Coast to Coast: Tea and Toast at Whelan's | Review

Tired, weary, battered and bruised, but we made it. We spent the preceding forty-eight hours crossing the country meeting local bands while the Dublin team met acts in the capital for one song videos in the National Concert Hall and Whelan’s. It was an experience to say the least, capturing unique and stunning locations, meeting bands we may not have heard much of or some not at all, but each one an introduction to their music.

Hitting Whelan’s for around eight o clock just as doors opened, the first wave of tiredness from our excursion hits us, but thankfully our lineup on the night blew the drowsiness away. The Dirty 9s opened for us playing a raft of new songs that kept the filling crowd entranced. From Fergal’s haunting vocals to the blend of beautiful slower numbers and up-tempo hip shakers, The Dirty 9s have returned on form and will only get better. We can’t wait for their new album. Elaine Mai followed swiftly with the crowd drawn in by her lovely aural treats as she blazed a trail through a set featuring a quirky Frank Ocean cover and kindly donated all proceeds from her EP sales on the night to Coast to Coast. What a lovely gesture.

Shadowplay were our third act. We had these guys penciled in as a potential act for the live show from the start and with good reason. From the minute they came on stage they commanded the crowd through dance sessions and call and response vocals as their blend pop-rock lit up Whelan’s main room. After a short pause for our raffle to give away our Nokia Lumia 920 and some gig tickets courtesy of MCD, we were onto our final act of the night.

Raglans bounced onto the stage in a convection wave of enthusiastic energy that swept the crowd up into a frenzy. These guys were good when they started and have fine tuned their live show to be emphatically delivered, one dance-filled blow to the head at a time. We gathered our breath after a hectic performance and took stock of the last forty-eight hours. A smashing live show to raise some money for Down Syndrome Ireland and multiple music videos produced over the weekend.

Here are some photos of the show, don’t forget that there is a Nokia Lumia 920 still up for grabs by donating €5 or more to our MyCharity page. So if you donate €20 that is considered four entries to the raffle. We also have some GrabOne vouchers to give away too, so there are lots of chances for people to win just by donating.