On a second consecutive sold out night in Dublin, off the back of his previous night’s performance in Dublin’s 300-person capacity Workman’s venue MJ Lenderman brought county rock to Whelan’s. In a slightly larger performance at the 450-person capacity venue, it was still close quarters.
Bringing a sweet, heavy guitar end to his Manning Fireworks tour, MJ Lenderman sang tales of the south at Dublin’s Whelan’s pub. As he announced this was the final show of the run, he was predictably met with a sea of “boo”‘s. In a retort he confronted the crowd “What do you care? If it wasn’t over I would just be [doing shows] in other places”.
A dry wit that certainly carries over to the songwriting found on Manning Fireworks, he naturally kicked off the show with the album’s title track. A cutting composition which, in his own words, is “basically a laundry list about what makes this character a jerk,” with stinging observations of its character ‘Sneak[ing] backstage to hound the girls in the circus’ a character so off-putting even ‘the dogs seem to hate you’.
Lenderman and his backing band The Wind display such a skilled level of camaraderie, performing effortlessly in sync from beginning to end. A masterclass in showmanship – as he offhandedly revealed “[We] Just learned this in soundcheck today” before performing a cover of Pink Floyd’s epic ‘Wish You Were Here’.
Lenderman’s energy with the crowd seemed to play its own role throughout the night. For the simplicity of the frontman drinking from a glass of Guinness (a national unifier) throughout the night, he was met with rapturous cheers. On ‘Joker Lips’ a noticeable increase in the crowd’s volume erupted on the line ‘Every catholic knows he could’ve been pope’ – a particular passion for any lighthearted humour to be found in a theme so intertwined with Ireland’s history. Seconds after wrapping up a cover of Smog’s ‘37 Push Ups’, he was interrogated by a crowd member “How many can you do?” to which the frontman answered a respectable “15” before correcting “Without getting uncomfortable …10 comfortably”.
Returning with an encore including his Pink Floyd cover and a blaring ‘Tastes Just Like It Costs’ from his 2021 EP release Knockin’ any longtime Lenderman fans can only hope he returns on his next tour, however bittersweet as this is arguably the last time one could have snagged the chance to see the ‘She’s Leaving You’ singer at such an intimate gig.
