Picture This: 'There’s something in Cork crowds that’s just an extra madness or energy...'

IT’S still a few months shy of 10 years since Picture This uploaded the song Take My Hand, but it feels like a good time to be looking back on their beginnings and meteoric rise. The Kildare quartet are in Cork to publicise their appearance at Live at the Marquee, just weeks after they appeared on The Secret Headliner on Virgin Media television. On the programme, Irish bands more used to playing arenas play a surprise gig at a small venue they played when they were starting out. Picture This delighted a Cork audience with a performance at the Crane Lane Theatre.

If the choice of venue felt unexpected, given that the band hail from Athy and their debut gig was an unprecedented sell-out of Dublin’s Academy, how must it have felt for them to play somewhere so small, having famously played five sold-out nights at the 3 Arena by 2019?

“It was actually really nerve-racking,” says singer Ryan Hennessy. “You’re going out into a room of people that are not necessarily there for Picture This, which is new for us in a long time in Cork. So, it was really nerve-racking.”

Hennessy says: “It didn’t take much convincing, to be honest. We loved the idea from the word go. They told us the idea of bringing another band through and doing it in a small venue. They were like, ‘You can do it anywhere’. We could have done it in Kildare, where we’re from, or anywhere, but we just had that affinity with Crane Lane, since the first time we played there. 

"It was just a show that we’ve always talked about over the years. So, going back there, it was quite jarring, actually, walking in, just seeing how small it was. Because, at the time, it felt massive. At the time, I remember walking in, going, ‘We’re playing a show in Cork: That’s crazy.’ Because it was so big. So, the process felt like a full circle. It was really nice.”

It’s remarkable that, having sold out the Academy and enjoyed instantaneous success in Ireland, courtesy of their debut single, that the band would feel overawed at the prospect of playing anywhere in the country. Surely they must have been filled with confidence as they embarked on their first nationwide tour in 2016?

“Not from my perspective, anyway,” says Hennessy. “It was our first-ever tour. We did De Barra’s in Clonakilty and we did Crane Lane, and then all the other usuals around Ireland at that level. Every time we showed up to a city, like coming to Cork… I always remember, specifically, going to Belfast and being like, ‘I can’t believe there’s people here to see us in Belfast’. It was really strange. And I remember that in Cork, as well. Showing up and being like, ‘Wow. People in Cork know who we are.’ It was crazy, because we didn’t even have an album out or anything. It was just a few songs. It was a really, really exciting time for us.”

The band were already experiencing record label interest, but the crucial aspect of their first Crane Lane show is that it marks the spot where they signed to their first label, the Universal Music Group subsidiary Republic Records, who featured The Weeknd on their roster.

“It was a magic time,” says drummer Jimmy Rainsford. “I’ll never forget Crane Lane. Granted, it’s Cork. It’s far away from us, but we have a great connection here. I don’t know why. It was just a champion city for us. They took us in as their own.”

Hennessey is literally showing his love for Cork on his sleeve. Not averse to extravagant fashion choices, he sports a retro Cork City FC jersey. It feels like it’s become de rigueur among celebrities — and God knows, City could do with all the support they can get right now — but it must be noted that before Macklemore donned the ’88/’89 replica jersey on his recent visit Leeside, Hennessy wore it first.

“I’m not wearing this for no reason,” he grins.

Are you a genuine fan?

“I’m not a genuine fan. Unfortunately not. But I’ve always loved this jersey. I loved the Guinness and Adidas version.

“But we’ve had so many magic moments in the Marquee.

“We were saying this earlier: There’s something in Cork crowds that’s just an extra madness or energy in it that we just absolutely love.”

They first played the Marquee in 2017, as support to Gavin James.

“I always remember that and being that it was an amazing feeling,” Hennessy says. “And we came back the following year and did two shows. Whenever we’re doing press in Cork, I talk about how much we love Cork and I want people to know that it’s real. I’m not just saying it because we’re here.”

As an aside, he mentions how he was speaking recently with Marquee mainstay and general all-round legend Christy Moore about the concert.

Despite being fellow Kildare men, they only met for the first time last December.

“He’s always been a hero of mine,” says Hennessy. “Because, for me, growing up, folk music and traditional music were what I listened to.

“It’s what got me in to music, The Dubliners and Christy and people like that. I’ve always really admired him.“

It transpires that the Marquee has a place in both artists’ hearts.

“I know he has a song, The Big Marquee, on his latest record and he was just asking where we are playing. I said the Marquee, and his eyes just kind of lit up. He’s like a child talking about their summer holidays the way he was speaking about it. He can’t wait for the Marquee. He’s buzzing and we’re buzzing. The Marquee is in for a treat this summer.”

Picture This open the Live At The Marquee series of concerts in Cork tonight, and play the Marquee again tomorrow.