SOMA #2: Pale Rivers @ Cyprus Avenue, Cork 07/09/2018
Two months on from their debut in Cork, SOMA returned to Cyprus Avenue, this time bringing Pale Rivers and Pretty Happy with them.
Returning to Cork last week and about to debut in Galway this week, SOMA is slowly taking over the country.
This time SOMA brought Cork bands Pale Rivers and Pretty Happy along with them for the party. Starting the night were the trio of Pretty Happy, who’s sound was loud, with emotions all over the place.
Pretty Happy’s indie-meets-punk sound meant one minute we were hearing playful melodies and the next, sheer aggressive riffs. Guitarist Abbey Blake’s, phenomenal style of play created a mammoth sound that engulfed Cyprus Avenue.
Aaran Blake, Pretty Happy’s frontman charmed the crowd with his sharp wit in between songs. However, his standout feature was how he painted a picture with his songs, through the words or just the pure passion emitting from him as he sung.
The energy in Cyprus Avenue was electric as the trio struggled to contain themselves to the stage, with Abbey eventually crowdsurfing during their impromptu encore, closing with the thrilling ‘Dogs’. Pretty Happy with the start? Pretty ecstatic more like it.
With plenty of material behind them already, Pale Rivers heavily teased what to expect on their first EP.
The five-piece band took Cyprus Avenue on a rollercoaster, with exciting and quick paced alt-rock and then stripping it down with heart-wrenching ballads like ‘Montparnasse’, a song which had elements of Sigur Rós to it.
Frontman Eoin Hally, was captivating with his enchanting vocals, while the melodies were dreamy, sweeping the crowd away. Pale Rivers took Cyprus Avenue on a journey with heartfelt indie rock and it was a beautiful way to draw the night to a close.
Given they haven’t released an EP yet, they play with a quality that some acts with years of experience fail to ever find.
SOMA are taking over Galway’s Róisín Dubh on tonight, with Oh Boland and Bob Skeleton set to perform.
Photographs taken by Jina Estrada. Check out her Instagram for more by clicking here.
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