Stunning gig for Ennistymon

IN 1987 in a rented farmhouse in Galway, The Stunning came into being.
All the songs that appeared on their first album Paradise in the Picturehouse were written and rehearsed there and now marking their 25th anniversary, the band will be together for a show at the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon on October 28.
During the early ’90s, the biggest Irish band in the world was U2 but, in Ireland it was The Stunning. In the seven years they were together, they toured relentlessly building up a following that would make them one of the most successful Irish bands ever.
In 1990, their debut album, Paradise In The Picturehouse, spent five weeks at number one and became one of the most-loved Irish albums of all time.
Two years later, the follow-up Once Around The World also hit the number-one spot and the band went on to sell over 100,000 albums in Ireland alone. During their time, the band enjoyed numerous Top 20 singles and scooped every music prize and award going. Irish radio and TV championed the band and they were rarely off the airwaves.
The band formed in 1987 and broke up in 1994 but despite the passing of time, their popularity hasn’t waned. Songs such as Half Past Two, Romeo’s on Fire and Everything that Rises are still to be heard on the radio and have been featured in movies and numerous compilation abums of the best of Irish rock.
Brewing Up A Storm has become an anthem of sorts and is to be heard everywhere from football stadiums to clubs around the country where it is still a guaranteed floor-filler. President Michael D Higgins is a fan and even guested on the band’s Tightrope album and The Stunning supported him throughout his 2011 presidential campaign.
During the late ’80s and early ’90s, the band frequently toured in the US and the UK and also supported Bob Dylan, The B52’s and the Waterboys. It seemed international fame and stardom would naturally follow but this was not to be.
After a series of business dissappointments and a lack of progress internationally, the band became frustrated and decided to split up. Their music was never released outside of Ireland. They played an emotional farewell tour in 1994 and met crying fans all over the country for whom The Stunning had provided the soundtrack to their teenage years. Then they went their separate ways.
All the band members are still actively making music. Frontmen Steve and Joe found success with The Walls and released their third album Stop the Lights in March 2012. Guitarist Derek Murray played for years with The Sawdoctors and now teaches recording in the west of Ireland. Cormac Dunne is a renowned and in-demand session drummer, while multi-instrumentalist Jim Higgins plays bodhrán with some of Ireland’s best traditional acts such as Altan and Máirtín O’Connor.
In 2003, the band reunited for the first time to promote the rerelease of Paradise in the Picturehouse on The Walls’ Dirtbird Records label. The album sold out in the first three days, reaching number 2 and the tour that followed was one of the biggest in the country that year. They played four sold-out nights in Dublin’s Vicar Street, as well as packing venues thoughout the country on a 14-date tour. After that, they decided they would reform every two years as the demand was so high and have since played to capacity crowds at the Electric Picnic and other festivals and venues throughout Ireland.