The Show Goes On

Hard Working Class Heroes festival, the grassroots music event taking place across Dublin this weekend, continues to excite locals and tourists alike.

With a free daytime element, allowing passersby access to live acts at venues right across the city, there has never been a better opportunity to see up and coming performers showcase their talents.

Yesterday saw an array of Hard Working Class Heroes playing in shops, cafes, and tattoo parlours all over Dublin, including young solo guitarist Callum Stewart, whose acoustic guitar set spilled out onto the cobblestones outside Nine Crows in Temple Bar, giving shoppers a taste of what was to come at his City Hall gig later that evening.

Meanwhile, in George’s Street Arcade, phsyc-rockers Exploding Eyes turned the entire Urban Picnic cafe into a pressure cooker. Wielding only tambourines and acoustic guitars, the trio plugged in to deliver an explosive performance which threatened to peel the rock band posters off the perspiring walls.

The band, who also played The Hub later on, promised fans and newcomers who are unfamiliar with their style a set of “good old ****in’ heavy garage psych-rock”.

Last night’s action featured performances in venues including Wigwam, The Hub, and the Workman’s Club, amongst others.

One of the most rousing performances of the evening came from Rocstrong, who brought their own flavour of funk-rock to the chocolate factory. The lead man had the dress sense of Kanye West and the crowd-winning charisma of James Brown, even going as far as a cover of the late hero’s “I feel good”. Most would agree that it takes a certain kind of cool to get away with wearing sunglasses indoors at 11pm, but this feat proved no problem for cock-sure Rocstrong.

The action culminated with a stadium-scale performance from Talos on the bigger of the Chocolate Factory’s main stages. The Kings of Leon-esque rockers left the stage to raucous applause, finishing their set with the rafter-shaking “Your Love is in Ireland”, which was undoubtedly heard in their native Cork.

Lead man Eoin French expressed his enjoyment of performing as part of a band, having started out as a solo artist.

“Being alone and writing the stuff is nice, but actually doing that, with a group of lads, your mates, it makes it something else,” he said.

The music continued today across the city, with half a dozen venues and eight stages being prepared for the final night’s festivities this evening.

Tengu, The Chocolate Factory, The Hub, City Hall, Wigwam and The Workman’s Club will all host live music, with tickets on the door starting at €10. Full details can be found on the website below.

http://hwch.net/