Rooftop Anthem

24th September 2009 (Arthur’s day)

Roof Top Anthem followed up their warm up show in Pravda last week in style in Temple Bar venue on what the media and all of Ireland took to calling “Arthur’s day”. Roof Top Anthem have been performing since April 2009, and with a recent change in line-up they improved on an already excellent formula, as was clear in The Button factory on the 24th.

The band seemed relaxed before show, Lead singer Luke Martin Thomas was enjoying a drink by the dance floor, and Drummer Laurie Mahon played along with the tunes the DJ playing. This chilled and playful, on Mahon’s part at least, converted into gratifying energy, as Roof Top Anthem displayed what could very well be their best performance to date. And things can only get better as the song goes. The band opened with their catchiest song, “Suzie”. A large proportion of the crowd had niether seen nor heard of Roof Top Anthem, therefore it was a smart choice of song to start with. The crowd started to move instantly and a few of the members of the audience who did not previously know the band should their appriciation of the infectious song by trying in vain to sing along. Luke Martin Thomas was on his best form, his suaveness and banter with the crowd seeming more effortless than previous performances. He was smooth and his ability to get a crowd who had largely not experienced the band before to fall into his lap. The clapped when he said clap, waved when he said wave and jumped when he said jump, the mark of a true front man.

The remaining band members performed to perfection, with the guitarists Sam Lucas and Dave Nulty hitting each chord perfectly. Lucas’ solo in the opening tune was powerful and secured the attention of the crowd. Nulty’s performance was just as impressive, if not for his great talent, then for his dazzling white shoes. Bassit Davi Aquino seems to be the coyest of the group, however his shy demeanor does not hinder his fantastic skill, least of all on the night. Drummer Mahon was his usual excitable self, going through the fast paced drum patterns with ease and vigour in equal measures. Mahon of course danced at the front of the stage for a few seconds of the gig, always the showman.

Each song was as catchy as the next, all sing along anthems. It was obvious that the crowd felt it was refreshing that every song was danceable, not a ballad insight, which created a more cheerful party atmosphere. One of the highlights of the performance was the bands song “climb out” a stomping anthem which had the crowd jumping and raising their glasses. Which brings us to another highlight of the night, the frontman’s toast to arthur which resulted in “chug” taunts from the crowd. He tried his best but it ended in a wet-chinned chug fail.

The band finished up with a song that leaks hit single, “heartbreaker”. The crowd were knocked off their feet by the amazing song and equally electrifying performance. The lead singer’s vocals were on top form for this song in particular, maybe oiled by his sup of Guinness, almost every face in the crowd was beaming with admiration and satisfaction. If the night’s performance proved anything, it’s that Roof Top Anthem are as flawless as any band can be. In the spirit of the week’s festivities, raise your drink, or if you haven’t got one, the nearest thing to your hand, and give a toast, “to RTA!” - Claire Kane Music Review website

Rooftop anthem headlined a list of six bands playing in Crawdaddy, Harcourt Street, on Friday, 31st of July, and their headline postion was more than justified. The preceding band, Chakya, from Kildare, were disappointing, excepting the charming and confident frontman, and a slight dampener was put upon the evening which had been uplifted by a very funky band, with a fittingly fRTAunky name, El Hombre Jokes. However the unease of Chakya was demolished from the room by the confident Roof Top Anthems.

The band are comprised of 5 young men, the shamelessly cool lead singer, Luke Martin Thomas, who could be seen wandering around the venue earlier in a very suave suit, expressing his enjoyment of the other bands, with an impressed smile, guitarist Rob McEvoy, who helped the crowd warm to the band with his inebriated quips, the seemingly quietest member of the band Dave McNulty was on guitar also, while the rhythm section was provided by Barry Kelly on bass, and the very enthusiastic drummer Laurie Mahon.

From the band’s performance it was shocking to learn that they had only formed four months ago, and quickly put together a range of very catchy songs, that are crowd pleasing to say the least. From the outset the band were entertaining, kicking off with McEvoy’s appreciation of all the bands that had played before them and his cheeky and slurred jokes which endeared the crowd, as well as the seemingly fashionably late Luke Martin Thomas, who had shed his suit and donned a trendy jacket and T-shirt. It was an energy fest, as the leader singer commanded the room, and the drummer was unritualisticly involved in the show, and conveyed so much enthusiasm, that in one song, he sent the microphone flying to the front of the stage.

RTA played an impressive set of songs that would encourage even the most timid of gig revelers to dance. Possibly taking inspiration from the indie-pop revolution that has been flowering in Britain since The libertines’ explosion on to the scene in 2002, airs of Arctic Monkeys and Pigeon Detectives could be heard in each of the songs played in the 40 minute set. The band delivered each of the songs with an unusual but welcome mixture of approachable friendliness and cocksure arrogance. Several of the songs also provided a moment in which the crowd could join in, such as the energetic and catchy tune, “Susie” which included an “all the girls say…all the boys say” bit that tip-toes on that fine line between cringe-worthy and fun. “Susie” was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the show, our majestic frontman was in full confindence (not that it slipped at any stage), and it forced the crowd to pull out their most enthusiastic arm waves. Luke Martin ThomasAnother highlight was “Heartbreaker”, one of their more pop-sounding songs. The frontman belted out a rendition of “time after time” at the end of the song, although admittedly, it was a disappointment to discover that this was not spur of the moment on-stage showmanship, but that it is actually included in the recording of the song, however this doesn’t hinder the fact that it was a powerful performance, by a powerful band.

What made the band all the more impressive was how they managed to override the awful sound management, which occurs all too often in Crawdaddy, for such a prestigious gig venue. As is common with performances in Crawdaddy, the lead singers natural vocal skills were often disguised by over distorted guitars, and the bass slipped off to the background through no fault of the bassist himself. World reknowned artists have faltered under the strain of shoddy sound engineering. However, instead of letting this effect the fluidity of their performance, as other artists on the night, and on other occasions in the south Dublin spot have, they carried on majestically, allowing their natural talent and rapport with each other to be more powerful than inconsistent sound quality.

Roof Top Anthem will be playing a number of gigs over the coming weeks, including free admission performances in Dublin’s Eamon Dorans (9th August) and Pravda (10th September). There is no valid excuse to miss both of these performances, as it offers a cheap and ridiculously entertaining night out for genuine music enthusiasts. - Musicreviews.net