Sadhbh Pearse reviewed the recent gig from Limrockers Parliament Square at Record Rooms, Commercial Bar.
ON Friday June 17, The Record Room, the underground “speak easy” venue of The Commercial, on Catherine Street saw the long awaited return to the stage for Parliament Square.
The gig kicked off with warm up act -MizDrea.
Limerick singer (Sandra Drea) from Galbally immediately set a sultry tone. She got the crowd laughing ,with a funny anecdote from the journey to Limerick city. The pair performed a mixture of originals and covers and got the crowd well and truly warmed up, closing with You’ve Got the Love by Florence and the Machine.
Parliament Square then took to the stage, immediately comfortable, ready to perform.
Lead singer, Brendan Markham had amazing energy and vocals, practically hopping off the stage into the crowd, absolutely loving his return to live performing. Their bass player, Colin Bartley appeared more reserved, in the “zone”, just him and his bass. Karol Drea on drums showed great energy, rhythm, technique, matching the crowd’s energy throughout. Ross Brennan spent the set going between keys and guitar, appearing very confident on stage. His keys solo during Gravity was out of this world, making listeners fall in love with piano/keys and want to listen to the song on repeat.
The band’s debut album, Parliament Square was released in 2016. It is unbelievable that they are still unsigned. This fact could be heard rippling throughout the attendees all night.
he band gained local popularity in between 2015-2017 when playing live in venues like Cobblestone Joe’s, their set a mix of covers and originals.
They had a tour cancelled due to Covid, but, they’ve been hard at work in the studio since, so who knows what they have in store?
They quickly played fan favourite Gravity and chatted to the crowd, speaking about how excited they were to be performing for the first time since the end of 2019. It took awhile for attendees to get up and dancing (more than likely waiting for a few pints to kick in) but once they did, the energy was palpable with those of us brave enough to dance, getting budged closer to the stage.
By the end, no one wanted the gig to be over and the usual chat of “one more tune!” chorused throughout the venue and the band repeated Burning Witches. But it wasn’t enough! They quickly huddled together in discussion and the opening notes of Forest Fire filled the room once more. They gave it hell for leather, getting the whole audience involved in the vocals. The whole night cleared away everyone’s cobwebs and was definitely worth the wait.
by Sadhbh Pearse
[email protected]
