Stereophonics – RDS Main Hall, Dublin, 29.11.07

I found it quite entertaining that some of my friends were surprised that I was going to gigs while in Ireland…have they not met me? And after all, I was missing out on loads of stuff back home so I had to make up for it somehow. In fact, one of the first things I did after booking my flights was check to see which bands I could go and watch in between visiting the family. I mean really, what else would you expect?

The Stereophonics are a weird band, in that I never really think of them as one of my favourites, but then when I hear their songs I’m like oh yeah, I love that song! Except for that unfortunate choice of cover Handbags and Gladrags of course, which luckily enough, they opted not to play at this gig. I saw the Stereophonics play live at Slane Castle when I was living in Ireland quite a few years ago but since then I haven’t really paid too much attention to them, other than my all consuming love for the song Dakota, which was released a couple of years ago and is one of those songs I can just listen to over and over and over and over…you get the picture. So it wasn’t really a surprise to me that I didn’t know the first three or four songs they played. I was a teeny bit nervous that the gig would end up being like R.E.M in Durban a couple of years ago when we all stood around blankly waiting for over an hour for them to play a song we recognised…but fortunately the ‘phonics were a bit kinder in terms of mixing in the classics and soon enough we were singing along with the rest of the rowdy bunch. The band definitely knows how to get their crowd going, and frontman Kelly Jones is formidable in his ability to relate to an audience on their level. They played for almost 2 hours and treated us to a delicate mixture of old and new. One of my favourite parts of the show was when Kelly did a medley of all their big hits, explaining that he knows people want to hear all those songs, but at this stage they have too many to choose from to fit into one set – hence the verse+chorus medley which went down like a homesick mole with the rapt crowd. The stage set up itself was also pretty impressive, with loads of lighting and big screens. The only thing I would have preferred to see was more of the actual performance on the big screen, instead of random pictures. As it was, I couldn’t see much of them at all. Which brings me to the true definition of Murphy’s Law, as pointed out to me by a friend. When at home in SA, I consider myself to be of average height, nothing out of the ordinary. When I go to Ireland however, and meet all the short men there, I feel like a freakin Amazon woman…until I get to a gig, and then the only 3 tall people in the whole of Ireland will be standing in front of me. Pffft.

The band played their set and there was no sign of Dakota. Panic started to set in. My friend started to sidle away as if she feared for her life. After what seemed like an interminable wait, they reappeared for an encore. The first song wasn’t Dakota either. Gah. Then Kelly had a nice long chat with us about what it means to him to play in Dublin and his plans to go out and get pissed later. All that stuff about loving bands who chat to their audience…I take it back!! Tension by now insurmountable. As they were about to introduce the absolute final song of the night, some dick in front shone a laser in Kelly’s eyes, which prompted an angry tirade and if I could have found that guy I would have smacked him myself. And then…Kelly spoke the words I’d been waiting all night to hear “This next song is called Dakota” and I erupted into bliss. That song alone would have made the €50 ticket fee worthwhile (assuming I had actually paid for myself), it certainly was one of the highlights of my whole trip. I don’t think I’ll forget again so easily how much I like the Stereophonics after that show, that’s for sure!