Gurriers play incredible show at Kildare’s Brigid Festival

NAAS was the location for an incredible show by rising Dublin band Gurriers on the first night of the Spirit of Kildare – Brigid Festival, which broke in Kildare County Council’s specially constructed Spiegeltent like a pair of new shoes.

On Friday, January 30, the same night that Picture This played in Athy’s Dreamland Ballroom, the post-punk quintet brought a lively crowd to Naas for their first show this year, before embarking on a tour across the US and Canada.

Concert-goers flooded in to the circular, temporary structure, decorated to provide the best of both worlds for attendees; an interior that simulated a pub atmosphere with seating booths, stained glass windows and a bar, and an exterior that looked similar to a bell-top festival tent straight out of EP.

And all located just outside Áras Chill Dara, which kind of made it feel like a strange dream. A great dream, but a strange one all the same.

The band prepared the crowd with none other than Can’t Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, which had the whole room singing and humming along, before the lads came out on stage and the show truly began.

The crowd came alive from the beginning of the performance, with high-energy tunes from their debut 2024 album Come and See like Nausea and Dipping Out. But the Spiegeltent saw true action during the band’s performance of No More Photos, which prompted the first mosh pit of the night in the dead centre of the crowd.

After that number the band let us cool down and catch a breath with some more relaxed and brand-new music, including Today’s Not Enough, before playing fan-favourite Top of the Bill which has amassed over four million plays on Spotify.

After that, there was no end to the mosh pits, which became a bit more aggressively energetic as the night went on, and invited more participants to get involved in the fun.

Someone even lost their shoe at one point, which was pointed out by lead singer, Dan Hoff.

The show ended with a bang with Des Goblin when bassist Charlie McCarthy made his way to the centre of the pit, bass and all, for the song’s breakdown, which saw him being whisked away by the crowd as the circle collapsed in on itself after the song’s slow build up exploded into a final high-intensity chorus.

Gurriers brought a great punk show to Naas, complete with incredibly tight playing and fantastic energy, prompting all on the floor to jump around and go nuts to a performance entirely deserving of it.