MADRA SALACH

When a band has released just one album, and that album is only a few months old, and you then realise – after a fruitless search – that the asking price has already risen to over a hundred euros, you know you’re dealing with something special. However, describing the Irish band MADRA SALACH as ‘something special’ in a single sentence is an understatement on a par with claiming that a hair in horse sausage sauce is rarely conducive to one’s appetite. Madra Salach, folks, is a band that interprets traditional folk with such intensity that you could blow a garage door right out of its frame with it. Irish, yes, because our Monday the third of August is turning so green/white/orange that St Patrick himself rang last week to ask to be put on the guest list. Oh yes, the album from our opening line is called “It’s a hell of an age”, contains just five songs but has since been hailed as a sought-after treasure in their homeland. The fact that the mainland is gradually taking notice has a lot to do with their concert in January during the Eurosonic showcase festival in Groningen, where they blew the massive competition out of the water. And no, that has nothing to do with the fact that they drove on the left; Madra Salach live is such an intense experience that your internal applause meter needs recharging after 45 minutes. You can do whatever you like, of course, but emails from people who missed Madra Salach’s concert at our Club Studio Brussel and are begging for another chance next year are met with a curt reply: “We told you so, didn’t we?”