‘Ever27’ Live @ Danny Byrne’s 17/Apr/09

Ever27

So there I was wanting to quench my thirst in my regular spot Danny Byrnes, maybe have an auld glance at the one or two young wans (I’m on a strict ‘look-but-if-you-touch-your-balls-are-fucked’ basis), smoke the odd fag, nothing too hectic but when I approached the door, you can imagine my shock to find it close with two bouncers outside telling crowds that because of the gig tonight, it wouldn’t be open till half nine.

Rage! Guess I got to settle for the Stables, then I heard ‘Fred’ were playing down the back. So there I was stuck in the front bar, with all the auld lads, who between them all probably haven’t seen a piece of action is the last decade, and judging by the bellies on a few of them, haven’t seen their dicks in probably just as long.

Anyway where was I… oh yeah, I quickly swallowed a cold can of Heineken, and rushed back out into the cold night. Striking up a fag, a pain in my chest warned me I’d regret later rushing that pint. Fuck it. Onwards and upwards.

Hitting Danny’s this time proved a little more fruitful and managed to succeed getting in the door as the place slowly filled up, besieged by a somewhat overbearing street team, I’d signed my email, for the simple reason of a bit of peace. Jaysus, all I want was a pint.

Hitting the beer garden, an impressive set up greeted me, camera crew and the lot! I kinda got excited for a minute…

‘Hogan’ opened the night with a Brian Molko wanna-be front man with a promising single springing forth from their set midway through, overall, straight up Pop Punk stuff.

As the second band took the stage, the terrible sound began to made an appearance and they (so unimpressed, I didn’t bother asking their name) trudged through their set to an inattentive crowd.

Former Mesner, & Now Ever27, Front Man Brendan McEvoy

Anyway, so there I was chatting away to a couple of heads who were eagerly anticipating the headliners ‘Ever27’, when above us, fireworks blasted into the skies. ‘Ohs’ and ‘Aws’ scattered through the crowd, mainly from the drunk chicks.

And then, fire dancers appeared before the stage, and started their performance as Ever27 appeared behind them and burst into their debut single ‘The Ground Where You’ll Be Livin’, with riffs similar to front man Brendan McEvoy’s previous outfit ‘Mesner’.

Now I could jump on the band wagon and say they were fantastic, they were brilliant… but we all know I’m not going to. Most bands do the whole bring on the shit bands before them, and they didn’t disappoint but adding fire dancers to the mix showed their nerves and unfortunately showed their weaknesses.

But midway through their set, it picked up slightly. Picking my head up in hope, I attempted to ignore their fake body paint and watched as their commercial appeal shone through their talent.

Finishing off with an encore of their single, a little larger audience and more confidence they burst into their single. The crowd, recognising the beat, half-heartily sang along.

Musicians performing live are entertainers, and they shouldn’t have to bring in fire dancers and rockets to entertain the crowd. End of. Finally winding down bout one- ish, I left, disappointed. Hype can kill, and in my opinion it did just that tonight.

Fair enough ‘Mesner’ did an 18 month stint in America but surely that not enough of a reason why ‘Ever27’ should sound American in the slightest.

But then again Irish bands of the last decade have an awful habit of sounding American, maybe due to the fact that it sells? Who knows?! The night included regurgitated versions of ‘Mesner’s previous efforts including their single ‘Where is Your Head At?’.

OVERALL VERDICT: 3/5 Is the fact their performance only got four paragraph of this article not enough? Bubblegum pop music. P.S. What was the story with Mesner’s lack of a bass player?!…

Check em out @ www.ever27.com

As an afternote, for all the people giving me ear aches and dirty looks in my general direction, I think they should read Johnnie Craig’s article: ‘National Treasures. Or Not’ before annoying me any further.