REVIEW: JAGERMEISTER FREEZER SESSIONS ☆☆☆

Hotpress magazine hosted their Cork contribution of the annual Jagermeister Freezer sessions in Crane Lane, Thursday 28th November. The sessions take place in various venues around Ireland and showcase only the best of what our beautiful nation has to offer. I was shnakey enough to apply for tickets and, as luck would have it, was given a pair. The Freezer Sessions are yet to hit Dublin, Limerick or Waterford- so it's not too late for you to apply for yours. With acts like The Hot Sprockets, The Riptide Movement and O Emperor- I really can't see why you would want to miss out.

The line-up in Cork consisted of some real gems. Raglans (my new favourite band), Leaders of Men and the INFAMOUS Hot Sprockets.

(Crane Lane is one of those venues where the phrase "likeminded people" is used frighteningly often, and the Freezer Session was no exception. If you are unfamiliar with this terminology, you've obviously never strayed far enough from the mainstream to encounter these feral "likeminded people". Don't fret, they're all the same anyway.)

The Raglans are an up-and-coming indie band consisting of Stephan Kelly, Rhos Horan, Conn O'Runaidh and Sean O'Brien. Words just don't do them justice....

My money is on these guys.

Next up were Leaders of Men, described as the Irish answer to Kings of Leon stroke Stereophonics. I wasn't overly impressed, but still, I can see LOM going far in the Irish rock scene. Nothing on the Raglans though. And, alas, frontman Brian Ashe has a really distracting blinking-thing going on, that, unfortunately, makes their performance look like its inflicting horrific pain upon him.

Last on stage were the headlining Hot Sprockets. The HS's are on everyone lips at the moment. They seem to have an attribute of some kind that grants eternal popularity upon you if you publicly admire them. Five friends from Dublin; Wayne Soper, Timmy Cullen, Joey Lynch, Frankie Kelly and Andy Sutton; that are forever going to shake it down and do-see-do in the ripe old days of Rock'n'Roll. Their rocking blues put me right into festival spirit, and I can't wait to catch them live again over the summer.

As one would expect, Hotpress selected only the best Irish acts for this marvelous showcase of Irish musical elitism- 'coz let's be honest, we are elite- and they certainly didn't disappoint.