The good, the bad, and the ugly of a musical year

Groove Tube with Jimi McDonnell – tribunegroove@live.ie

A simple greeting announced the arrival of 2015’s most successful album. Hello, Adele sang at the beginning of a song that quickly became ubiquitous.

Saleswise, 25 is the album that towered over all others in 2015, with close to three and a half million people buying it in its first week of release. The record itself treads familiar ground, but the power of Adele’s voice is still connecting with people, and tickets for her 2016 Dublin show were snapped up in seconds. Her 3Arena show is unlikely to feature the bells and whistles that U2 brought to the venue, but, for her fans at least, she doesn’t need them.

U2 have been masters of spectacle since their Zoo TV in tour in the 1990s, but many reviews of their Dublin spoke of a show that was genuinely moving. As always, the question is where do they go next, but with a new record already in the can it won’t be long before they answer it.

Further west, in smaller rooms, music still continues to have a big impact. Father John Misty’s show in Róisín Dubh in October was rapturously received. It was a major coup for the venue to get the American songwriter, who also played a sold-out show in Vicar Street.

Earlier in the year, King Creosote played a quietly astounding gig in the Róisín. The Scottish singer came to town in April, joined by a cellist and a djembe drum player. Interspersing his melancholic tunes with witty between song banter, King Creosote sang gems like Bats In The Attic and Pauper’s Dough to a rapt room. It would be great to see him return.

Monroe’s began 2015 in style with a show from the excellent Aldoc in January. Featuring a New Zealander, a Dutchman, two Germans, and led by an amazing flute player from Tallaght, Aldoc returned to raise the roof in Monroe’s for the Arts Festival. They’re a band who bring a wildness and energy to a trad, as are Moxie. The brilliant five-piece came to Monroe’s in October and are unmissable live – be sure to catch them when they come to town again. They may come across as young, ribald and carefree, but Moxie are seriously talented musicians, who spent some of 2015 working alongside Christy Moore.

“We’re playing music that represents multi-culturalism,” says Ted Kelly, who plays banjo with the group. “With the internet and YouTube, you can listen to any type of music in the world. We all live in Dublin, and there are so many different nationalities and cultures. We’re trying to create our music, the way we see it, through our eyes.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.