Ana Gog at Whelan’s – Review and Photos

Ana Gog played Whelan’s last Thursday, June 6th.

More than three months. That’s how much we had to wait to see Ana Gog live again. On a chilly evening at the beginning of March, Ana Gog released their debut album, “Making Trails” with a gig at the Unitarian Church. We loved the album even before the release gig and we loved the band even more after their amazing performance. There’s really not much we can add about Ana Gog at this point, aside from the fact that we’ve recently featured them as our Irish Band of the Week.

From the imposing Unitarian Church to the cozy Whelan’s, the sound of their live set seemed a bit different. The unique acoustic of the church or, perhaps, the solemn seated audience, hid a rock-y side of their music that was revealed in Whelan’s last Thursday. Their music seemed bolder, a bit more powerful. Better.

The set debuted with track one from “Making Trails”, “Wolf, Fox and Hound”, a soft warm-up for the rest of the night. The second song was “Hotels”, the tune with the bow-played guitar that has a brand new video filmed at their gig in The Unitarian Church. “Mr. Magpie”, the most promoted track of their album was the first song recognized by the majority of the fans in the audience. “A Study Of Her Painted Face” was another very well received track, partly due to its distinctive and brilliant guitar play.

The encore had the band back on stage for two more songs. The last one, “Between The Rocks, track 10 of their album, was spectacular to watch, just as it was to listen. The energy of the song built up for the first two minutes until it was released into an explosion of drums, piano and bass – a grand finale worthy of the great concert the lads offered.

Ana Gog confirmed last Thursday that they’re a band worth following. Let’s just hope we won’t have to wait three more months until their next gig.

Photos by Tudor Marian