Madra Salach, the Dublin six-piece blending Irish folk with electronica, play The Sugarmill in Hanley on their Gorta Tour.
Madra Salach play The Sugarmill on Saturday 3 April as part of their Gorta Tour. They're a six-piece from Dublin's Northside, and the name means 'dirty dog' in Irish. The line-up is Banks on vocals, Lawlor on bass, Adam Cullen on guitar, Jack Martin on mandolin, whistle and synth, Maxime Arnold on harmonium and Dara Duffy on drums.
They play electronica-infused Irish folk, and the way they put it together tells the story of how they sound. Banks, Cullen and Duffy started as a trad three-piece playing standards in Raheny pubs, while Banks and Martin were feeding those same songs through synths and tape loops. The two sides eventually met in the middle, and that's where the band landed: tradition meeting experimentation. People often compare them to Lankum, though the band say ØXN may be nearer the mark.
Their debut EP, It's a Hell of an Age, did the heavy lifting early on, landing them in the top three of the Irish albums chart and the UK independent top ten. Since then, they've put in a Maida Vale session, a summer of festivals, a support slot with Kneecap and a place on a Shane MacGowan tribute record. The Gorta Tour brings that whole run of things to the stage, and this is their stop in Stoke.
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The Sugarmill is on Brunswick Street in Hanley's Cultural Quarter, one of the city's most iconic venues since the mid-1990s. Doors are at 19:00, and general admission is £28 for over-14s, which includes a £3 booking fee and a £1 venue restoration fee.
