Irish rock duo Dea Matrona (named after the Divine Mother in Celtic mythology) have been on the rise for a while, supporting the likes of Foo Fighters’ guitarist Chris Shiflett along the way to the release of their debut LP For Your Sins earlier this month, with their current tour in celebration of the LP.
Dea Moatrona @ The Lower Third
Heavily influenced by the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles and gaining a following with covers, while the duo look to break away from that legacy, shouts of “Can we get any more Fleetwood Mac!” at their basement show in Central London’s new Lower Third venue are met with a rebuff: “I mean, we’re not Fleetwood Mac”.
Arriving on the small stage to the beat of The Knack’s My Sharona provided by additional drum and guitar support from “The boys”, Orláith Forsythe and Mollie McGinn dive straight into Stamp On It, their 2021 single exuding 1970s cool, the 230-capacity room packed and bouncing. Drum-driven 2023’s Get My Mind Off keeps the tempo up, the tune underpinned with gorgeous guitar work from Declan McKerr, McGinn encouraging her audience to sing along.
“Hello London! Welcome to the For Your Sins tour!” McGinn booms. “And thank you for selling this show out” she continues, leading into bounce-along Stuck On You, Forsythe’s bass penetrating even those at the very back of the venue. “This song started when Mollie and I decided to have a wee writing day” Forsythe shares. “She told me that someone had pissed her off. Someone had pissed Mollie off, and we put it into song” she continues to laughs from the crowd, introducing bass-driven Did Nobody Ever Love You?
“We wanted to try this next one for a long time” Forsythe introduces, the famous line “You don’t have to be beautiful To turn me on” from Prince classic Kiss eliciting cheers from the crowd as they immediately sing along to tonight’s heavier, crunchier rendition. “So we released our album last week” McGinn asks to cheers from the room. “Anybody hasn’t given it a listen yet?” she follows to a muted room, “good, cos I was just about to kick yous out!” laughs rippling across the crowd before the troup break into storming tune Wilderness, Forsythe and McGinn’s gorgeous Fleetwood Mac-influenced harmonies countered by McKerr’s Josh Homme-esque blues guitar.
Album cut So Damn Dangerous is followed by that barnstorming rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s 1969 classic Oh Well, a viral YouTube video of which propelled the group to attention back in 2020. Smooth album-closer Black Rain brings us back to the group’s LP, their now signature harmonies and storming bass lines at the fore, McGinn and Forsythe demonstrating their musical capabilities by trading instruments. “We’re gonna send the guys off to take a little break” McGinn states as Ross and Declan depart the stage. “We’re gonna strip it back and play a wee acoustic song for yous” she continues, requesting the crowd light up the room with their camera phones as the pair dive into American-infused Glory, Glory.
Dead Man’s Heart is introduced as the band’s “fuck it, let’s go Country moment”, all four band members (somewhat reluctantly) putting on cowboy hats to massive cheers from the audience. “Arise Cowgirl Mollie” Forsythe gests as the night’s true barnstorm kicks off, McGinn delivering glorious slide guitar. “We’re going to get romantic with this next one” McGinn offers, a slow funk delivered by way of Every Night I Want You, jangling guitars aplenty before an unexpected take on Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s infamous Murder On The Dancefloor. Infectious Red Button is delivered as the group’s “last song”, the crowd singing along wildly before the night is finally closed out with encore tune Make You My Star.
Dea Matrona have something special, that combination of musical chops across instruments and vocals coupled with a chemistry between the leads Orláith Forsythe and Mollie McGinn and a songbook that’s simply a joy to listen to that delivers an engaging, humour-filled barnstom of a set. Sure, this is their debut LP delivered in full (bar Won’t Feel Like This Forever), but a high energy-filled 60 minutes nonetheless.
Dea Matrona play the following headline dates on their For Your Sins tour:
MAY
14th – Manchester, Night & Day
15th – Newcastle, Cluny
16th – Glasgow, The Cathouse
18th – Cork, Cyprus Avenue
19th – Galway, Róisín Dubh
20th – Dublin, Workman’s Club
22nd – Belfast, Limelight 2
Live review & photography of Dea Matrona at The Lower Third, London on 10th May 2024 by Kalpesh Patel.
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