Cork band Ladydoll were the second band to go through to the next stage of the NSMA competition this year following their performance in Cyprus Avenue last week.  I hadn’t seen them play before but had always seen their name mentioned on gig listings so it was good to finally see them live.  They play in The Village next month so best of luck to them and Philtre who also went through.  The gig in Dublin should be a cracking affair if the quality of bands here is anything to go by.

A couple of more photos are over in the full set on Flickr.

Related Posts on www.donal.ie

• March 23, 2008 -- Philtre at Cyprus Avenue – NSMA 2008 (5)
• August 9, 2009 -- Ian Whitty at Indiependence (2)
• October 26, 2008 -- Mick Flannery at the Lodge in Mallow (0)

Reasons to be Beautiful were the third act up at Cyprus Avenue last week for the NSMA after Sonus and Philtre.  Nay has a good write-up on all the acts on the night and some great photos to boot.

See some more photos in the full set.

Related Posts on www.donal.ie

• March 23, 2008 -- Philtre at Cyprus Avenue – NSMA 2008 (5)
• March 22, 2008 -- Sonus at Cyprus Avenue – NSMA 2008 (1)
• November 11, 2009 -- Julie Feeney at The Pavilion (0)

Philtre were the second band vying for a spot in the next round of the NSMA band competition this year.  I’ve seen these lads quite a few times in Cyprus Avenue so I knew what to expect but they have a new band member (pictured below) who, to put it mildly, doesn’t lack stage presence.  They have also changed the arrangements of some of the tracks so it sounded a lot tighter this time around.  While the gig for the NSMA was short to fit in 4 competing bands, a listen to their MySpace also points to the introduction of piano into at least one of their tracks (One Step Ahead).  This is an interesting departure as they have been mainly guitar-driven up until now.  If you want to make up your own mind on them, go and listen to Took the Time which I think is their stand out track.  I’m glad to say that Philtre made it onto the next stage so keep an eye out for them if you’re in Dublin on April 24th in The Village.

There are a few more photos in the full set but what do you think of the new border and watermark I’ve added?  I’ve been meaning to do something like this for ages.  I’m aware that it would be simple to crop out the website name but I’d rather not watermark the image itself.  I’m starting to use Gimp for my photo editing more and more these days.   Anybody care to tell me how to create a macro to run through the creation of borders and watermarks?

Previous Philtre gigs I’ve photographed:

• Drop-D Showcase
• Philtre in An Brog
• Philtre in Cyprus Avenue

Related Posts on www.donal.ie

• September 20, 2008 -- The Blizzards at Indie-Pendence in Mitchelstown (0)
• July 5, 2008 -- Ian Whitty and The Exchange at The Spiegeltent (4)
• April 20, 2008 -- Elk at Cyprus Avenue (1)

Sonus kicked off the NSMA night in Cyprus Avenue this week where four bands were battling it out to go through to the next stage.  Unfortunately for Sonus they didn’t get through on this occasion but they put on an electric performance so are sure to be around for quite a while.  They play in An Cruiscin on Douglas Street tomorrow at 2pm according to their MySpace.

There are a few more photos in the full set but the blue low light made it very hard to get any kinda photo.  Nay was at the gig too so look out for some photos from her.

Related Posts on www.donal.ie

• March 25, 2008 -- Reasons to be Beautiful at Cyprus Avenue – NSMA 2008 (0)
• March 23, 2008 -- Philtre at Cyprus Avenue – NSMA 2008 (5)
• November 11, 2009 -- Julie Feeney at The Pavilion (0)