Cardinals Review @ Bedford Esquires, Wednesday 2 September 2026
September has come around again, marking the end of festival season. There will be no more dancing in a field with a cider in hand, but that’s OK as it’s time to return to the cosy indoors of music venues.
Tonight Cardinals are playing Esquires, and if you are expecting to be eased back into gigging, you’d be wrong, as they delivered one of the loudest gigs I’ve experienced at the venue in a long time.
Future headliners
Opening up proceedings on the night were Black Nylon, an alternative rock band from Dublin.
They have previously supported other Irish bands including Inhaler and Kneecap, but from their performance tonight I could see them being a future headline act themselves.
Vocalist Sam took to the stage in sunglasses, displaying that kind of mysterious cool you expect of a frontman.
The band opened their set with their debut single “Juliette”, a sprawling six-and-a-half-minute brooding Goth track that will be liked by fans of The Cure.
Their set did not stay moody for long, though, and their tracks contained a few different moods. “She’s My Lady”, with its emotional lyrics of “she’s my lady, I’ll never see her again”, delivered with husky vocals, told the tale of a sad love story.
Closing the set was track “BDSMX”, a fast-paced punk track which contained shouts of “come on sugar!” The band played this track with skill, power and ferocity, and got the crowd’s heads nodding along.
If you are a fan of The Murder Capital or Fontaines D.C you should keep an eye on this band, as from their set tonight they’ll like ascend to levels of greatness like the aforementioned bands.
Lost in music
Cardinals then took to the stage for their headline set.
The band, originally from Kinsale but who have now relocated to Cork, consists of brothers frontman Euan and accordionist Finn, their cousin Darragh on drums and their childhood friends Oskar and Aaron on guitar and bass.
The closeness of the band has allowed them to explore themes such as faith and violence in their tracks, which makes for interesting listening.
The band opened their set with “Twist and Turn”, which started with Finn shaking a tambourine before the rest of the band joined in.
The track, which featured on their 2024 self-titled EP, is almost shoegazey with its dreamlike poppy melodies, and was the only track of the set which didn’t feature Finn on the accordion.
The band describe their musical style simply as “rock and roll”, however, they have a wide range of influences from folk music to punk, which contributes to their unique sound.
Euan’s vocal style reminds me of American emo artists such as Elliot Smith and Bright Eyes, and at times the band sounded almost pop punk.
This sound was particularly prominent on tracks such as “I Like You” and “Masquerade”, which both feature on the band’s debut album, also titled “Masquerade”, which was released in February.
The use of the accordion is a defining feature of the band and makes them stand out amongst their peers. The band succeeds in not making the accordion the lead instrument on their tracks, and merges its classic sound that makes you feel like you are in the back streets of Paris in the 1800s with heavy thrashing guitars to create their distinctive sound.
Finn played the accordion with skill and passion, with his eyes closed, getting lost in the music.
Cardinals set was so loud I didn’t know the speakers at Esquires could deliver that level of noise, and I could feel the bass thumping under my feet.
Some of their heavier tracks included “Anhedonia”, a fast-paced punk track that got heads nodding and bodies moving, and “The Burning of Cork”, an intense thrashing rock song.
The band closed their set on “If I Could Make You Care”, a slower and emotional track that felt like the closing chapter of a book and them winding up their story.
The track built into an impressive instrumental section, which was an epic end to their set, and led to huge applause and cheers from the crowd.
Tonight’s gig displayed the best in up-and-coming Irish talent, and showed that if you head down to your local venue, you might just come across the headliners of the future.
