The first 'Night of the Machines' took place on September 1st 2011 in the Kevin Barry Room of the National Concert Hall, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin. This was a night full of firsts though, most significantly as the first ever electronic / synthpop concert in this historic and prestigious venue. The event was promoted by 'House of Analogue', a soon to be launched Irish electronic music label and was in aid of the Irish Cancer Society, a charity particularly close to the heart of main act for the night, Ireland's 'Empire State Human'. Our other live acts for the evening were a debut performance by Impostor and a first exclusively-electronic set by Dublin's Sleep Thieves. The concept behind 'Night of the Machines' seems to be to facilitate a creative platform for home-grown electronic music talent to perform and collaborate and it's realisation is a credit to it's planners, Brian O'Malley aka Imposter and Aidan Casserly of ESH.

The National Concert Hall is not your usual electro night out destination, to be sure and one was struck with a feeling of attending something really quite special as we ascended the stone staircase to our first floor destination. The main Hall has in the past played host to everything from the resident National Symphony Orchestra to Jools Holland and Jean Michel Jarre. I recalled that the last time I was here was for a performance of 'Dracula' many many years ago by Philip Glass and the Kronos Quartet....this is a long overdue return! The Kevin Barry Room, a high-ceilinged classical room which seats 80 people, also holds great historical significance as it commemorates the first year UCD medical student who was executed in 1920 at the age of 18 for his part in the War of Independence. We take our seats pretty much under the noses of the stage set-up which is more akin to an intimate, stage-less recital.


Opening act, introduced by our cordial host, Aidan Casserly, is Sleep Thieves. Clearly initially self-concious and uncomfortable, this Dublin 3-piece, ploughed through their 6/6 track set, eventually settling into a really impressive performance. Main vocalist Sorcha Brennan rather endearingly sheltered in her head-bowed hair until the room had warmed to this intimate encounter. Her soft, child-like voice contrasts beautifully with bleepy, catchy, multi-layered song structures. The band convincingly made it seem like this electronic format is how they normally play. Tracks like 'Murmers' from their latest release 'Heartwaves', "Give in to Joy Joy' and 'Hologram' stood out (forgive me if the track names are incorrect!). The flat format seating / no stage set-up, meant that the bands were all really eye-to-eye with a static, somewhat arms-folded crowd, which has got to be a tough gig for even the well-seasoned performer. Sleep Thieves blossomed during their set and really engaged. Debut self-released 2-track album HEARTWAVES out now....more info at www.sleepthieves.net


A brief equipment change-over and IMPOSTER took to the floor. Imposter is Brian O'Malley (he is joined for the performance by fellow synth obsessive, Eric Flynn) and self-admittedly aligns itself as 'Düsseldorf School inspired Electronica'. The sound was most definitely German / early synthpop and had such joyous integrity as was performed using Vintage Analogue Synthesizers, including a Roland Jupiter 4, Sequential Pro One, KORG Mono/Poly and Eric's own KORG MS20..all going through Brian's MacBook Pro using a MOTU audio interface. Complete with tiny camera, fluorescent lighting tubes framed the 'buffet' of keyboards to give a pretty cool aesthetic too. The lack of vocals may have been jarring to some but I felt it was completely in-keeping with the feel of the music...the only words were those of thanks from Brian as they launched into their final track ' Ode to an Android'. It was a hugely impressive first performance and I would encourage anyone with even a hint of liking towards Kraftwerk/John Foxx to make sure you jump at the chance to check out this band. All they needed was a Genesis P-Orridge character and the revolution was on!


Last act for the Night of The Machines was Irish synthpop (virtual)veterans, Empire State Human and they dived straight in with 'The Killer In Me' from their new album, 'The Art'. With Aidan Casserly on vocals, and Norman Yourell-Keating and Lar Kiernan on keyboards and backing vocals, this Dublin 3-piece stormed through a full set of really catchy melodies. With an impressive 13 releases under their belts with US Synthpop label, Ninthwave Records, ESH wowed this crowd with a solid performance. It was obviously (and really very tangibly at stages) an emotionally-charged performance for the band, that added to the uniqueness of the whole night. There is a timbre of Scott Walker's voice in Aidan's vocals, which is by no means in anyway a bad thing! The band stampeded through track after track and whilst perhaps more inter-song banter might have softened the effect to more of a collective meeting than a band/audience scenario, it was perhaps appropriate to make full use of the limited time left in the evening. 'Easy Colour', 'Steal for Love', 'Leap of Faith' all I'm sure got the crowd wishing it wasn't a seated event! And a palpably heart-squeezing performance of the especially dedicated 'Castles' (of Ice) co-written between Casserly and regular Marc Almond collaborator, Martin Watkins, accented the performance perfectly and with appropriate sentiment and significance.

A really memorable night and just the first of many, I trust, Night of the Machines did not disappoint and I look forward to great and enlivening things to come from the Irish electronic music community. The next Night of the Machines (v.2.0) is due on December 14th 2011..... don't miss it!