Inhaler
Much has been written about Inhaler, what with the lead singer being the son of a major rock star and then the inevitable comparisons to the said band etc, etc. But then it’s always going to happen when you come from such a strong stable isn’t it?
If you don’t know of them as a band, then you could easily think of early U2 at times. Yes, they are more poppy in general for sure, but on some of their material you cannot help but make the link on the vocal and arrangement, something that Elijah Hewson has likened to it being the Edge effect. I don’t mean to take anything away from them as a band at all as they have already proven on their debut album, 2021’s It Wont Always Be Like This, that they are a credible enough outfit in their own right.
If that’s not enough for you, then this current tour promoting the new album Cuts & Bruises is as good a sign as any that they will be around for a long time yet.
Hewson (wearing a suit and tie tonight) is already proving to be quite an engaging front man, very watchable indeed, he certainly doesn’t have as much to say as his father, that’s for sure. But he is one to watch, he is very polite and packs a great voice in there too while surrounded by a fantastically talented group of young men, also from Dublin City, Ireland. They can most certainly knock a tune out.
The majority of the crowd this evening is under twenty and maybe attending their first gig. One girl was getting carried out before the band had even entered the LCR stage as the lights went down for their eagerly anticipated entrance, maybe after having a few too many alcopops?
They start proceedings with These Are The Days and then launch into their best song My Honest Face. It’s potentially a very bold move early doors, but one that they are more than capable of pulling off as there are more fine songs still to come during the next eighty-five minutes!
There’s a good blend of material from across both albums in the set list, with songs such as Totally, My King Will Be Kind (with the crowd in a full-on singalong), When It Breaks, Love Will Get You There, Cheer Up Baby and If You’re Gonna Break My Heart.
There are more peaks than there are troughs and everyone’s having a great time of that there is no denying. But one minute the crowd are in the palm of their hands, with the floor absolutely and quite literally bouncing but then there is something of a lull, where they lose the momentum that they had just previously built up!
Its either quite brave, arrogant or foolish to leave great songs such as Ice Cream Sundae, Your Power and There’s No Other Place (all seven and a half minutes of it) out of the set list and I am sure that they could’ve accommodate those three and maybe more into tonight’s show to give their fans more value for money?
The kids may not have been experienced enough as gig goers to have thought anything of its premature end, but as the saying goes, ‘You can’t kid a kidder’. The very short set just left me feeling that there could and should’ve been more to it, than what we actually got. There is no denying their talent and ability for sure, but they have a lot to learn in terms of sending the masses home totally satisfied.
They wrap up with It Won’t Always Be Like This, it’s as good a closing song as you could maybe get from them, but.
