The Street Leagues: A unique band born out of lockdown

Supergroup vibes galore last Thursday night at the open mic night in Clondalkin Round Tower Visitor Centre as new outfit The Street Leagues played an intimate acoustic set, reports Ken Doyle.

The band has something of a unique backstory. – they formed in the Vub. I’ll elaborate, the Virtual Pub.

During the dark days of lockdown, the five members, longtime friends, started to get together on Zoom on a Friday night to have a few beers and generally put the world to rights.

As these nights continued, they realised that even apart from borderline alcoholism and access to a computer, they had many things in common. They were all musicians and history buffs, with a great affection for our dear fair city.

And so it was that one of them piped up, let’s form a band and do something about it then and thus the Street Leagues were born.

The five members in question are: Paul O’Connor handling lead vocals and guitar, Phil Healy on bass, Ray Murray on guitar and vocals, Joe Rodgers on drums and non-performing songwriter Robbie Graham.

The lads are well experienced, having cut their teeth with many notable Dublin bands including the Cherry Brogues and the Dublin Rockets. So there is plenty of pedigree in the line-up and expectations were high.

They did not disappoint.

From the opening chords of first song “Arthur’s Wrinkles,” the sound is smooth and tuneful. Angular without being jagged. It’s intoxicating, fluid and warm.

I heard early REM, Teenage Fanclub and XTC, but the sound is anything but derivative.

A big shout-out must go to whoever did the sound on the night because the mix, such as it was, was pitch perfect.

The songs are all about Dublin, its faces and haunts and stories. This is a concept that could have been clunky and trite in lesser hands but there is absolutely no fat on the lyrics. Not a word is wasted and there are plenty of nail-on-the-head lines.

For example, the second song “Straws in the Sackville,” is about Robbie’s grandad, who worked in the building trade all his life and after decades of unimaginably hard, physical work, was left with tremors in his hands for his troubles.

The title refers to the kindly barmen in his local, the Sackville Lounge, putting a straw in his pint because he couldn’t hold it.

These lads can seriously write and play. The vocal harmonies start coming out in the second half adding another element to the true musicality on show.

“Between the Statues” follows and then the band launch into their closer, a powerful and personal number by Robbie called “Liberty.”

I’d love to recommend that you go and see them but the five are scattered as far afield as Amsterdam, and even the Northside. So regular gigging seems to be out for the time being.

The good news is that a Street Leagues album is in the works, to be recorded in Amsterdam in the new year.

This reviewer is certainly looking forward to hearing it and, on a personal note, there was a pleasing circularity to the fact that on the day we lost Shane MacGowan, I first heard The Street Leagues.