Belfast based Dea Matrona finally made it to Whelan’s this week for their headline show which has been rescheduled many times, originally meant to take place almost 2 years ago in 2020. The bands influences such as Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin shine through in many of their songs but their unique flare creates something truly one of a kind.
Support act Jack Devlin started the night strong with great songs and an equally strong live performance. Jack himself was armed with an acoustic guitar for most of the set, backed by a great band who provided a rock driven lift to the chorus of a majority of the songs. The 4th song he played ‘Blue Skies’ was particularly catchy and will definitely be stuck in my head for days to come. His Red Hot Chilli Peppers cover of their hit ‘Can’t Stop’ was definitely another highlight which got the crowd fired up for Dea Matrona.
Dea Matrona’s set consisted of a mix of original material and some very well chosen covers of rock classics such as Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Oh Well’ and Aerosmith s ‘Walk this Way’. Mollie and Orlaith demonstrated a tremendous stage presence throughout the high paced set. The pair also demonstrated tremendous versatility, switching between bass and guitar at several points during the set.
Their own songs are filled with outrageous basslines and fantastic lead guitar parts, kept together with tight drumming from their drummer. The band opened with ‘ I Just Wanna Rock’ a fitting start to a night filled with Rock and Roll. The first song the band wrote together, ‘Heart’, was another highlight with much of the crowd singing along and dancing.
Towards the end of the set the tempo picked up with songs such as ‘Gloria’ and ‘Make you my Star’. The last song the band played was ‘Its Only Music’, another one of the bands rock anthem’s which once again got the crowd moving . Dea Matrona’s set lasted about an hour in all and each second was filled with pure rock and roll, a tremendous achievement in this day and age.
It was great to catch Dea Matrona again after two years and I look forward to seeing them again soon as they are certainly destined for great success thanks to their tremendous live performances!
