new musical project of Dublin artists Faye O\u2019Rourke, Adam O\u2019Regan, Donagh Seaver O\u2019Leary and Dylan Lynch, formerly of internationally acclaimed band Little Green Cars. Their debut single, 'Swimming Through The Night', is out today, June 7. You can see Soda Blonde live tomorrow night at Dublin's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Concerts"","block_context":{"text":"Concerts","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/music\/concerts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Soda-Blonde.png?fit=1084%2C724&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Soda-Blonde.png?fit=1084%2C724&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Soda-Blonde.png?fit=1084%2C724&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Soda-Blonde.png?fit=1084%2C724&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Soda-Blonde.png?fit=1084%2C724&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34415,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2018\/03\/skyfever-signs\/","url_meta":{"origin":58525,"position":2},"title":"Skyfever – ‘Signs’","author":"Lisa Hafey","date":"28\/03\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Check out 'Signs', the latest single from the new EP, 'Rear View Mirror', by Dublin rockers, Skyfever. 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