The Streets
3Olympia, Dublin
★★★★★
By the time Mike Skinner tells us a story about his first show in Dublin – which comprises a house party, missed lift, borrowed money, train to Belfast, and further chaos – we are so deeply immersed in his worldview that we are unsure if this is actually a narrative from one of his songs.
Skinner’s work weaves together a social realism that traces a line from Raymond Chandler to Ken Loach to Shane Meadows, engaging themes like the dashing of ideals, the conflict between the rural and the urban, the baying mood of the suburbs, and the hubbub of the underclass. What Skinner doesn’t engage in is small talk – yet his songs resemble…