BIMM end of term gig

Dublin’s BIMM students showcased their talents in their annual ‘End of Term Gig’, which was held in the Button Factory on Thursday 26th of March 2015.

photo by: Sarah Ruane

The gig, organised by BIMM faculty members, offered an opportunity for their students  to promote themselves as artists in a live performance. The doors of the Button Factory opened at 7.30pm and bunches of excited students bounced around the hall welcoming members of the public.

BIMM student Conor King is a member of a group called “Prestige Worldwide”, who were one of the bands selected to play at the End of Term gig. He explained how amazing it was to see the huge crowd that turned out to see all the bands play.

“It was unbelievable, it was such a good feeling to play in front of your classmates, family and friends in a venue like this”.

Conor explained how the selection process was run and how tough the competition was.

“As part of our Live Performance Workshop module we must put together a band and perform a song to be assessed on. The assessment doubles as an audition for the End of Term gig. The standard is always so high, I was lucky enough to have my band put forward for the gig” he said.

Hazy lights focused on the stage, the buzz of the crowd dampened by the voice of the compere Shauna Watson welcoming the spectators to the event.

“Something Cool” opened the gig with lead singer Mimi Lane blowing the crowd away with her amazing range in vocals and stunning control of each note. It’s always difficult to be the first act on in any type of show, however “Something Cool”, were the perfect opening to what was a talent­ filled night with exciting music from all genres.

There was no shortage of stage presence on the night, with many bands exerting their unique personalities and emotions through their performances. “Belt” was one band in particular who took their performance to a whole new level. The intensity of the drums, electric guitars and the singers voice all started to build up to a climax which then resulted in the lead singer Ciarán Hoyne to jump into his fans and crowd­-surf, a moment every rocker dreams of.

The highly entertained crowd cheered in support and loved the interaction.

“Getting to play such a heavy hitting song completely off the leash in a venue like the Button Factory is a memory that will stay with me. Coupled with the fact that crowd surfing has been a goal of mine just adds to the incredible experience”, Ciarán said about the experience.

“Prestige Worldwide” were another band who had a huge stage presence and really got the crowd going. The band which has seven members filled the whole stage and they performed a pop song by Bruno Mars called “Runaway Baby”.

The strong connection between each member shone through and was great to watch. At one point, lead singer Nassim Missaoui grabbed a megaphone and started chanting through it, egging the crowd to join in. It was amazing to witness how much the band interacted with their audience and it made the experience so much more exciting.

From Pop music to heavy metal, there was something there for everyone. It was a hugely successful night for both the bands that performed and the audience involved. This End of Term gig is getting bigger and better by the year and casts a huge light on the talent emerging from BIMM.