The Horrors – Button Factory – 19/11/25 – Live Review
by Killian Laher

A freezing night for the first visit of Horrors to Dublin in 8 years.  Would they survive the recent departure of guitarist Josh Hayward, who left the band in recent weeks?  First up was The Null Club, a side project of Gilla Band guitarist Alan Duggan Borges, who played a continuous half-hour set of eerie noise, largely delivered through keyboard loops at deafening volume.  He played occasional guitar and some creepy samples while marauding around the stage, accompanied by intense lighting and projections on a backdrop.  The hypnotic, envelope-pushing set was reminiscent of Haxan Cloak if anything.

Faris Badwan and co emerged through a haze of lighting, all big angular hair, skinny jeans and pretentious moves.  But what a collection of songs.  While initially Badwan’s deep vocals sounded a little muffled, and the sound seemed somewhat… busy on the openers The Silence That Remains and Three Decades, they seemed to sort the mix out from then on.  They didn’t just focus on their recent album Night Life, but played songs from across their back catalogue, which includes many impressive tracks.  The epic Sea Within A Sea saw a stampede from the bar back towards the stage, the long drawn out intro on this and Endless Blue giving Faris Badwan a chance to have a breather before the songs kick in.

The band really grew into the gig, playing catchy tune after catchy tune with Still Life, More Than Life and Moving Further Away, which the crowd lapped up, before finishing with Who Can Say.  After a brief pause, the band returned for an uplifting encore of The Lotus Eaters, a cover of David Bowie’s Heroes and finally their big dance number Something To Remember Me By.  Despite the pseudo-goth stylings and sullen poses, the band play a brand of feel-good dark pop songs, as catchy as anything in indie rock.  A highly enjoyable gig.