Alrighty then, let’s get to it. Cork band Cassidy Club blasted their way onto my radar 3 weeks ago when they released their debut single ‘Friendzone’ with a phenomenal music video along with it. Much like when I first heard about Mechner, I can once again attribute this discovery for me being down to artist, and good friend of mine, James Or sharing the post on Facebook and thus reaching me. Top lad. Cassidy Club consists of Rob Carlile on Vocals & Guitar, Liz Grainger on Vocals, Jack Hickey on Drums & Vocals, Adam O Donovan on Bass and Eamonn Mulholland on Guitar. Getting back to the song itself, the premise of it is as predictable as the name suggests, with this lyric from the chorus summing it up “Here’s another song from the front-lines of the Friendzone.” The song is incredibly catchy, with witty and entertaining lyrics that puts Cassidy Club’s stamp on the widely known and understood concept of the Friendzone. It’s altogether a very well rounded song and the absolute perfect choice of a debut single to fly their flag with as their ship sails forwards. When I say the music video is phenomenal, I really mean it as well. They went above and beyond with their artistic vision and creativity to pull off this feat, and I was reeled in from the moment I first saw it. Featuring five absolutely incredible puppets in the likeness of the band members, created by none other than the mother of front-man Rob, along with a bunch of awesome props and scenery attributed to the creative talents of his father. The music video sees these puppets animated by strings and playing their instruments pretty well I must say, and follows the journey of the puppet front-man trailing at the heels of the woman of his desire at her every beck and call (Played by human Muireann Joyce). It’s all crafted and arranged so amazingly, I can’t imagine how much time and dedication it required to put it all together. At 16,000+ views thus far, they’ve clearly made an impact with this release and are probably feeling pretty good about the return from their invested efforts!
Single Launch Party
So with their brand new single came the opportunity to gig with it for it’s official launch, which they held at An Spailpin Fanach in Cork on September 21st (Mere days after The Elation I hear you not-think to yourself, why yes indeed I had a very busy week! Wait til you see what I did the day after this particular gig as well :o). Arriving at the venue, the same level of attention to detail and planning that they showcased in their music video was apparent here as well. With a real fun party atmosphere, balloons everywhere and party gift bags complimentary with the entry fee, it already felt awesome walking into the place. Heading deeper into the room where the stage is, the first thing I spotted was the puppet-band all sitting at a table. I was star struck, so I paparazzi’d them and fled towards the front of the room lest they witness me embarrass myself in any way. Other such details that really fulfilled the setting was a string-banner of balloons painted with the letters to make up Cassidy Club, various props from the music video dotted around the place, Cassidy Club’s cut-out backlit sign from the header of this post, and some really cool light-cube things around the stage area. They effectively went all out with the setting, which promised to be a fantastic evening. Also massive props to them, the turnout for the evening was fantastic, packing out the place quite nicely.
Joining them on the evening to support was the fantastic Cork musician Elaine Malone. A talented singer/songwriter, Elaine was quite recently featured on BalconyTV to play her song ‘No Blood’, which the video for is embedded here. Other works she has released so far are available to listen to on Soundcloud here. On the evening in question, she popped up to the stage wielding an electric guitar and a warning of a possibly cough-filled performance. She needn’t have worried though, as any impending doom proposed by her temporarily weakened state failed to materialize, as she played and sang in mesmerizing fashion. She played much of her released music as well as some new material as well, such as the track affectionately labeled ‘Stupid Hipster’ to which she led into by saying it’s “Kind of an autobiography”. Early into the set, it nearly ended as quickly as it had begun. She was just getting into her song ‘You’, when her guitar strap whipped off the guitar and nearly sent the instrument falling to the floor. Drop the guitar she did not, though, and with a jesting quip at Pro Musica for their guitar straps and a quick re-attaching later, she was back in action and completed the rest of her set. Her performance went down a right treat with everyone in attendance, with Rob Carlile adding in conversation with myself afterwards that she’d been fantastic and her singing had sent chills down his spine. Spot on Elaine, I look forward to more to come!
Following on from the fantastic opener to the evening that was Elaine Malone, Cassidy Club hit the stage. Half the band had seemingly missed out on some form of pre-planned dress code memo, as some were wearing cartoon inspired shirts and the like (Particularly a few Adventure Time related clothes), whereas the rest were dressed in normal casual attire. They were also humans and not puppets, so I guess that was a tad out of order as well. Band member Eamonn Mulholland wasn’t able to play this gig, and thus Cúán Walsh played Guitar in his stead. Playing keys for parts of the night as well was Aengus Mac A Bháird. Once they were all equipped and ready to go, they set off with a continuation of fantastic music for the evening. From their upbeat songs to their more emotionally packed and hard hitting songs (Particularly the tribute to their former bassist Eoin Murray who sadly passed away two years prior ), the band showcased their wonderful musical prowess in their varied performance for the evening. There was also a few songs for which Liz Grainger stepped to the forefront to be the lead singer, for which she did awesomely. Towards the end of the set, they played a song dubbed ‘A Love Song in Falsetto’. As they hit the peak of the song, everything stopped for a moment to allow Rob to prepare, as he grabbed a bunch of helium-filled balloons. It quickly became apparent why they needed more than one balloon, as his woeful attempts to pinch and stab the balloons to get a hit of the helium inside resulted in the first few simply being popped. Finally, though, he successfully managed an intake of Helium, the band resumed right into the peak of the song like it had never stopped, and Rob hit the high note hinted at in the title of the song for all of maybe 2 seconds, and then the song was over! Comedic stuff, they sure are a charismatic and engaging bunch! Their final song for the evening would of course be, and what else, ‘Friendzone’. So there we have it, that was the wonderful Cassidy Club experience!
A gift bag, you say?
Indeed, the gift bag that I got upon entry to the venue and thus this post’s equivalent to my merch haul! These lads are seriously great craic (Fun, ye readers of non Irish descent) and they truly put together an experience that’s unforgettable. The gift bag is the icing on the cake, it’s like being 9 years old all over again! First up in the bag is a brilliant booklet containing a plethora of fun stuff, as I’m not inclined to spam up photographs of it all, I’ll summarize: A
humorous chilling tale titled ‘The Spirits of Hassle Castle’ featuring the abusive governess Lydia Heathcliffburg, brother and sister Jonathan and Amelia, Amelia’s ‘imaginary’ friend Mr Wank and a thick-accented (With delightfully thickly written dialogue) coachman. Next up in the booklet is a piece entitled the ‘Poetry Coroner’ which is a comical piss-take on the over analysis with which we are taught to butcher good poetry with. Tackling the (totally not made up) literary genius ‘Eliot Nyrrh’ and his poems such as ‘The Ghosts of Old Toasts’, ‘Contrary Technician’ and of course who could forget his masterpiece ‘What is Love’ included below.
What is love?
Don’t hurt me.
What follows is a ‘Fan Art’ page, in which Cassidy Club responds to and rips into the letters submitted by infant fans and their atrocious drawings with no correlation to the band. Next we have some delightful horoscopes, Cassidy Club style. As an Aquarius, my horoscope was “As an Aqualung, you tend to avoid things that are painful. Some people may not like your style, but that is simply because you are a bad person.” Ouch. Thanks lads. Last but not least, a couple of outrageous puzzles, which may be familiar as the go-to’s of the riddle world but do not have the usual conventional answers. I would just like to note that this is a work of genius by the band, in that it provides the perfect activity with which to kill the time waiting after entry to the gig until the music begins. I was engrossed in the fun little booklet for quite some time. Elsewhere in the gift bag was a black pen. A download code for the single, naturally. A sherbet stick thing. A small packet of Love Hearts candy. A swizzels Drumstick sweet. And lastly, my personal favourite for the potential ways to interpret it, a small baggy of 5 M&M’s with ‘Cassidy Club’ stamped onto the back of them. I don’t know about you, but 5 colourful round items in a little bag, with an M that could be read as an E at a certain rotation, that could be construed in a certain hilarious manner (Mind you if you look at it in that way, the sherbet could be called into question too). I’m keeping one in case I can sell it for loads of money on E-Bay some day. I’ll leave you on that note, thanks for an awesome evening lads, and thank you to Rob for helping me to fill a couple missing gaps with his input. And remember folks, keep on Merchin’!