The Gig - A House - Olympia Theatre

One of the greatest tragedies of Irish music towards the end of the 20th century, A House were the nearly men of their time. Deserving of so much more than the almost universal critical acclaim they regularly garnered for their recorded output, A House were also a fantastic live act. Formed in 1987 and part of an alumni graduated from the now defunct Underground venue on Dame Street in Dublin that included Something Happens! and Stars Of Heaven, A House quickly built up a following of loyal and obsessive fans. Six albums, four Eps, twelve singles and three record companies later they decided to call it a day by playing a final farewell gig in the Olympia Theatre also on Dame Street just yards from their starting point in The Underground. Unlike many previous farewell shows and tours from other acts, most notably Status Quo, A House's integrity meant that this was the real deal. After this we would never see them or their like again, tickets sold out rapidly and the scene was set.
Suitably charged with emotion the band started with their debut single 'Kick Me Again Jesus' and began to chart a course through their career and large back catalogue. Made all the more tragic by the realization with each gem of a song/memory that we were witnessing the demise of one of the greats. Family members videotaped the performance for posterity from the beautifully ornate private boxes of the theatre, a visual memento and record to show future generations the adoration that their dad once commanded. Tears were shed openly by grown men and women as they finished with the achingly poignant 'When I Last Saw You' and that was that. Gone as a live act forever though nostalgia saw the release of a best of collection entitled 'The Good Old Days' five years later in 2005, you would do your music collection a service to add this album to it, especially the double disc version including the rarer tracks of their career. If you want to know more about this marvelous band check out this exhaustive and informative fansite. Here's one of my favourites, from their debut album, "I'll always be grateful", and I will.

Rolling In The Crowd

The title of this blog and a great song by a great band - Blue In Heaven. The first band I ever saw live, bottom of a bill headlined by Simple Minds in Dublin's Croke Park in 1985. They only recorded two albums, the Martin Hannett produced 'All The God's Men' released that year and the slightly more successful 'Explicit Material' released a year later which contained the closest thing thing to a hit single they ever had in 'I Just Wanna', it also featured the aforementioned 'Rolling In The Crowd'.

It was as a live act that BIH really worked. Lead singer Shane O'Neill was as charismatic as they come and as crazy a frontman as you could hope for, once even controversially appearing, pubes out, on the cover of Ireland's national music paper, Hot Press. But it was on stage that he thrived, whipping a crowd into a frenzy with ease, even in an afternoon show I saw once in the now defunct McGonagles of South Anne Street in Dublin.

A live favourite of mine and most of their following was the Stooges track 'Loose'. It was a beast of a track, visceral, gutteral and guaranteed to cause a riot. Later BIH gigs were punctuated with incessant calls for this song that wasn't even their own. It featured on their last vinyl release, fittingly titled 'Rock N' Roll RIP' and you can hear the strength of their live performances encapsulated in this recording.

They called it a day soon after this, briefly resurfacing as The Blue Angels with a single called 'Candy' and their last release was the single of their version of - oddly - 'Loose'. Perhaps acknowledging it's importance to their fan base, maybe a cynical money making ploy, it turned out to be a rather tepid affair further underlining the difference between their recorded output and their live work. Rock N' Roll RIP.