Live Review: NewDad

Electric, Bristol - 22/10/2025

“Is everyone sufficiently sad?” quips NewDad frontwoman Julie Dawson. A quiet acquiesce follows before she responds with a simple “good”, and the show continues in all its gut-wrenching glory.

On Wednesday night, Irish trio, NewDad, treated Bristol’s recently rebranded Electric to a dreamy masterclass in the art of yearning. 

Setting the tone for the night was yet another Irish band making waves in the indie scene at the moment, Cardinals, the quintet who seamlessly incorporates gritty rock and roll nostalgia with traditional Irish music. 

Opening with the woozy Twist & Turn, the band take to the stage with a hint of nonchalance, reinforcing their cool, moody aesthetic. Under hazy lighting, mostly obscuring the band, again adding to the mysterious aura, accordion player Finn Manning takes centre stage, playing a tambourine with urgency, and an unfaltering energy. 

The addition of the accordion on Cardinals’ numbers not only introduced a novelty to contemporary indie-rock, but emphasised the emotional drive of the band’s music, frontman Euan Manning’s often delicate vocals woven alongside, creating a resonant atmosphere, between moments of intense, raucous distortion.

Closing on If I Could Make You Care, the final track on the band’s 2024 eponymous EP, the band have the room in the palm of their hand, the swirling guitars and gentle, almost indecipherable vocals engulfing the room and haunting the space. As Manning delivers the simple spoken word “I love you” you can feel the room ache, before the song intensifies into a thrash rock song, ultimately building up to the contrary line “I can tell you now / Now that nobody’s around / Who’ll become my lover / When you’re gone.” As the song simmers out, and the room is left with the low hum of feedback, you could hear a pin drop. 

Powerfully raw and at times vulnerable, Cardinals provided the perfect opening set for an evening of shoegaze heavy, achingly melancholic sonics. 

Much of the same occurs once Galway’s NewDad takes to the stage. 

Arriving alone, frontwoman Julie Dawson kicked off Other Side before the other band members, Sean O’Dowd on guitar and drummer Fiachra Parslow, joined her to complete the wall of sound. 

The set consists of a mix of the band’s discography thus far, Newdad playing just over an hour of mostly new album Altar, released back in September, with fan-favourites from debut, MADRA scattered throughout. 

There’s also a feature of early track, Blue, which is a more stripped-back, shoegaze infused track, in comparison to some of their heavier leaning new songs. 

Despite the grungy, often gloomy feel to the band’s discography, Dawson’s charm and crowd interaction added a more intimate and inviting atmosphere to the show. Encouraging audience participation on Sickly Sweet, and with its guitar-heavy sonics, it sees the crowd clapping along to the rhythm. 

There’s a screen behind the band which is utilised throughout, projecting clips from their music videos, adding a visual element to the rich, atmospheric sonics, and providing wider context to the house aesthetics used in the recent album campaign, consequently fully immersing the audience in the band’s world. 

Another standout of the set is Pretty. Serving as a heartfelt love letter to the band’s hometown of Galway, it explores the peaceful nature of life back home and contrasts the feelings of homesickness and nostalgia with the fast-paced, bustling London lifestyle. With its shimmering guitars and delicate melodies, it’s an ethereal number perfectly encapsulating the themes of yearning, relationships, and ambition explored by the band throughout the breadth of their discography. 

As we approach the encore, a drone can be heard, signalling the band are yet to wrap up their biggest headline in Bristol thus far. 

Returning to the stage, the band end on arguably two of their most energetic tracks, Angel (with signature gritty rhythms, a full-crowd sing-a-long is wholly encouraged by Dawson, everyone in the room complying), and Roboosh. The latter is the lead single from the new album, and serves as the most high energy and heaviest song of the night, the crowd giving it their all to the very end. 

Whilst NewDad’s music is mostly melancholic and dream-like on studio recordings, live they deliver a powerful, immersive performance bursting with confidence and precision. The next time the Irish trio return to Bristol, it’s certain to be an even bigger yet. 

KATIE HILLIER