The Cades back for one night only!
By Mary Dennehy
DESPITE being “older, fatter and balder” since splitting a decade ago, The Cades are back in action for a one night only reunion gig that promises to knock your socks off.
Together for around four years, the Tallaght band were a force to be reckoned with back in the mid-noughties, when live music pulsed through the capital, allowing music lovers to gorge on a fresh flow of raw, independent sound.
For a blast down this memory lane, The Cades 10 year reunion gig on October 6 in Whelan’s is one not to be missed.
We caught up with drummer Chris ‘Git’ Sweeney for a quick chat ahead of the gig.
Who made up The Cades?
There’s myself on drums, Brian Ashe on vocals, Mark Maguire on guitar and vocals and Aodhan Murphy on bass. After The Cades, Brian went on to form Leaders of Men and Mark joined Bipolar Empire.
How long was the band together?
About four years. Short lived but we made our mark, I think. We worked hard from day one and we wrote a silly amount of songs.
What was your sound?
We all had many different influences which is what I think made the band work so well. We loved bands like Led Zeppelin, Stone Roses, The Beatles and then modern bands (at the time!) like Arctic Monkeys, Fratellis, The View etc. We used to like to think there was a punk element to our sound, maybe on the lighter side of punk but we were having fun the whole time. We’d write songs to entertain ourselves before anything.
If you had to pick one song that defines the Cades, what would it be and why?
Probably Change Your Ways. Seems to be the song that everyone liked and was always our encore and the one to get the crowd going.
The Cades did enjoy a good bit of success and packed out a lot of venues, why split?
Yeah we had some amazing times and got to play the best venues around. I think we got to a point where we felt there was no way we could progress in Ireland. It’s something that happens to so many bands here and it’s a shame. You get to a certain point and then just stop when you can’t see yourself progressing any further. Well, that’s what it was like for us.
Looking back to your time together, what’s the stand-out memory?
Probably playing Oxegen 2008. It was amazing. We played at around 5pm to a packed tent and it was the first big gig any of us had played. Back then there wasn’t hundreds of festivals all around the country like today, there was literally Oxegen and one or two others. So playing at Oxegen was a bit of a mad dream to have but somehow we got there. Also getting to play in The Ambassador Theatre in Dublin was a personal high for me. It’s always been my favourite venue in Dublin so I was over the moon to get to play there before they stopped putting on gigs.
What’s it like getting back out there as a band after ten years?
We had our first rehearsal a few weeks ago and it was a bit surreal. It was the first time we were all in a rehearsal room together in so long. But it felt normal and it felt like we never stopped playing those songs. We’ve all got a bit older, fatter and balder but the playing is definitely still there!
Do you think the city’s music landscape has changed since then?
100 per cent! It’s very different. Back then there were much more mid-sized venues in Dublin. We used to always gig and be out watching our mates’ bands every weekend. Also now that Doran’s is gone the Dublin music scene definitely isn’t the same. It was the place to be for live music.
The gig in Whelan’s, what can people expect?
They can expect a nostalgic night of music and basically four ageing lads from Tallaght giving themselves one last ego boost before we get too embarrassing.
Tickets available through the Whelans site http://www.whelanslive.com/index.php/the-cades/
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