The Grand Social

Saturday 25th January - Free Ice Cream + Special Guest

FREE ICE CREAM + Very Special Guests Saturday, January 25th, 2020 Doors 7:30 Early Bird Tix €10 - Main room- Free Ice Cream + special guests Room 2 Live Dj Lucas Wells + Live Drums and Vocals Brian Walton has created this fresh supergroup - FREE ICE CREAM using only the ingredients of Irish Sugar, Italian Cream, American Dreams and Sunshine from Africa. Imagine pulling from all around the world to make up a band so wildly infectious and boisterous, it grabs the audience by the scruff and shakes the cone to create a sound that brings every known beat and melodic tradition into a whirlwind of pure madness. This ten piece band have been blowing the roof off every house they have hit with their "Free Ice Cream" show. Yes Free Ice Cream is as much as part of the show as the show itself.

VJ Jackson - raps & vocals Shannon Doyle - vocals - Ireland Aisling Moore - Vocals Daniele Castro - piano & synth Denny Stupakov - sax - Ireland - Martin Farrelly - trombone - Ireland Morgan Baker - guitar - America Daniel Jayden Duho - bass Paddy Tunga - drums - Congolese

Brian Walton - guitar & vocals - Saudi Arabia

Venue: The Grand Social Doors: 7.30pm Admission: €10 - Get Tickets

Thursday 30th January - Daughter of Swords

Tickets €12.50 available now from Ticketmaster. Aiken Promotions proudly presents Daughter of Swords, live at The Grand Social, 30th. January 2020. Tickets €12.50 available from Ticketmaster.
In 2017, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig began recording a set of songs about a breakup that had yet to happen. Her partnership had drifted into a comfortable state of indecision, stalling when it came time to make big life moves or chase new horizons. She had the sense that she needed to slip the relationship in order to pursue everything else life might have in store—more music, more adventures, a general sense of the unknown. Those feelings drifted steadily into a set of songs that lamented the inevitable loss but, more important, outlined the promise of the future. Recording the ten tracks that became her stunning solo debut, Dawnbreaker, under the new name Daughter of Swords gave Sauser-Monnig permission to go.

Dawnbreaker began as the first phase of Sauser-Monnig’s return to music after stepping to the sidelines for the better part of a decade. Her college trio, Mountain Man, rose to quick acclaim for their peerless harmonies around 2010, but the friends slowly drifted apart, following their own interests to different coasts and concerns. While working on a flower farm as a farmhand, though, Sauser-Monnig realized that she missed the emotional articulation she found in writing songs and singing them and resolved to start again. She pieced together an album just as Mountain Man—now newly gathered in the fertile Piedmont of North Carolina—began to regroup for its second LP, 2018’s aptly named Magic Ship. Working with Sylvan Esso’s Nick Sanborn, Sauser-Monnig shaped what began as quiet reflections into confident compositions, crackling with country swagger and a sparkling pop warmth. They were, after all, preemptive odes to the next phase of life. There’s no better testament than “Shining Woman,” where Sauser-Monnig portrays a ropy woman navigating her “steel steed” up and down the bends and passes of California’s fabled Highway 1. She openly marvels at that spirit and strength, wishing that for her own life. With Dawnbreaker, she has found it in some measure—the joy of something new, the excitement of risk. Though Sauser-Monnig nearly recorded these songs as barebones folk ballads, she reimagined them with Sanborn and a top-tier crew of North Carolina friends, like fellow Mountain Man singers Amelia Meath and Molly Sarlé, bandleader Phil Cook, and guitarist Ryan Gustafson. These vivid settings highlight the emotional contours of these songs, revealing the complexity that comes with knowing that, in order to live, you sometimes have to let something as strong as love go. That is the lesson of Dawnbreaker, an intimate document of what it means to set oneself free.

Venue: The Grand Social Doors: 7pm Admission: €12.50 - Get Tickets

Friday 7th February - PolyPhia Second Date added due to high demand

Following the news of their sold out show in The Grand Social, on 8th February, Polyphia has announced a second show for 7th February 2020, due to popular demand. Tickets €18 available from Ticketmaster. The band’s greatly anticipated new full-length, 'New Levels New Devils' is out now. Polyphia have taken yet another defiant leap forward. The virtuosic guitarwork that has defined Polyphia is still present, but the band made a conscious effort to replace distorted guitars and epic breakdowns with a soundscape of bass-heavy trap music. The elite cast of collaborators on 'New Levels New Devils' includes producers such as Y2K (Killy, Yung Bans) and Judge (Migos & Marshmello, blackbear, Young Thug). It also includes features from some of the best guitarists in the world - including Jason Richardson, Ichika, Mateus Asato, Yvette Young (of Covet) and Erick Hanseland Mario Camarena (both of CHON). Finally, the lone vocal feature comes courtesy of hip hop phenom - and long-time Polyphia fan - Cuco, who has captivated tastemakers over the past year with his lyrical prowess and unique style. Their previous EP 'The Most Hated' reached #6 on the Billboard "Independent Label Release" charts and cracked the top ten for the "Current Rock" charts. It also hit #41 on the "Top 200" and #36 on the "Top Current Albums" charts across all genres. Tickets for POLYPHIA in The Grand Social are available now from Ticketmaster.
Venue: The Grand Social Doors: 8pm Admission: €18 - Get Tickets

Saturday 8th February - PolyPhia ~ SOLD OUT

Saturday 15th February - Yenkee

Yenkee is a Pop project formed from the lo-fi bedroom recordings of Cork artist Graham Cooney. Cooney started recording and producing his own music at the age of 15, using minimal equipment purchased with busking money. In early 2015 he released an EP "Adieu Adieu" under his own name. Shortly after, he was given a 70's reel to reel tape machine as a gift and began using it to write. He studied Music in University College of Cork for one whole month, before deciding to leave to concentrate on producing his own music from the comfy confines of his bedroom. In the following 8 months, Cooney wrote a collection of songs that would eventually become Yenkee. Inspired by artists such as Marvin Gaye, Rostam Batmanglij and Ariel Pink, Yenkee's sound was more Pop-orientated - with hooks, catchy melodies, and fun lyrics - all produced using the tasteful palettes of 60's and 70's rock. The tape machine he had been given ended up playing a massive part in the sound he was to create - groove-driven Pop coated in gentle tape hiss. Cooney spent the bones of 2 years working on this sound, before releasing a slew of singles in 2018, to much acclaim. "Are You Alright?", Yenkee's first release, has garnered over 35,000 plays on Spotify and was selected in ThePointOfEverything's top 5 songs of 2018. "Lander" a hip-hop, Kanye West inspired piece of auto-tuned Pop, was selected for Spotify's "New Éire" playlist, a collection of new Irish urban sounds. This placed Yenkee among the top up and coming Irish bands. With the momentum of these early releases, Yenkee began working on their live show and went on to sell out shows in their hometown of Cork, Ireland. Their first gig was at Cork's Quarter Block Party Festival, and since then they have played in venues such as The Sound House (Dublin) and Roisín Dubh (Galway).
Venue: The Grand Social Doors: 7.30pm Admission: €11 - Get Tickets

Friday 28th February - MANOEUVRES

MANOEUVRES are Europe's premier tribute to OMD – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - one of the most influential and original bands to emerge from the early days of synth pop in the late 1970’s. Barry & Sarah created MANOEUVRES to bring you a Tribute Show to OMD brought about by a genuine love and respect for the music of these synth pop pioneers. By focusing on meticulous attention to detail together with a little twist or two of their own, an energetic and authentic stage performance is ensured, faithfully capturing the atmosphere and excitement of a true OMD concert. Performing all of OMD's many hit songs such as 'Enola Gay', 'Messages', 'Sailing On The Seven Seas' and 'Souvenir' to name but a few, MANOEUVRES will leave you with lasting memories of a captivating and unique show that you will want to see again and again.
Venue: The Grand Social Doors: 7.30pm Admission: €13.25 - Get Tickets