Academy, Dublin
It only took one glance at the front row to figure out who The Coronas’ target audience is. The women-only line of young fans, cameras glued to their hands, were not disappointed by their idols during the second of three sold-out shows in the venue.
A heavy touring schedule, and the announcement of two Meteor Awards nominations, had the band in tip-top form, although the grossly underused and barely audible four-piece string section that graced the balcony was a perfunctory addition. Yet, for all the recent success, there is a hollowness to their material. The chorus line "we sleep all day and we drink all night" from their hit single San Diego Songwas greeted with a joyous abandon that undermines the validity of the band's growth.
Happily inhabiting the inoffensive world of daytime radio music, the youngsters are already adept at pulling the right shapes and making the right noises to appease their fanbase, but for the uninitiated at this show (countable, perhaps, on the fingers of one hand) it must have been hard to fathom the fuss being made of yet another band pandering to a seemingly inexhaustible audience eager for, well, more of the same.
Frontman Danny O’Reilly, his strong voice inherited, surely, from his mother, Mary Black, boasts an adherence to the verse/chorus form of songwriting, but with a stack of naggingly familiar and homogeneous melodies, the songs developed an unpleasant ability to morph into one-ness.
The ultimate cynic could accuse The Coronas of targeting an easily-pleased market with their MOR pop, but witnessing the earnest banter and mutual love – nay devotion – between band and fans, perhaps it’s fairer to just stand back and let them enjoy their moment in the sun. And anyway, after this set of Dublin shows, more than 2,500 fans will have screamed and swooned their way through the 90-minute set. And that many people can’t be wrong, can they?
