Mona Live At Whelan's, Dublin

Selling out Whelan’s months before your album has hit the shelves is a sure sign of a band on the road to the big time. While lead singer Nick Brown’s stated aim is to be bigger than Bono, right now he’ll have to settle for a position as the Pentecostal Johnny Borrell. Backhanded, maybe, but still a compliment. They certainly come out of the traps in the right way – their entrance music is the best in the business. An ethereal wonder, it sounds like a gang of angels carrying you high above the Spire, or preparing to go to war. In reality, it introduces a rock ‘n’ roll four-piece with their eyes on Kings Of Leon’s crown. Indeed, this Tennessee band spend much of the night sounding strikingly similar to that Tennessee band – whether it’s a cynical move or mere coincidence remains to be seen. Brown finds his voice as early-period Caleb, but doesn’t soar quite so freely, while his cohorts could be distant Followill cousins. One of their tracks is ‘Crawl’ in all but name. A Knights Of Leon-esque tribute act? Not quite. They crib plenty of their moves from elsewhere in rock, throwing in a dash of their own identity and, to be fair, they have far, far better haircuts. On this showing, Mona are an incredibly proficient live proposition but if they stand out from the rabble it is chiefly down to their songwriting chops. They pen economic, hook-laden anthems that pack a tremendous punch. Tonight ‘Teenager’ is the fan favourite, but they have a handful of equally accomplished songs in their locker. Of those, ‘Trouble On The Way’ is an exhilarating blast that comes at you like a steam engine, ‘Lean Into The Fall’ a more considered, expansive beauty. Unfortunately, when they try to dive beneath the surface and find a little depth, they flounder and drown. The slower songs are merely U2-by-numbers and lyrically, it’s the usual boy-girl fluff. Their real talent lies in the more propulsive, straight-ahead material that makes up the majority of their set, capturing an immediacy that gets the crowd going from the off and leaves them cheering for more at the finish line. Sure, you could say that there’s nothing new to see here, move along. Tonight, however, Dublin doesn’t care. It might only be rock ‘n’ roll, but they like it.