OneRepublic at the 3Arena, Dublin – Review and Photos

Ryan Tedder is the king of the airwaves. Chances are that if you turn on your radio at any time of the day and scan through the channels, you’ll find a song that he had a hand in or one he’s singing backed by his One Republic cohorts. With a CV as glittering as that, those that took themselves along to the 3 Arena on Sunday night would be expecting a slick show and that’s exactly what they got.

Having ended previous tours in Dublin, One Republic decided to kick off their European tour here this time and they treated the young crowd to a run through of their many hits, embellished with the obligatory bells and whistles of the stage show. While their music may not be particularly edgy, they deliver a slew of perfectly crafted pop songs with impeccable musicianship. Tedder moves between guitar and piano with ease; his piano playing that leads into a largely solo rendition of ‘Apologize’ is particularly impressive and Brent Kutzle effortlessly switches between bass and cello all night.

Elsewhere the large video screen at the back of the stage shows a choir of children singing in Abbey Road that leads into a searing rendition of ‘All The Right Moves’ and ‘Stop And Stare’ is belted out with suitable gusto, ably assisted by a crowd that were in fine voice all night, singing every word of every song back at the band.

With a lot of experience of playing these grand arenas at this stage, the band work the crowd perfectly, even if Tedder does mistakenly refer to the place as the Olympia at one stage. With the band gathered tightly together on a podium at the front of the stage to give a more intimate feel, ‘Good Life’s lyrics are reworked to include Dublin much to the delight of the crowd. This was preceded by a soaring version of Hozier’s ‘Take Me To The Church’ that predictably went down a storm.

With the show front-loaded with most of their better known material, the end of the show did fall a little flat but the encore brought a final jolt of life to proceedings, with a version of ‘What A Wonderful World’ going down well before promises are made to return with a new album and new clothes in the near future. ‘If I Lose Myself’ then closes proceedings in suitably spectacular fashion with the band pounding lit up drums at the front of the stage and confetti streaming over the ecstatic crowd. One Republic may never reinvent the wheel but with a template this polished no reinventions are necessary.

Review by Mark O’Brien

Photos by Anamaria Meiu