Tonight, I am at one of my favourite venues in Belfast, The Empire Music Hall. Situated in the outskirts of the city centre in the busting student area, Botanic Avenue is a street packed with food joints and bars from top to bottom, right in the middle lies The Empire Music Hall, which is one of the few historic music venues still in use in Belfast today, its gorgeous decor has character oozing from its pores.
So it’s a fitting venue for Belfast’s own Dom Martin to take the stage as he runs his way across his Buried Alive 2024 tour. Dom has gone kinda stratospheric in the last few years. I have been working with his PR’s over the last few years and saw the rise for myself step by step, and it has been a wonderful thing to see a local lad, a very talented lad at that, making waves such as he has. So it’ll be an absolute pleasure tonight to catch him here at the home of rock n’ roll in Belfast.
In tow, Birmingham’s Blue Nation, my first time catching this funky trio, three charming lads who take every opportunity in-between songs to connect with the Belfast audience and make sure they make their mark not only musically but on a personal level also with the Belfast crowd. The music, you ask? Glorious! A collection of easy, on-the-ear, highly melodic numbers that just pull you in track after track, the guys have a lovely symmetry together, glorious vocal harmonies all pulled together with gnarly guitar work, thumping energetic bass lines and a tight drummer. What’s not to love? Highly recommended if you get the opportunity to catch Blue Nation live across the UK, do so. You can thank me later, if you love a bit of King King, FM, and the like, then they will be right up your street.
Photography: Mark McGrogan
@flashartmark / #flashartmark
9 pm and Dom takes to the stage; he just starts talking to the crowd, thanking them from the bottom of his heart for coming out on a Sunday night, this is what Belfast does, after all, it supports their own. Then he gets stuck right in. A blistering array of guitar work fused with gritty hitting vocals and lyrics tells the story of Dom Martin; he has an ethereal quality to his music, a troubled soul spilling his life experiences out on a musical canvas like any other.
He lures us into a false sense of security with a few slow burners before he lands Belfast Blues, a darker-hitting number that rocks! Before he tells us that the next song was written for all the psychopaths! To rapturous cheers and applause, I think they’re all in the room tonight. It’s a slow, sultry number; I was hoping for something more akin to Maniac! Well, sure, a girl can dream. Dom’s guitar tone is glorious, either coming from those fenders on stage or the Victory V40 Duchess, I covet thy tone, sir!
The great thing about going to see a guitar player live is just losing yourself in those extended guitar solos, the improvisation of every lick, the emotional connection between musician and their instrument and the magic that is created every night on stage, it’s a snapshot in time of that very moment, the crowd completely immersed at the moment all orchestrated by Dom and his band, it’s a beautiful thing to see.
The other thing at a gig like this is that you’re in a community of like-minded souls; everyone is on the same page, so the long, drawn-out guitar solos, drum solos or bass solos are always appreciated. Dom’s collection of songs is a mix of modern-day contemporary blues-rock through to old-time classics and everything in between, with a voice to adapt to all of the above, he can work magic on many levels. Especially when he covered Hendrix’s ‘Little Wing” It’s been so long since I’ve heard anyone play it live other than on YouTube, I used to sit downstairs in the Empire bar (Basement) on a Thursday night with one of Northern Ireland’s legends Rab McCullough playing a residency every Thursday night for 20 odd years, he done it all from solo stuff to covers and had Jam sessions inviting the local kids up on stage to show off their skills, it was there that another local legend would make an appearance Mr Simon McBride once of the Empire stage now of Deep Purple fame, Simon would always play his version of ‘Little Wing” something he’d later play as a PRS artist showcasing the Silvers Sky and Hendrix amp. It’s a timely reminder of how lucky we are here in N.Ireland to have such a wealth of talent on tap. Yet equally as the good aul book says ‘A prophet is never accepted in his home town’ (unless he plays the blues!) Yeeeeoooo!
The blues is in our DNA.
Tonight was a majestic reminder of everything great about this city, the musical heritage, the glorious venues, the community we have out supporting live music and the craic, THE CRAIC! Dom brought his A-game, Blue Nation were a pleasure to experience live and The Empire Belfast just brings back so many fantastic memories I always enjoy a night out there, as did the huddled masses all soaking up Dom’s six-string wizardry. Onwards and upwards, Dom’s journey will be one I shall enjoy following for years, no doubt the best is yet to come.
Dom’s new live double-album ‘Buried Alive’ arrives Dec 13th courtesy of Forty Below Records.
Pre-Save and Pre-Order Buried Alive
https://fortybelowrecs.lnk.to/BuriedAlive
He has a few remaining dates on this run of the tour so you can still catch here at these venues:
December 4 – Night and Day, Manchester*
December 5 – 1865, Southampton*
December 6 – Looe Blues Rhythm & Rock Festival
(*Blue Nation supporting)
https://linktr.ee/musicdommartin
Photography: Mark McGrogan
@flashartmark / #flashartmark
