Drink the Sea, the collective featuring band leader Barret Martin, R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Queens of the Stone Age collaborator Alain Johannes, and multi instrumentalist Duke Garwood, arrived in Dublin on Sunday night [14 December 2025] for an intimate show at Temple Bar's Button Factory. Featuring a crammed two hours of music, the augmented six-piece proved captivating at their debut Irish show.
Photo; Adrian Hextall Mindhex Media
It's a good sign when The Edge rises for a standing ovation as Drink the Sea take their bows following an incredible two hour performance in Dublin. The U2 founder has been watching intently all night, captivated and visibly deep into the music. Old friend Peter Buck may be up on stage, but it's clear the guitarist icon is both friend, and fan.
The wealth of talent on stage tonight is staggering. With the musicians being involved in such out and out classics R.E.M.'s 'Automatic for the People', Queens of the Stone Age's 'Songs for the Deaf', and the self-titled sets by Mad Season and the Mark Lanegan Band, they've have nothing to prove.
Coming together as Drink the Sea however, it's clear that its the love of the music and what each of them to the collaboration that drives them. With an introspective sound that front man Duke Garwood described in a chat with eonmusic as; "very sexy. It's the culmination of our minds. It's expansive. I don't think it's inhibited; it's quite free and open.", it's fair to say that this is more of an experience, than a gig.
With a brace of albums released earlier this year, the band have an abundance of material to choose from, and tonight they play most of it. On record, their measured tones are a delight, but live is where the magic really is, with the layered textures intertwining, living and breathing.
It's all kicks off with the seductive 'Shaking for the Snakes', before a funky 'Saturn Calling' and grungy 'Outside Again', with each track seeing the six-piece - filed out by bassist Abbey Blackwell and percussionist Lisette Garcia - feeding off each other, giving subtle nods for the cues, and getting lost in the performance.
The number of gigs they've played as a band at this stage can be counted on one hand, but it's clear that they're having a ball. Band leader Barrett Martin seems in particularly good form, as he greets the audience. "Good evening Dublin!", he says, excitedly; "it is such an honour to be here. Some of us have ancestors who came from here!"
Martin does most of the talking, but to his right, a seated Alain Johannes takes his turn when the mood takes him, in between switching from a carousel of stringed instruments that includes guitar, Portuguese guitar, and four-string cigar box. Though looking entirely relaxed throughout, each time he picks one up, his solos are nothing short of mesmerising.
Duke Garwood is the most pensive of the bunch, looking at times entirely consumed by his performance, particularly when singing and picking up the tenor sax, which he usus to brilliant effect.
Buck, meanwhile, says little, preferring to concentrate on twelve-string and Rickenbacker duties. He does however offer a "motherfucker is my favourite word!" after someone in the audience professes; "we love you motherfuckers!"
All the while the band are backed by the evocative images captured by film maker Tad Fettig, which perfectly compliment the expansive soundscapes of Drink the Sea's remarkable sound.
Highlights include the audience becoming the seventh member clapping along to 'House of Flowers', the dreamy 'Midnight Starlight', and the hypnotic 'Aching Harbour'.
Touching on their pasts as the night comes to an end, Martin professes; "we miss those guys" [late singers Lanegan and Layne Stayley], ahead of an impassioned run through Mad Season's 'Long Gone Day', while R.E.M.'s 'The One I Love' brings the house down.
The evening ends on a heavy note, with a rip-roaring run through Queens of the Stone Age's 'Hanging Tree', after which Garwood declares; "thank you so much. You really are beautiful!"
It's clear that Drink the Sea are a bunch of seasoned pros performing purely for the love of playing music. Lucky for them the Dublin crowd is as into it as them. Catch this unique coming together while you can.
The wealth of talent on stage tonight is staggering. With the musicians being involved in such out and out classics R.E.M.'s 'Automatic for the People', Queens of the Stone Age's 'Songs for the Deaf', and the self-titled sets by Mad Season and the Mark Lanegan Band, they've have nothing to prove.
Coming together as Drink the Sea however, it's clear that its the love of the music and what each of them to the collaboration that drives them. With an introspective sound that front man Duke Garwood described in a chat with eonmusic as; "very sexy. It's the culmination of our minds. It's expansive. I don't think it's inhibited; it's quite free and open.", it's fair to say that this is more of an experience, than a gig.
With a brace of albums released earlier this year, the band have an abundance of material to choose from, and tonight they play most of it. On record, their measured tones are a delight, but live is where the magic really is, with the layered textures intertwining, living and breathing.
It's all kicks off with the seductive 'Shaking for the Snakes', before a funky 'Saturn Calling' and grungy 'Outside Again', with each track seeing the six-piece - filed out by bassist Abbey Blackwell and percussionist Lisette Garcia - feeding off each other, giving subtle nods for the cues, and getting lost in the performance.
The number of gigs they've played as a band at this stage can be counted on one hand, but it's clear that they're having a ball. Band leader Barrett Martin seems in particularly good form, as he greets the audience. "Good evening Dublin!", he says, excitedly; "it is such an honour to be here. Some of us have ancestors who came from here!"
Martin does most of the talking, but to his right, a seated Alain Johannes takes his turn when the mood takes him, in between switching from a carousel of stringed instruments that includes guitar, Portuguese guitar, and four-string cigar box. Though looking entirely relaxed throughout, each time he picks one up, his solos are nothing short of mesmerising.
Duke Garwood is the most pensive of the bunch, looking at times entirely consumed by his performance, particularly when singing and picking up the tenor sax, which he usus to brilliant effect.
Buck, meanwhile, says little, preferring to concentrate on twelve-string and Rickenbacker duties. He does however offer a "motherfucker is my favourite word!" after someone in the audience professes; "we love you motherfuckers!"
All the while the band are backed by the evocative images captured by film maker Tad Fettig, which perfectly compliment the expansive soundscapes of Drink the Sea's remarkable sound.
Highlights include the audience becoming the seventh member clapping along to 'House of Flowers', the dreamy 'Midnight Starlight', and the hypnotic 'Aching Harbour'.
Touching on their pasts as the night comes to an end, Martin professes; "we miss those guys" [late singers Lanegan and Layne Stayley], ahead of an impassioned run through Mad Season's 'Long Gone Day', while R.E.M.'s 'The One I Love' brings the house down.
The evening ends on a heavy note, with a rip-roaring run through Queens of the Stone Age's 'Hanging Tree', after which Garwood declares; "thank you so much. You really are beautiful!"
It's clear that Drink the Sea are a bunch of seasoned pros performing purely for the love of playing music. Lucky for them the Dublin crowd is as into it as them. Catch this unique coming together while you can.