Sixteen Layers at The Mercantile

Sixteen Layers/ Six Foot Small/ Niall O’Shea

The Mercantile

12/11/’10

Angela Macari O’Looney

I first became acquainted with Alt/Rock band Sixteen Layers back in ’09, when I was asked to review their debut album I am no one. I instantly loved their sound and the heady feeling I got from their melody lines, lead solos and Niall Donnelly’s extraordinary vocal range. Thumping anthemic songs, softly sung ballads and the right balance between grunge and pure rock define the ingredients that this great band posess.

Since then, I’ve been to a few of their gigs. They spend quite a lot of their time recording and touring in Canada, where they have found refuge to write, gig and explore their talent further. However, they have built up quite a following right here in their own back garden. This gig was long overdue and I made sure to get up the front, because I knew a good crowd would show.

The Mercantile has two venues, this part being the largest and as the night progressed it filled up.

Six Foot Small

This young Alt/Indie/Rock outfit hail from Dublin. Formed in 2009, they have gigged quite a bit and create original melody lines, great beats and are thoroughly enjoyable to watch.
Members are Craig Mulvagh-Vocals/Rhythm guitar, Barry Mangan-Lead guitar/Vocals, Luke Byrne-Drums, Mark Mulvagh-Bass and Katie Dunford-Violin.

They began with a slinky number called Here it comes, continuing with a faster song called Nowhere to Hide. This has a memorable chorus, involving excellent harmony and guitar riffs were grunged up a little.

Passing time has a rhythm guitar intro, a three four rock tempo and fab lead too.

Dancing shoes with a choppy beat has a sweet melody line, with Barry performing backing vocals and Mark doing a short, but lovely bass solo. Luke also shone with some nifty percussion. They seemed to really enjoy this song, as did the audience.

Distortion in the intro of Coming on Strong gave it a heavier rock feel. An excellent guitar riff, plus more exciting drums and percussion lifted the atmosphere for Daytime Enemy.

They did one particular number which I liked the best called Blue Eyes. This is bouncy, upbeat and totally gorgeous, with fantastic harmony and a really catchy chorus.

Niall O’Shea

Niall O’Shea and his band were on next. This music is easy going, with a nice contrast of Blues/ Indie/Gospel coming through. From Dublin, Niall has been involved with various different music projects and recently toured around Europe, increasing his knowledge and experience, which he has put into the creation of a debut album entitled Inner City Dogs.

The first song Dogs was fast moving, with a nice chorus where backing vocals fill out the sound superbly. Chords are appealing, bass quite noticeable too.

Land of Talk was another fab number. I loved the guitars in this and as in his entire set; it comprised some excellent riffs and hooks.

Chrissy was lively, had an 80s feel to it and a delicious melody line. I loved the harmony here and chord combinations were wonderful. Guitar riffs throughout were just right!

With interesting chord combinations, No Water Flows was pretty special, with a divine lead solo. It involves a slow down, building back up again to a big crescendo of sound.

Warm under the Sun was Niall’s last song and has distortion laden lead, a choppy rock beat and baseline is brilliant throughout. Lead solo for this song is complex, involving two guitars. Niall’s a good front man and he has a very distinctive voice.

Sixteen Layers

Niall Donnelly-Vocals/Rhythm guitar, John Colbert-Backing vocals/Bass, Dom Muldoon-Lead guitar and Tim McGrath-Drums are the members of Sixteen Layers. The wait was finally over and the lads began with Sing with your eyes shut.

Anthemic, with bashing drums and a quiet verse, this number built up to an explosive chorus. John Colbert performs backing vocals here, which lifts the dynamic of this already amazing song. Dom Muldoon did a complex lead solo and Niall totally threw himself into the set right away, his powerful lead vocals giving the first song life.

He interacted with the crowd and thanked everybody for their continued support of the band. He expressed how great it was to be back on home turf. It was great to be there among the regular Sixteen Layer admirers, watching the lads again and hearing some of their new stuff for the very first time live.

No Strings

This is one amazing song, where John performs harmony with Niall’s verse. The intro is trickling and builds up to a fantastic riff which is repeated throughout. From the debut album, it has a chorus that is delectable. A twin lead solo to die for is followed by a change of pace for the middle eight. But then the throbbing chorus comes back. Love it!

Torch

Distortion laden guitars, energy charged, with a totally beautiful melody for the chorus, this number was performed better than ever. Dom and John do this superb riff that spikes the cocktail of melody and rhythm with exhilarating force!

A number I haven’t heard before called Transition was next. Brilliant, fast, with heavy rock chords, it was very impressive.

Call me has this wonderful bassy intro, followed by echoic style lead and a delicious chorus. Upbeat and involving intricate lead guitar, this song is explosive and has a kind of false finish.
Then you get a full on, bashing last chorus to wake you up again. Tim McGrath does some amazing drum bits, with paradiddles and rolls galore taking it to a commanding close.

Exile is soulful and was a nice restful break from the faster stuff. Trickling acoustic guitar is sweet in this song. It starts off pretty quiet, but becomes more vibrant as it develops. Niall got the audience to sing the chorus with him. This was a really special moment, as each line was sung back to him proving how devoted the band’s fans are.
Dom does a really elaborate lead solo, going from deep delicious notes, right up the frets of the guitar for the higher, sweeter notes and John sings the chorus along with Niall, but in a lower octave.

A fast, vibrant number called Laminate was next. This has a crazy rock charged chorus. Niall’s voice can go from clear and smooth for the softer songs, to gritty and forceful for heavier songs like this one.

Sirens has wonderful harmony, a fab drum break and a superb lead guitar solo in it.

Into the Sun as brilliant as ever and Hurt me were belted out and Niall got help from the audience for the choruses of each.

They did an older number called Over to you. Niall told his newer fans it was from a time when the band went under the name Alligator. In this all three guitars do a break together, which is absolutely show-stopping. With lots of chops and changes in it, I was blown away. I’m glad they’ve resurrected this memorable number.

Former you

This is a memorable piece, with trickling lead in the intro, building up to distortion packed guitars, with baseline vibrant. Harmony sweet, plus amazing guitar notation throughout the chorus makes this by far the band’s most magical song. The sung middle eight is very special indeed and Niall had no problems for a backing choir, since everybody in the place sang Struck by you alongside his pouring out the words of the chorus.

After some persuasion from the punters, the band performed an encore. Setting Fires was an excellent choice for this. John Colbert’s harmony behind Niall’s vocals was superb in this number, which went down a treat. Guitars were delicious too in this fab song.

I was delighted to see this band still alive and kicking and including at least a few of their older songs in their set. I also hope that they keep returning from their travels and don’t forget their Dublin fans as their star continues to rise.