Bebo

Apollos Thebe - Dates - July 2009




28 June - The Mezz - Temple Bar
3 July - Radio Na Life 106.4fm
6 July - Balcony T.V - http://www.myspace.com/balconytv - www.balconytv.ie
13 July - Fine Art Gallery - Arklow - Acoustic Show
14 July - Single and Tour Fundraiser - The Twisted Pepper, Dublin
15 July - Budda Bad - Dublin - Media and PR Single Launch - **Ticket Only**
16 July - Unchained Melodys - Freedom Cafe - Galway City
17 July - Single Launch - Twisted Pepper - Listining Party TBC
18 July - Music Maker -Exchequer St. Dublin - Acoustic Show
19 July - The Purtyloft - Dun Laoghaire
23 July - Near Fm - The Near Sessions
24-26 July - Knockanstockan Festival

28 June 2009
An Uair Draiochta
Radio Na Life 106.4Fm

http://www.myspace.com/anuairdraiochta
www.raidionalife.ie

6 July 2009
Balcony T.V
http://www.myspace.com/balconytv
www.balconytv.ie

16 July
Unchained Melodys
Freedom Cafe
Galway City

http://www.myspace.com/unchainedmelodies

18 July 2009
Music Maker - Acoustic Show
Exchequer St.
Dublin

http://www.myspace.com/musicmakerdublin
www.musicmaker.ie

19 July 2009
The PurtyLoft
Dun Laoghaire

http://www.myspace.com/purtysessions

Taken From Theobald Wolfgang's Gig Review Blog

Well, it has been a while. Apologies for the lack of action on this blog. College work has kept me busy, as has the inevitable social life that comes with it. This will be brief, just a word on a wonderful band I stumbled happily across a while ago:

“You can take the time to find out what has really kept you here.”

I’ll come back to this.

Two minutes and forty-seven seconds into track six of Apollos Thebe’s self-titled EP. Drums and bass; rhythm building up to something bigger. Cue the acoustic. Then the cello. Then it comes together, and the vocalist informs us of the time available to find out what has kept us rooted to the spots where we sit now.

A rhetorical statement, surely? The answer is on the stage. Apollos, you are what have me entranced. I wish I could replace the word ‘sit’ with ‘stand’ but, alas, the Button Factory is empty on this Saturday April 11th, meaning a place at the bar, out of sight of the other ten or so people in the venue, is in order. The Sprites are ordered a plenty.

I first came across the five piece - self described as varying genres, from New Wave to Progressive, Electronica to Powerpop, with a taste for the film score side of things too - at a Radio City gig back in February when I went to see the Thousandaires. A happy coincidence. Despite only catching the last few songs of Apollos’ set, the band’s performance that night was enough to convince me to buy a copy of their EP. I found their sound to be intriguing. This lot warranted further investigation.

Which brings us to the present (via a chance meeting with the band’s brilliant photographer the day after the Radio City gig, but the Puppet Magazine adventure will be covered in a later post, no doubt). The Button Factory may be dead, but the performance is alive. Perhaps it could be considered a tad controversial or egotistical to name a song ‘The Voice of God (Clear The Throat)’, but if it was ever justified, it may as well be Apollos’ tune. There are only five lines of lyrics, repeated, looped, telling us to take our time and letting us know that they will never let us go.

Because they, Apollos, actually CARE what the people who follow them think. What all 822 MySpace friends think and what all 841 Bebo fans think (these figures have more than likely increased by now). They even threw in a birthday greeting for a late arrival to the Button Factory gig.

The band recently made it onto Phantom FM’s play list, and appeared on the show to talk a little about the band (unfortunately I committed a cardinal sin and missed it!). However, as posted in the band’s Bebo blog, when they say “we” they do not simply mean the members of the band, but the people who helped the band to where they are now.

“We are yours”, they state, and you believe it when you watch them, as they play with smiles on their faces even though they are only playing to a handful of people. The handful are the people they care about, the dedicated Apollos’ groupies (although they may not appreciate being called groupies). A band that really cares is a rare thing to come across. Rarity means uniqueness, and Apollos certainly have that.

Their sound is unlike much of the new stuff arising out of Dublin, with the cello in particular adding a dimension too many bands these days attempt to find by sole use of the keyboard. Apollos’ blending of the keyboard and cello gives them an edge over other bands and a sound other bands can only cast envious glances toward.

‘Stawp’ and ‘Amber’, as well as ‘Voice of God (Clear The Throat)’, are stand out tracks (despite the unfortunate irony of a false start with ‘Stawp’ on the night - they had to stop ‘Stawp’; oh dear, I went for the horrible pun) with their pace making them anthems in a sense amongst the Apollos following, at least to those who turned up on the night. Numbers gradually increased as