Somewhat unsurprisingly this event held to launch the new Eden single If I Was A Pet Shop was to be the first to feature three Dublin Synth Pop acts live on stage for the first-time, not that their has ever been a strong and active scene and interest in Synth Pop itself in general within Ireland, but, considering the rarity of live-events like this, this was an opportunity not to be missed and one that would see the first live performance of the very-promising duo Hayfield combined with Empire State Human making their first live-appearance within their home-city in seven-years as the special-guests of Eden who where very-much returning to their musical-roots with the release of the single itself and the forthcoming album Electric in which its taken from.

The first of the three acts to take to the stage where the duo Hayfield who a week prior to the gig itself where forced into a late-chance when their newest member a female singer decided for reasons of her own to play no further part in both this gig and the band itself leaving them to re-work their set-list, while Hayfield eventually arrived on-stage at around 8.20 after a delayed start of some twenty-minutes of so added to further by a minor technical hitch before the band itself eventually got things under way and performed an impressive six-track set during their allocated thirty-minute slot which mainly featured a selection of new-tracks, including the bands forthcoming single Here And Beyond followed by the likes of No Surrender, an old-favourite in Compensate For Love along with Do Your Worst, Like It Or Not and finishing with Discover to unfortunately no-more than thirty or so present within the hall itself, but, at that, it was an excellent set with a front man in John Caulfield who has a strong live voice that further showcased the potential of this promising duo who had so-much too endure before making the performance itself, but, for me, Caulfield was also at the best of times just too Robbie Williams for my liking, but, you do have to take into account that it was the bands first performance, and one in-general that I’m sure that the band itself will further polished with future shows.



Hayfield where quickly followed by the trio Empire State Human at nine o’clock with the band itself making a rare live-appearance within their home-city with another allocated slot of thirty-minutes that featured eight-tracks that included a varied selection from through out their career during what was a predictably strong, tight and professional set that included and combined old favourites from the opening track Hand On The Gun to their somewhat unpredictable choice for their cover of The Cult’s The Witch to a selection of tracks taken from last-years Audio Gothic album that included Camera and the excellent re-worked versions of both I Work For The Government & Leap Of Faith followed by the more ballad-like Under Your Spell dedicated to front man Aidan Casserlys wife Bairbre and their new-born son Oscar before finishing with the more up-tempo Chase The Ace and completing their set with Hi-Fi, a set that was matched with an excellent performance from each member including lead-vocalist Aidan Casserly and both keyboardists in Lar Kieran & Sean Barron who kept everything as live as possible for an Electronic band when performing live which is always great to see.



The final-act of the night where headliners Eden who arrived on-stage at 9.45 complete with three female backing-singers The Edenenetts for a polished presentation and performance too match - without taking anything away from their special-guests on the night itself, while Eden played a varied track selection that featured eighteen-tracks from through their career, both past and present including their first-single Only Lovers Do during their pre-Eden days as In Utopia to their first as Eden itself in Let It Flow to the new-single If I Was A Pet Shop which was seemly played twice, including the final-track of their set, but, unfortunately, I had to leave early, therefore missing the final six-tracks of the set itself with the delayed start largely adding to this departure, while their set was combined with a number of cover-versions that included Adamski’s Killer which was merged into the track Subhuman, to Sex On Fire from the Dublin-band Kings Of Leon to The Human League’s Don’t You Want Me with a selection of tracks from Electric mixed in during what was a strong and solid set, while I don’t expect front man Mark Power to be seen as the next Andy Bell, but, some of his Village People style dance routines combined with a questionable dress sense that included a white suit certainly didn’t appeal to me, but, leaving these matters to one-side, Eden like their ‘special-guests’ on the night itself Hayfield & Empire State Human can very-much hold their own both musically and vocally within the present Synth Pop scene, its just getting that point across to those within the scene itself, maybe tonight was the first step in proving that very-point.

This was a very-interesting and entertaining night that showcased the strength of the current Irish Synth Pop scene with three excellent acts with both the performances and vocalists too match on the night itself, but, with an attendance of just 123, it was also somewhat disappointing to say the least to see so few present to witness the high standard of live music and visuals on offer, and at that combined with largely a flat atmosphere through out the evening itself, least not during the sets for both support-acts which was particularly disappointing to see, even allowing for the unfamiliarity surrounding Hayfield who where of course making their first live performance, while other aspects of the event itself where also somewhat disappointing, between the delayed start and minor issues in relation to its promotion and posters, while the vast majority of those in attendance clearly had little or no interest in Electronic Pop itself.