Music snobbery has led to the demise of many bands and some musicians. It takes one slightly off-putting recording and it gets pretty difficult to recover, no matter what quality of music said bands go on to create. Let’s face it – most of us know at least one musician who has a story of how they almost ‘made it’. Lucky then that when the Coronas released their debut album ‘Heroes or Ghosts’ they had an army of loyal fans that were able to carry the band through the negative reviews that came from some critics that had dismissed the band from the off. Proving that sometimes its important for a band to be given the chance to grow, even if it is in the public eye.
‘Tony was an Ex-Con’, the Coronas second long player was released late last year and has most recently spawned the single ‘Someone Else’s Hands’. With this the Coronas are showing that they are more than willing to expand their song writing abilities and broaden their sound. The band are maturing and it will be interesting to see where they will go with it in the next five years. And let us not forget what the Coronas have already achieved since that debut release three years ago. Opening for Paul McCartney, beating Snow Patrol and U2 to win best album at the Meteor Awards and main stage appearances at Oxegen to name only a few of the milestones that will go down in The Coronas history.
While Hotpress, in my opinion, in an overstated manner described the band as ‘a cross between Jeff Buckley and the Libertines’ I believe the Coronas are more like a fresher Eyes Open period Snow Patrol with a better singer and with earlier material that would sit comfortably with the Hoosiers and Scouting for Girls on a drive time radio playlist. However, with an energetic live presence and impressive musicianship on show the band’s date at the Empire in Belfast on the 4th of September is definitely worth checking out and comes highly recommended.
Support on the night comes from Gentry Morris whose album ‘Awake O Sleeper’ is genuinely one of the best records to emerge from Northern Ireland in recent years. He may be American by birth but we’ll happily claim him as our own. Tickets for the Coronas with special guest Gentry Morris are priced at a reasonable £12.50 and are available from Ticket Master outlets and www.ticketmaster.co.uk.
TJ, Belfast Rocks
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