American indie-pop band MUNA took over the 3Olympia Theatre in Dublin on Wednesday, November 11, kicking off the EU leg of their Gets So Hot Tour. The group admittedly fought “tooth and nail” to get to Ireland, after their flight from Boston was delayed by over seven hours. This didn’t stop them from delivering an electrifying performance, featuring a setlist that traversed their discography of high-energy and heartfelt hits.

On warm-up duty for the night was alt-pop artist EMMMA. Throwing in a “Dia dhuit” for the local audience, she played some of her self-described “songs for the beautiful and doomed”, which complemented the sound of the band that would follow.

In the break between the two acts, it became clear that the crowd was mostly made up of FLINTA folk. The crashing of keys on carabiners rang throughout the venue, and familiar faces were around every corner of the bar and smoking area. One audience member even took the downtime as an opportunity to watch the Liverpool v Aston Villa women’s football match on their phone; we were a room of walking stereotypes.

Shortly after 9pm, all attention turned back to the stage as Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin and Naomi McPherson made their entrance. They kicked off the show with ‘It Gets So Hot’, immediately jolting the crowd to life as lights flashed and limbs flew. Keeping the energy high and sticking with songs from their most recent record, the band swiftly continued with ‘Dancing On The Wall’, ‘Wannabeher’ and ‘Mary Jane’.

MUNA then brought things all the way back to 2017, performing ‘Crying On The Bathroom Floor’ from their first album About U. This wasn’t the only time throughout the night that they turned back the clock, with ‘Taken’, ‘What I Want’, ‘Number One Fan’, and ‘Solid’ all on the setlist.

They also played ‘Anything But Me’, with a guest appearance from Stacy the inflatable horse, and ‘Kind Of Girl’, which they dedicated to all of the trans people in the room. Lead vocalist Katie Gavin said the song went out to those “brave enough to say that you want to try make some changes in your life”, adding that “being on the trans journey is so courageous”.

At another point, Gavin also mentioned her Irish heritage, saying, “I still haven’t been to the part of Ireland that my dad’s family is from; they’re from Mayo.” She explained that she usually feels a bit nervous in front of Irish crowds, with Naomi McPherson saying, “Irish people are so nice and stand on business… That can be kind of intimidating because we think you’re cool.”

Gavin continued, saying, “We fought long and hard to be here,” and Josette Maskin added, “It’s so hard for bands to come over here, so when we’re here, we’re just so grateful.”

During the Dublin show, MUNA also took the opportunity to express their solidarity with Palestine, echoed by the crowd with a ‘Free Palestine’ chant.

After treating audiences to even more tracks from Dancing On The Wall, including ‘Big Stick’, ‘Buzzkiller’, ‘Eastside Girls’ and more, the group closed out the two-hour show with a four-track encore and a medley. The last song of the night was ‘Silk Chiffon’, aptly dedicated to all the Siobháns in the room.

It’s safe to say the effects of arduous travel were nowhere to be seen throughout MUNA’s Dublin gig, as the trio’s high-energy performance kept crowds on their feet (or in the air) all night long.