Inhaler - An indie breath of fresh air in Newcastle
Inhaler's sold-out tour brought them to the O2 City Hall in Newcastle on Wednesday (19.02.25) and Contact Music contributor Cian Mortimer was in the crowd to see why the Dublin band are at the top of the indie scene.
There was a queue around the block as Inhaler mania finally hit Newcastle on the penultimate date of their UK tour. Everywhere the Irish indie rock quartet have gone this month has seen fans camp out overnight to get the best spot in the crowd, and Newcastle was no different.
The O2 City Hall was jam packed and I would be shocked if anyone said they left feeling disappointed. Fresh off the back of their third studio album 'Open Wide', which was narrowly beaten to the number one spot by Taylor Swift, Inhaler have been going from strength-to-strength.
The Dublin band kicked off their set with 'My Honest Face', the second track off their debut album. This really got the crowd engaged from the get go, and with everyone properly warmed up they went straight into the opening track off of 'Open Wide'.
Inhaler started off on a high and kept that going for the duration of their high octane 16 song set. Fans of the band were treated to a solid mix of songs from all three albums, and even got to hear 'Concrete' played live for the first time.
Against the backdrop of Open Wide’s cover orchid, Inhaler dropped the lights down and set an atmospheric scene with vibrant strobe lighting and high energy indie rock.
The personal highlight for me came halfway through the set as Inhaler blew me away with a song from their latest album, 'Little Things'.
The biggest crowd reaction came closer to the end of the set though as the band pulled from their debut album. When frontman Elijah Hewson - whose dad is a certain Bono from U2 - sang a particular line during 'My King Will Be Kind' the screams coming from the crowd were deafening.
As the set drew closer to an end, an Irish tricolour lit up stage as they performed 'Dublin In Ecstasy'. The cherry on top of the cake, or perhaps more fittingly the foam shamrock on a pint of Guinness, it was a fitting end to a brilliant set.
Earlier on in the night, another fellow Dublin band set the night up for success. Gurriers released their debut album 'Come And See' last year and have quickly become one of the hottest properties in the indie rock sphere.
Gurriers area earning a reputation as one of the best live bands around, and as usual they left nothing on stage. If you’ve not heard of Gurriers yet they are without a doubt a name to keep your eyes and ears on.
