Oscar Brophy reviews a night of rock at The Greyhound Bar

LAST Saturday the Greyhound Bar upheld its reputation as the best place in Tralee to see cool music. It’s something of an oddity; when you walk in, it’s a proper “old man pub”.

Not just because of the people drinking there -the walls are adorned with sporting memorabilia, pictures of Tralee’s community heroes past and present, as well as a big glass case filled with different types of butterflies.
It’s quite a contrast when on a gig night you make your way into the back room and see Tralee’s ‘alternative’ youth and youthful-at-heart gathered to see the night’s entertainment. In my short years on this earth, I’ve seen everything from Drum and Bass, to Dub and Reggae to Trash Metal being performed in there.
This time round The Greyhound hosted the latest of Hear The Noise Promotions’ series of gigs showcasing not only local young musicians, but those from farther afield, playing an eclectic array of genres – something that’s sorely needed in Tralee with the unfortunate decline of the KDYS’ Live Band Project.
Starting off the night was the aptly named The Prelude. They played a solid set of alternative rock originals, and the singer really could hit the high notes. Here’s their rendition of Linkin Park’s What I’ve Done.

Following them was The Undecided. Another Tralee band who took us on a walk through Indie Rock territory. Their guitarist was amazing – he really knows his way around a fret board!

Then we had what was, for me, the highlight of the night. Fearless Bastard Pigeon – a new band, playing Noise Punk.

Oh by God, did they make noise – sweet, beautiful noise. They were certainly the most energetic band of the night, even if the crowd didn’t fully reciprocate. At one stage they got so into it that they broke the machine head on their bass guitar when it was thrown to ground in a fit of musical passion by the drummer.

We had a complete tonal shift to conventional Rock music with Cork’s The Blake Norton Band, fronted by Owen Wilson-look-and-soundalike Blake Norton.

They performed a few belters and a few ballads, but their sound took on a new dimension once their female vocalist took to the stage for the second half of their set – she really did have a set of lungs on her.

Unfortunately, they fell victim to the ebb and flow of the crowd and played to a sparsely crowded room.
Doubly unfortunately, we do not have a video of The Blake Norton Band performing, but during their visit to Tralee they recorded a song for BalconyTV Tralee, and we’ll be sure to share it once it goes online.
Topping off the night were Killarney/Tralee Pop-Rock outfit Jousting With Chairs. They got the best response from the crowd, and were certainly enjoying themselves!

Hear The Noise Promotions’ next Greyhound gig is on the 24th of May and will feature Tralee and Killarney’s Crann Dubh, Galway’s Between The Lines and Cork’s This Place Is Death, with more TBA.

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