As a light April shower starts close to midnight, I have to run to shelter myself in Sweeney’s on Dame Street. Luckily, the bar is warm and King Modo is just upstairs getting warmed up. The buzz in the room is electric as they eagerly await King Modo to start playing.

Their introductory song, “We” was a great way to get the unsure members of the crowd going (if there were any.) Then lead singer, Paul Keogh introduced them before they started another song. They were excellent performers, aside from their songs, they worked the crowd excellently. Paul in particular did very well, insisting on talking to us between songs and making it very personal. He informed us that was his first time properly in Dublin that didn’t include passing through to go to the airport, to which he received a roaring applause. He also pointed out that this gig was the first one King Modo played as a five-piece band.

King Modo was originally a duo made up of Paul Keogh and Lenny Cahill, who plays the keyboard. They are now joined by lead guitarist, Jon Barrett, bassist Mark Dempsey and Drummer Tom Domican. They’re influenced by Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Yes and you can hear these influences leak into their style but they have their own modern twist and they are anything but a tribute band.

“Die and Dance” was a great song with great lyrics. The melody slows down and gets quite fierce at different times. The change of mood in this song was clear as the band played. The passion flowed through their performance of this song. Paul sang the slower parts with real meaning and they all got involved in the power of the fierce parts.

Image by Calvin Scullion

The members of King Modo were able to let their own personality show with how they played and how they dressed, with varying degrees of casual and dressed up. This made it clear their comfort and showed that had they all dressed the same, some might look out of place. Paul also kept the crowd laughing and jazzed up during conversations with us, including a mysterious rabbit chewing at their wires at the back.Their songs were a mixture of slow harmonic sounds to fast, upbeat rock that made the whole crowd violently bob their heads. Their rising stars entry, “All You May Say” has a steady beat and was well received by the excited crowd.

Paul also thanked Phantom FM numerous times for playing their music and thanked Sweeney’s for having them on. They slyly got two short songs in at the end when they were running out of time to meet the demands of the buzzing crowd. They finished by playing the full version of “We,” giving it real power, knowing it was their last song.