PICTURE THIS
3Arena, Dublin ★★★☆☆ Without the internet the indie-pop purveyors Picture This would not be playing the first of five sold-out nights at 3Arena on Wednesday night. Ryan Hennessy and Jimmy Rainsford, the band's singer and drummer, were once ordinary lads from Co Kildare with a simple penchant for slightly schmaltzy love songs. Now joined by two new band members, Owen Cardiff and Cliff Deane, their rise to fame is the stuff of millennial fairy tales.
A low-cost music video uploaded to Facebook in 2015 started doing numbers quickly, with viewers countrywide quick to lavish praise on the young lads, their musical talents and their considerable initiative. They had already amassed a loyal young fan base, sold out a nationwide tour, racked up millions of views and had a number-one single and EP before they even signed with Republic Records, part of Universal Music Group.
Yet Picture This remain a distinctly Irish phenomenon. They might have sold out their 3Arena run in three minutes, but their new album failed to crack the UK top 40, and they’ve had no hit singles in the United States... yet.
Ryan Hennessy dances as if he has been studying footage of Freddie Mercury and George Michael but isn't quite sure how to put the lessons into practice. But his voice is assured
But that might just be a matter of time. Tonight, when a screen rolls up to reveal the four-piece, they are greeted by a head-splitting chorus of female screams. No one in this crowd looks a day over 18.
Hennessy, who announces he turned 24 yesterday, is wearing a bright-red suit with three-quarter-length trousers, a semi-sheer sparkly top and black brogues. What would the boys back in Athy think? It’s clear most of the screams are for him as he stands front and centre, the rest of the band in the background, bathed in a muted blue light.
“It feels so long since we put these tickets on sale, and we’ve sold out every f**king night. Thank you for that,” he exclaims between songs. “This is the best feeling in the world.”
And well it might be, as he prowls the stage, cameraphones tracking every hip judder, screeches emitted as he veers heart-flutteringly close to the crowd. He dances as if he has been studying footage of Freddie Mercury and George Michael but isn’t quite sure how to put the lessons into practice. But his voice is strong and assured.
Songs like You & I and Everything I Need bristle with youthful optimism, and it’s hard to be cynical in the face of such positivity. The crowd know all the words and are regularly invited to sing them back. Teenagers with shy grins cover their faces as the camera turns towards them. At one point an overenthusiastic fan flings her bra towards the stage.
There's an innocence to the occasion, in spite of the figure-hugging tops and tight trousers (and that's just Hennessy)
“I want everyone in this crowd to know you can do whatever you want to do, and be whatever you want to be,” he says. There’s an innocence to the occasion, in spite of the figure-hugging tops and tight trousers (and that’s just Hennessy).
The acoustic-led Pretend is a sweet moment, as the three other band members crowd around the singer while he whistles carefree, and Never Change would cut through even the most cynical hearts.
Tonight 3Arena is filled with hopeless romantics, and it’s no coincidence most of them are both female and still at school. In case we are in any doubt about Hennessy’s teen-pin-up status, he treats us to taking both jacket and top off during a four-song encore to reveal an impressively large set of bad-boy-with-a-heart tattoos. The supercatchy One Drink, a dance-friendly electro number from the band’s new album, MDRN LV, sounds chart fresh and goes down a treat with an audience mainly not old enough to buy even one drink – unless it’s a 7Up.
“I’m just trying to take it all in,” Hennessy says. “It’s amazing. Are you going to be the best of the five tonight? You’re going to be very hard to beat.” He probably says that to all the girls.
