'Every time we play there, there's magic in the air': Coronas looking forward to Cork gig

“We’re only behind Christy Moore for the act to play there the most times!” So said Danny O’Reilly, lead singer and lyricist with The Coronas as he attempted to count the number of times the Dublin band had played Live At The Marquee on Leeside, just weeks ahead of their next appearance at the big-top venue next month.

“He’s been gigging now for a while,” he continued. “And he has a few years on us.”

Having said that, Danny, drummer Conor Egan and bass player Graham Knox have themselves been on the road for almost 20 years and, because they’re enjoying it at least as much as their growing audience, look like they could give Christy a run for his money in the longevity stakes.

Part of the reason they are back in Cork is that it’s one of the highlights of their year. “We love it, honestly, it’s one of the best venues we’ve ever played and every time we play there, there’s magic in the air, the walk down from town, it’s just a lovely tent, even though they’ve moved it across the road but it’s still more or less in the same place, it’s just an amazing gig and we’re really looking forward to it,” said Danny.

The good news for fans is that the lads are working on their new album, their ninth, and no doubt the set list will feature some new material. Further good news is that songs that fans know and love from their early albums will also feature. Fan favourites such as Heroes or Ghosts and San Diego Song are numbers which will always feature on their set list, the lads say.

Playing live and maintaining their connection with their fans are among the main drivers that have kept The Coronas on the road for so long — and with such success.

“We’ve always prided ourselves on being a good live band — when we started out and even now when we record albums and stuff, we come at it from the perspective will this improve our set, improve our live show and we love that interaction from the audience that they’re involved in it,” said Danny.

“Thankfully, people keep coming back to see us which is a good sign.”

The idea of putting together a new album — which will provide songs for future concerts — excites the group. They’re still as enthusiastic now as the early days when Heroes or Ghosts was one of the summer ear-worms back in 2007 and while there have been several albums since, constantly replenishing the songs they can play at concerts, they’re clearly chuffed with their new songs also and looking forward to showcasing a few of them in the Marquee.

While the band travels all over Ireland and Europe as well as heading to the US later this year, the Cork gig as well as concerts in Dublin and Killarney at Christmas have become regular — almost religious — fixtures on the calendar for their followers.

“We are blessed to have that, we’ve sort of become part of people’s schedule and tradition, people come back every year, they make it part of their Christmas, similarly with the Marquee, groups of friends make it part of their schedule and arrange to meet up,” said Danny.

The band’s continuity is part of their formula for success. “We’ve never really taken a big break, even with covid. We released an album at the start of covid and started working on the next one because there was nothing else to do — so as soon as covid finished, we released another album.

“We haven’t really stopped but we love the process of touring and when we finish touring an album, we go ok, let’s get working on the next one.”

Danny has told musician friends who have asked him about the number of albums the band has completed. “Eight albums, how did you do that?” And the response is: “Well, we did the first one and we released that and started the second one — there’s no big secret to it, we just enjoy it and we have something to say and our music is evolving and we just love doing it.

“If we were just a nostalgia act doing songs from the first album, we’d be happy enough doing that but thankfully that’s not where we’re at — we still have new audience coming to see us, a wide demographic, there’s an appetite for new music, we feel very lucky to be still in the conversation because it’s not an easy industry as you know.”

Streaming platforms, the band acknowledges, eat up most of the profits from any album they produce with a small group of elite musicians getting the vast majority of the miniscule fees paid per play but as they have their own record company, 3ú Records, they manage to cover the costs as they add to their song catalogue.

Talk turns to politics — or rather the lack of it in The Coronas’ public performances. Bands like Kneecap have used their platform to make their opposition to Israel’s onslaught in Gaza very clear — some people might say too clear.

“Have you seen the movie — it’s brilliant, I loved it,” said Danny. “First of all, we think fair play to them, they use their platform to get points across — I’m a fan of Kneecap and think they’re great — for us, we see what we do as an escape for people, an escape from whatever they’re going through in their lives, good or bad and for the two hours they come to hear our music, it’s to forget the world and what’s going on in their lives.

“I think that’s ok — there are some people out there who think we should use our platform for certain things, politically or socially or whatever, it’s never really suited us and what we’re about and the reason we started the band.

“Kneecap address those social issues in their music — but that’s never been part of our thing and if we started now, it would feel a little contrived, it wouldn’t feel like us, it wouldn’t be the reason why people continue to come back to see us.”

And people are coming back to see them in their droves and tickets are selling fast for the June 27 date in the Marquee.

Danny, Conor and Graham are looking forward to making it a night to for all who will be there on the night. And if you don’t make it that night, they will be back!

The Coronas play Live at the Marquee Cork on Friday, June 27, 2025, as part of their Thoughts & Observations tour. Tickets are on sale now from ticketmaster.ie.