“Shut the fuck up, Whelan’s!” says lead singer Oisin Leahy Furlong. This is one of the few exceptions when telling a crowd of people to shut up is socially acceptable. The noisy, self-proclaimed “maximalist”, post-melodic guitar band Thumper (stylised as THUMPER) took to the stage in a first-time venue sell-out for the band at Whelan’s in their hometown of Dublin. They are about to play the song Greedy Guts from their debut studio album Delusions of Grandeur, released in March 2022. A very fitting release date for an Irish band with at least two members having a tattoo of a pint of Guinness. The song begins quietly and gradually gets louder. It is a formula that their peers in the music industry may play out, but they find a way to make it just that bit more captivating. It certainly set the mood for the rest of the night. A crowd desperate to get rowdy and mosh to their heart’s content, but also needed to be patient and wait for the right moment. When those moments came, Whelan’s was one raucous place to be.

The sextet is now on the backend of a “seemingly endless” tour, according to Leahy Furlong since the end of July this year. That does not take away from the fact that they delivered effortlessly in a packed room on Wexford Street in Dublin City Centre. A room they previously played to “about 50 people”. This should indicate a massive rise in their fanbase since their forming in 2015. Originally a solo project by Leahy Furlong. The band gradually became a sextet with two drummers. Yes, you read that correctly. You may wonder how that all works. Two drummers. Three guitar players and a bassist. Simply, it just does. Each member has their part to play, and each member gives 100%.

While the group played mostly from their album and the couple of EPs they have, they surprised the majority of the crowd with a cover of Natasha Bedingfield’s Unwritten from her debut album back in 2004. Once again, you may think a noisy grunge pop band would be unable to pull it off, and it wouldn’t work. It works. They have been covering the song throughout the tour. It was a welcomed surprise sprinkled with childhood nostalgia. This writer certainly appreciated the throwback.

To close the night, the band played their epic seven-minute (You’re Bringing Me) Down. A single from 2018 and a personal favourite for this writer. Complete with crowd-surfing from both band and fans, as well as a wall of death and mosh pit, Thumper left the main room in Whelan’s on a high note but literally and figuratively. Guitarists Alan Dooley and Alex Harvey joined the crowd and their lead singer in the pit of over 400 (according to Leahy Furlong earlier in the night) sweaty and rowdy music lovers for a finale that left guitars damaged and men shirtless. Crucially, nobody was harmed. Dooley ensured earlier in the night that we were all there for each other and that is what gigs are all about at the end of the day.

THUMPER is a band that you should see live. If this retelling of their biggest show to date doesn’t convince you, I don’t know what will. Cheers to “El Thump” for a beautifully controlled chaotic night. The only way is up. Because, funnily enough, they don’t bring me down.