Irish Punk Takes Center Stage with SPRINTS at New York’s Bowery Ballroom
Written and Captured By | Niamh Murphy
Dublin garage punk outfit SPRINTS hit NYC’s storied Bowery Ballroom Thursday night, bringing all the fire and energy needed to shake off the bitter cold that has settled across the city.
The sold-out show was in support of their second album, “All That Is Over,” a haunting, bleak, furious record that takes the best of their earlier recordings and jam-packs it into thirty-nine thrashing minutes. As vocalist Karla Chubb explains to the rapt crowd, the album marks the band’s first venture as full-time musicians. It, and this tour, feel like a bloody-knuckled fight to prove that decision was worth it — and worth it, it is.
See more photos of My Transparent Eye HERE
The night started on a softer note with opening act My Transparent Eye, a shoegaze quartet from New York that took to the stage with a cool — maybe even chilly — air. Not a talkative bunch, they instead let their music do the speaking: experimental indie rock involving plenty of holding their instruments up to amps for maximum reverb, pushing both genre and equipment to their limits. The crowd quickly warmed to them. What initially read as awkward became artistic — a decision to let the music and energy speak for themselves — building in tempo and intensity throughout the set and eventually leaving the audience keyed up and antsy for SPRINTS to take the stage.
See more photos of SPRINTS HERE
And take to it they did. For an hour and a half, SPRINTS put on a relentless, high-octane performance that whipped the crowd into a whirling, frenetic tangle of Pellador-brand jerseys, Adidas flat-soled trainers, and Strongbow cans crushed underfoot. The band themselves were just as energetic, with vocalist Karla Chubb and guitarist Zac Stephenson thrashing and twisting across the stage, anchored by the steadier presences of bassist Sam McCann and drummer Jack Callan.
From the first song, the setlist hardly gave the audience a moment to breathe, careening from new releases “Something’s Gonna Happen,” “Beg,” and “Descartes” to the moody “Feast,” then back into a frenzy with fan favorite “Literary Mind.” The first real break came with “To The Bone,” an indelible, evocative number that hit like ice about halfway through the set. The only sound accompanying Chubb’s mournful “and it’s cold/to the bone/to the bone” was the crowd’s quiet attempts to catch its breath, surprised by the abrupt change in tempo.
Not ones to let their audience get too comfortable, the energy soon spiked again. “Heavy,” “Up and Comer,” “Need,” and “Desire” delivered yet another unrelenting barrage, amped up even more by Chubb’s frequent dives into the crowd to sing along with fans, crowd-surf, and whip everyone up further.
The pace felt deliberate, sharpening the movement of the crowd. It wasn’t just pure energy; there was anxiety, a disruption of the standard concert setlist. There were few pauses, and when they came, they disappeared as suddenly as they had arrived. It became not just a concert, but another layer of “All That Is Over”: a pull-no-punches, raw record that explores anger, exhaustion, and disillusionment.
See more photos of SPRINTS HERE
Music is inevitably political, in the sense that it is made by people for other people — and people are political beings. But for all the anger at the world and the Powers That Be in their music, SPRINTS give fans space to work through it. Chubb took a moment to remind the crowd that the important thing in life is the power of the people in that room — of community, of coming together, of connection. And then: “With that, we have three things to say: trans rights are human rights, free Palestine, and fuck ICE.”
The world is a bitter pill most of the time. But under the flashing strobes and disco balls of one of New York’s most iconic venues, joining others who feel the same anger and fear — and are using it to reach out to one another — softens the blow.
SPRINTS are a punchy, beyond-talented band with something to prove. If the night could be summed up in one image, it would be a glimpse of their fiery frontwoman amid a sea of fans, looking more at home in the throes of the crowd than on the stage above it.