SHAKALAK - THE GRAND SOCIAL

photo: Seán Jordan (taken on film)

Shakalak - The Grand Social

Words: Emma Jane Cooke

Photos: Seán Jordan (taken on film, developed by the photographer)

All 16 songs of Kulture Bikki were too good to be left out, declared by Shakalak member Fin Divilly and, evidently, by the jam-packed Grand Social crowd by the end of the night. The Dublin collective did what they do best: jazz, hip-hop, psychedelic rock and spoken word all under the one roof.

Warming up the stage pre-smoke machine was musician Fiach Moriarty and writer Emmet O’Brien, who MC’d the event with Kevin Brennan coming on to announce the headliners. Artist Aoife McGlynn also came on stage to rightfully revel in her album cover artwork.

Starting off the just under two-hour set, Shakalak’s vocalist and poetician John Cummins began with ‘Kulture’, with the crowd already loosening their shoulders. Parting the sea of dancers a few songs in, John joins them in the moment, mic in hand, lyrics compelling with that consistent saxophone that would not be a Shakalak song without. The hip-hop, rock beats are enough to drown out some of Ireland’s contemporary issues that Shakalak have no problem advocating for. ‘Gimmy’ starts playing, arguably one of their catchiest beats, ‘The future is our problem child’, but this lyric only touches on the issues that Shakalak cover.

‘The Boom is Back’, a clear favourite when looking at the crowd from the back of the room. They play ‘Buzz’, one of their favourites to play and once you have that first listen, there’s no need to question why. Finishing with ‘Shakalak’ and ‘Youngfella’, you’re already thinking where they’re going to headline next.

photo: Seán Jordan (taken on film)