I’m a danger to myself at ‘all your can eat’ Buffets. I take it as a challenge and set out to eat as much is as humanly possible! And so let it be with Hard Working class Heroes, a buffet of all that is good of new and upcoming Irish music. There are seven venues, each with between five and seven bands, so there’s a world of choice for anyone to experiment with some new sounds.

My night began with the final moments of Conor Walsh at Meeting House Square. It was a perfect night for the outside venue and with the stage positioned in front of the Gallery of Photography, this was a new way to see the square. Conor was making some delicate electronic music, but really I saw too little to have a firm opinion.

Next up was Dear Desert at the Workman’s Club. They seemed to have had a busy day with talk of various performances around the city, and their set was enjoyable. Liza Flume was one of the few names I’d seen on a couple of occasions previously and her set at Meeting House Square was filled with her wondeful voice, guitar and some electronic sounds. God Knows + mynameisjOhn injected a little explosion into the night with a furious hip hop set at the Button Factory. It’s a side of Irish music that continues to grow and it was good to see it well supported.

Carriages were probably my favourite band on the night, and one I’ve been meaning to get to see for a long time now. Their set at the Workman’s Club was colourful and their music is inventive and mixes a lot of different worlds. Soak was the final act of the night at Meeting House Square, and she took to the stage with only her guitar for a stripped down set. Her legend continues to grow!

Hard Working Class Heroes continues until Saturday the 5th of October. Find full details here.