The ELO Experience: Seven-Piece Band is performing in The Civic

This week, we sat down with Kevin Butler to discuss the show, which performs in the Civic on June 5 at 8pm.

A KICKING 7-piece band is performing the timeless ‘strange magic’ of E.L.O. at the Civic.

The Show features all the classic hits, such as ‘Evil Woman’, ‘Showdown’, ‘Last Train to London’ & ‘Mr Blue Sky’.

These will be performed fully live by the band, inclusive of 5-part vocal harmonies and a string section to add that authentic classical sound with stunning visuals and videos that will blow you away!

The band features some of Dublin’s incredibly talented musicians, including local Tallaght performers Shane O’Reilly (Bipolar Empire), guitar hero Joe Mullins, and the Butler family.

The Butler family are known widely across Ireland and the UK for their creation and production of the touring show ‘The Live Last Waltz’, which features in Dublin’s Olympia Theatre biannually.

This 7-piece live band are dedicated to performing the music of Jeff Lynne, known as the creator of E.L.O. and producer to many world-famous acts such as George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty & Roy Orbison, to name a few.

This outstanding list of musical colleagues also led to the formation of “The Travelling Wilburys”, in which Jeff Lynne also featured as a member.

‘Showdown – The E.L.O. Experience’ has been a resounding success in venues throughout Ireland, and the musicians are thrilled to bring the show to The Civic in Tallaght.

What inspired you to form this band? Did you always have a love for ELO?

As a whole, the musicians in Showdown would have grown up listening to that type of music, not that we are old fellas or anything! but the music of that generation has always been attractive to us.

The sound of E.L.O. always stood out from the crowd, and even as a kid, I would be drawn into the “strange magic” of Jeff Lynne’s melodies.

This, coupled with the unusual sound of an orchestra coinciding with electric guitars, drums, bass and outstanding harmonies, would have me listening into the night when I was a boy.

The inspiration for producing this show came about as a result of that collective appreciation for E.L.O.

In 2018 Our Keyboard player David Smyth went to see Jeff Lynne in The 3 arena and he was blown away by the musicianship and visual effects.

One day over a whisky or two, Dave was telling me about the gig.

As E.L.O. played loudly through the speakers, Dave questioned whether we could possibly pull off the daunting task of producing a show in celebration of Jeff Lynne’s E.L.O.

After much discussion and a couple more whiskies, we set about the task of finding the best musicians for the job.

This was not an easy task, as the whole band have to have the ability to sing harmonies and play to a high standard.

Also, finding someone that could fit the bill as our lead vocalist to sing Jeff Lynne’s lines was proving extremely difficult.

Luckily, over the past 15 years, we have surrounded ourselves with top-class talented people who are all from either Tallaght or Crumlin.

And we soon found that the band was coming together easier than we first anticipated.

Then when Jobstown legend Shane O’Reilly from Bi Polar Empire agreed to sing lead vocals, we were ready to go!

How long have you been working together?

Showdown itself has been a unit for about six years.

Most of us in the band have been working together on different projects for fifteen or sixteen years, although I and my brother Daragh (lead guitar) have been working together since we were about fourteen when we formed a band called The Group.

We went on to record a couple of albums and did well on the original scene.

We then put together a show called ‘The Last Waltz Live’, a live recreation of the Martin Scorsese rock documentary of The Band’s final concert, ‘The Last Waltz’.

This show became a big hit around Ireland and The UK and it still sells out Dublin’s Olympia Theatre biannually.

The Last Waltz gig has around twenty musicians involved, and it’s from this we have generated a pool of talented, like-minded friends.

So any idea for a show or an original music project we work on, we can simply ask one of the gang if they wish to be involved, and for ‘Showdown – The E.L.O. Experience’, it’s no different.

How do you usually prepare to perform?

We tend to meet up during the week of a show to run harmonies and, if possible, work on a new song to keep things fresh. Then we get to the gig for a full sound check and link up with the lighting engineer and tech guys to make sure all visuals are prepared.

We strive to give the crowd a world-class show both musically and visually.

What is next after this performance?

Onwards and upwards… being Ireland’s only E.L.O Tribute show, in 2026 we are looking to take over the large venues and theatres around the country to eradicate any overseas competition.

This year is looking really good with a number of sell-out shows under our belt, including The Set Theatre Kilkenny, Dolans of Limerick, Spirit Store Dundalk and The Button Factory Dublin.

Following the show in The Civic Theatre in Tallaght on the 5th of June, we are off around the country again to perform in some of Ireland’s finest venues, incuding The Theatre Royal Waterford, The Europa in Belfast, Cyprus Avenue Cork, and Opium Dublin, to name but a few.

Who would you like to thank?

We would like to thank the ongoing support of the returning crowds that keep packing out the shows and give a big shout-out to me Da Pearse Butler, for sharing his wealth of knowledge in marketing and promotion and always pushing us to bigger and better things.

Thanks to all the lads in the band for the hard work and passion for this amazing music.