Gilla Band, Pure Adult @ Brooklyn Made

by Leah Bouchier-Hayes | Feb 27, 2023 | Shows

Gilla Band at Brooklyn Made (photo by Leah Bouchier-Hayes)

Tuesday February 21st saw Irish band Gilla Band (formerly known as Girl Band) take to the stage at Brooklyn Made for their long awaited sold out show.

Frontman Dara Kiely, with his setlist scrawled on the back of his left hand (no he wasn’t constantly checking the time), leads us through their blistering 16 song set over the cacophony of sounds created by Daniel Fox on bass guitar, with his hair down over his face and who on occasion uses an empty glass bottle of Jarritos (Fruit Punch flavor, if you’re wondering) as a slide; Alan Duggan, on guitar with his huge array of pedals and trusty Olympic White Fender Strat; and Adam Faulkner bringing in the heartbeat of the band on drums with a smile that appears to see and appreciate everything going on in the crowd as they mosh about in front.

Kicking things off with “Lawman” from the 2015 EP The Early Years, the set was a mix of old and new songs and Gilla Band certainly had the crowd going from start to finish. Closing proceedings out with crowd favorite “Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage?”— a cover of the techno track by Blawan. The crowd really threw themselves into this one to end things on a high note.

Gilla Band at Brooklyn Made

One of the stand songs from the show for me comes from the latest album Eight Fivers. With its rhythmic, hypnotic lyrics (“Shit clothes, shit clothes, shit clothes….”) and drum beats intertwined with the gnarled guitar of Duggan, it just really stood out even though it is a relatively short track for the band who are known for having songs that regularly exceed the six minute mark.

This was the band’s first show back in New York since they played at another Bushwick neighborhood venue, Elsewhere, back in October 2019. Back then they were here in support of their second album The Talkies. This time round they were here on their North American Tour supporting the release of their ferocious third album Most Normal which they released on Rough Trade Records back in October 2022. Here’s hoping they’ll make a swift return so we can all experience their unique sound live again soon.

Opening entertainment on the night was provided by experimental rock band, Pure Adult, and they really did put on an impressive opening set. Most of the band were bounding here and there and everywhere with uncontainable, infectious energy from every single member of the band. The ring leaders of this ball of energy of a band, Jeremy Snyder and Bianca Abarca often jumping up to walk the extra raised lip of the stage edge to get close to the audience, along with guitarist Nelson Antonio Espinal. During the closing song of their nine song set, as all the energy reached crescendo, Nelson handed his guitar out to an audience member to take over. Said audience member later stated “I’ve no idea how to play guitar.” The whole show was a wild time I wouldn’t mind repeating. Pure Adult are not to be missed. Check out their new album II that they released on Fat Cat Records on January 27th. Be sure to catch them live.

Scroll down for setlist, fan shot vids, pics of the show (photos by Leah Bouchier-Hayes)

Setlist: Lawman, De Bom Bom, Pears for Lunch, The Last Riddler, Heckle The Frames, Fucking Butter, Post Ryan, The Weirds, Bin Liner Fashion, Laggard, Almost Soon, Going Norway, Backwash, Eight Fivers, Shoulderblades, Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage?