Hard Working Class Heroes Festival 2008
Returning to vintage mode of several venues for year six Hard Working Class Heroes 2008 in Dublin from 12-15 September was the finest installation yet.
Naomi McArdle, 17 Sep 2008
Ultimate of Irish music, the festival line-up catered all imaginable tastes with eighty homespun talents and an 'Invasion' curated by Sons & Daughters, one of Scotland's finest musical exports of recent years.
Friday kicked off with a quirky blend of alternative pop from Fred in Meeting House Square despite the persistent shrilling of a neighbouring alarm.They exploded into a big deal across the Atlantic this year and have the tour dates to prove it.
Flying to the Button Factory for Panama King's set, to my dismay the bands were running twenty minutes early and the northerners had already finished. Instead re-routed to Fiach, only to emerge minutes later, ears ringing from a crucifying volume level of intimate Dame Lane.
Curious to hear Scotland's offering, DeSalvo in Eamon Dorans greeted my arrival with a gob of spittle from a pig-nosed oaf, semi-naked save for rubber abbatoir garb. Bizarre but it worked: the frontman's menancing yowls set off melodic, metallic wails from the most visually engaging rockers I've seen in a long time. Irish bands should take a leaf from our neighbours' book of how to rock the fuck out.
Highlight status went to The Revellions, who played in utter darkness at Academy2 after a lighting malfunction created an immensely atmospheric setting for their oozing Stoogesque garage rock, accentuated by lead vocalist Ali Moore's rasping background as a blues singer. Triumphant in the download chart and regulars in London's Dirty Water Club, greatness is a very real possibility for these unlikely five.
Saturday's big draw was BATS in MHS, taut explosive blends of skilled vocal and instrumental lines with a voracious appetite for noise. Though good to see them on a huge stage, they really should have played detached ALT instead of Scotland's Foxface.
Up-and-coming The Parks in Eamon Dorans... ah, to be seventeen again! Despite impressive indie rock there's a nervous quiver in these boys' eyes. Expect to see their awful name plastered all over posters dead soon.
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