This band has had quite a year. Their latest album, ‘Most Normal’, has been met with critical acclaim, reflected in Pitchfork’s high score of 8.4. I had high expectations for this performance, having attended their mesmerising gig at Whelan’s in March and subsequently enjoying what I would consider their best album to date. Between European touring done and American touring soon to be undertaken, Gilla Band found a brief stretch in Ireland to perform at Other Voices and deliver the stellar gig in question at the National Stadium on the 9th of December.
Opening with “Going Norway”, the band cut straight to the chase- an overflowing dose of pure energy and noise. As the setlist continued, the band went through various songs from their new album and just as many older favourites like the above-mentioned opener and “Shoulderblades” from their 2019 album, The Talkies. It’s always an extra novelty to see relatively new music performed live, and seeing the new album’s songs performed here was no different. Spreading these throughout the setlist with older material was a standard move, which drip-fed the new content well.
The performance went from song to song with a momentum that had the entire crowd moshing and dancing from start to finish. The unique talent of Gilla Band is the ability to provide the experience of both a raw and physical rave and Daire Kiely’s captivating and authentic spectacle. Kiely’s performance as frontman and vocalist is so infectious and engaged with the music and lyrics that it makes me believe every second of what he does on stage, and every second of their music on record, by extension. Before my first time seeing them live, I didn’t fully appreciate what they were doing; seeing Kiely deliver on top of the band’s sound live perfectly sells that this is not just a collection of angsty people being loud and abstract for the sake of appearing this way or that. Kiely, and this whole band, mean everything that comes through the speakers.
Gilla Band is an incredibly solid unit- there are no mistakes made and no moments of anything except the delivery of the goods. An additional note worth mentioning, and a factor I often give the main act credit for in selecting them, is the opening act. M(h)aol are a band from Dublin and Cork that worked perfectly as Gilla Band’s openers. Post-punk command, charismatic vocals and great live performances gave the audience a perfect heads-up for what was in store from Gilla Band. M(h)aol’s new album comes out on the 3rd of February and will be worth checking out if Gilla Band is already your thing.
