The Underground of Happiness

Photo: Bríd O'Donovan - showshotshare.tumblr.com I went to see Beach House in Cork last month, at the Cork Opera House (review here , which was originally published on WeAreNoise ). I’m a big fan of the band and I enjoyed the gig, but, disappointingly, I wasn’t blown away. That was my third time seeing them live, in fact, and each gig, for different reasons, fell short of the wow factor (Whelan’s 2010, some kind of onstage edginess; Primavera 2010, ropey sound). At the time, I put this down to a combination of things – mainly, the festival weekend crowd in the Opera House, much of whom were more concentrated on the bar than the stage, and qualms about the suitability of the venue for the band. Now, the Opera House is a magnificent venue, but it occurred to me that somewhere less expansive, high-ceilinged, theatrical might be a better fit for Beach House. Well, I was lucky enough to see the band again, in Berlin, a few weeks ago, at the Astra Kulturhaus in Kreu...

Photo: Bríd O'Donovan This weekend one of my favourite bands, Beach House , played at the Opera House in Cork, as part of the city's Guinness-sponsored Jazz Festival . The Jazz Festival is something of an institution in the city, taking place over the Irish October bank holiday weekend. Over recent years, the festival has broadened to take in both a wider definition of jazz, and also a greater variety of programme. So for example, the Opera House had Balkan big band Taraf de Haidouks, Beach House and De La Soul , while across town in The Pavilion you could find Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and Toby Kaar , among others. This review originally appeared on We Are Noise , at this link, where you'll also find more great pics by Bríd O'Donovan - http://wearenoise.com/index.php/2012/10/beach-house-w-holy-other-cork-opera-house-27-10-12/ In passing through Ireland last weekend for three dates ( Mandela Hall Belfast, Vicar Street Dublin and Cork Opera House ), Bea...