Cork’s Ping Pong has provided me with many of my favourite nights out in its time, so I was quite sad when the guys who run it (Shane, Niall and Albert), decided to take a break. But they are, thankfully, back in the promoting game once again, and are bringing Ensemble Economique and Strawk to the city this weekend.

The gig will take place in the Half Moon Theatre, which has undergone quite the impressive facelift in the past few years. It is a theatre space but one that lends itself nicely to shows, especially as there is a balcony if you feel like getting an alternative view of the band.

The Ping Pong lads are always ahead of the curve when it comes to bringing bands to Cork, so it’s always a treat to see who they have in store.

Here’s the spacey, synth-heavy, atmospheric sounds of Ensemble Economique:

The band is essentially a project of Bryan Pyle’s, and I can imagine the rumbling drums and droning synths sounding pretty tasty in the Half Moon.

Meanwhile, support band Strawk is described as an “excellent Cork-based electronic noise, fuzz and drone merchant”, and that’s about all I know about them/him/her.

That said, in Cork slang ‘strawk hawling‘ is

An expression of satisfaction with oneself and life in reply to an enquiry about one’s health, etc., and expression of good-humoured resignation.

Here’s the Facebook event page.The gig is €8/€10 in and there will be DJs afterwards till 2am.

B&W pic by me