The Blizzards are an Irish band from Mullingar in County Westmeath. They were formed by Niall Breslin (vocals) in late 2004, and also feature Dec Murphy (drums), Justin Ryan, Anthony Doran (bass) and Aidan Lynch (keyboards). Their debut single, the self-released "First Girl to Leave Town", entered the Irish Singles Chart at number 11 in 2005. The band were then signed to Universal Music Ireland, and soon had two top ten singles in Ireland with "Trouble" and "Fantasy". Their debut album, A Public Display of Affection , was released in October 2006. The album achieved platinum status in Ireland, with sales of 15,000. The band's second album The Domino Effect was released in 2008. The band entered the Irish Singles Chart at number two and spawned four singles, the top three track "Trust Me, I'm A Doctor" plus "The Reason", "Postcards" and "Buy It Sell It". In 2009, they signed a UK record deal with Island Records which will see the release of Domino Effect there. The band perform annually at Oxegen, have headlined Indie-pendence and played Slane Concert in June 2009. They have also supported Kaiser Chiefs, Oasis, The Prodigy and AC/DC during their Black Ice World Tour.

THE BLIZZARDS TICKETS BTS Tickets Rush Tickets Journey Tickets Shakira Tickets Bryson Tiller Tickets Earth, Wind and Fire Tickets

History

Early career

The band's independently-released debut single "First Girl to Leave Town" went to number 11 in the Irish Singles Chart in 2005. In July of that year, the band performed at Oxegen 2005. ^[1] The following year the band signed a recording contract with Universal Music Ireland with the band's second single "Trouble" reaching number six in the Irish Singles Chart in spring 2006. The single stayed in the top forty for four weeks. Follow-up singles "Miss Fantasia Preaches" and "War of Words" were released in August and October 2006 respectively. In July the fllowing year, The Blizzards performed at Oxegen 2006, moving up the billing to perform on the NME stage on this occasion. ^[2]

A Public Display of Affection

A Public Display of Affection , the debut album of The Blizzards, was released in November 2006. It was produced by US producer Michael Beinhorn, who has previously worked with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Korn, Soundgarden and Marilyn Manson, and debuted at number four in the Irish Albums Chart. ^[3] Although critical responses to the album were generally positive, ^{[4] [5]} the album remained in the top fifty for only three weeks. However, the band's growing popularity saw the album re-enter the charts in early 2007. A Public Display of Affection reached number 21 in the Irish Albums Chart ^[6] and remained in the top fiffty for 18 weeks from January to June 2007. Two further singles, "Fantasy" and "On the Right Track" were released in 2007 before a Main Stage appearance at Oxegen 2007.

Domino Effect

In late June 2008, the band confirmed via their official website that work on their second album had been completed. ^[7] Produced once again by Michael Beinhorn, The Domino Effect was released on 12th September, with a single entitled "Trust Me, I'm A Doctor" released in July. ^[8] The single, alongside other new and old material as well as a cover of Sam Sparro's "Black and Gold", was performed during their 13 July 13 hour-long set on the Main Stage of Oxegen 2008 in front of an estimated 50,000 people. ^[9] When 10,000 people turned up to watch The Blizzards headline the free Indie-pendence festival in August 2008, the organiser realised that the festival needed to expand the following year. ^[10] A string of Irish dates was then announced for September and October 2008, taking in Naas, Waterford, Carlow, Bundoran, Castlebar, Portlaoise, Cork, Limerick, Drogheda, Dublin and Galway. They were selected by the organisers of Hard Working Class Heroes alongside acts such as Giveamanakick and Heathers to play the CMJ Festival in New York in October 2008. ^[11]

The Blizzards released their second album, The Domino Effect on 15 September 2008 to mostly positive reviews, with entertainment.ie stating the album "does a concrete job in guiding the sextet through their new-found maturity" ^[12]. The album peaked at number two on the Irish Albums Chart, ^[13] losing out to Metallica's Death Magnetic . The lead single from the album, "Trust Me, I'm A Doctor" was released on 29 August 2008, going straight to the top of the download charts and debuting at number two on the Irish Singles Chart, again just being beaten to the top spot, this time by the Katy Perry single "I Kissed a Girl". "Trust Me, I'm A Doctor" remained in the top ten for four weeks before dropping down to number 13 on 10 October. The second single from the band's sophomore album was "The Reason". The video for the album's third single, "Postcards", premiered on the website of the Irish Independent in February 2009. ^[14] The song was performed live on Tubridy Tonight on 28 February ^[15] and on The Cafe on 13 March. ^{[16] [17]} The band have also recently covered "Up" by pop group The Saturdays. ^[18] On 15 March 2009, they performed at Nelson's Column as part of the Saint Patrick's Day celebrations in London. The Blizzards performed at the 2009 Meteor Awards at the RDS, Dublin on 17 March 2009 where they won the meteor for best live performance. ^[19] The band performed an online gig on 27 May 2009. ^[20] They did Slane Concert in June. ^[21] Their appearance at Oxegen 2009 in July ^{[22] [23]} saw them "confident, tight and facing a packed arena". ^[24] They were also announced as a support act of AC/DC at short notice after Thin Lizzy cancelled when their drummer Tommy Aldridge broke his collarbone in a cycling accident. ^[25]

In the summer of 2009, the band did a regional UK tour and released their first UK single, "Buy It Sell It". In August 2009, it was announced that The Blizzards had achieved a UK record deal with Island Records. ^[26] Their "Trust Me, I'm A Doctor" single will be released there on 28 September 2009. Their The Domino Effect album will be released there on 12 October 2009.

The Blizzards will play the Olympia Theatre, Dublin on 12 December 2009, their biggest headline show to date. ^[27]

Style

The Blizzards are a self-described pop band and although critics often refer to them as very bad examples of indie-pop, lead singer Niall Breslin, said that "I don't think Indie exists anymore. I just think Indie is gone. Everyone who gets played on daytime radio is a pop band. Indie was around for Oasis. Indie was around for Blur. There's none of them bands left." ^[28] When writing their second album, lead singer Niall Breslin said "We were told by a few people that the first album didn't reflect the energy of the live shows, so that's what we were aiming for this time around,". ^[29]. After the album's completion he stated "We couldn't be happier with the end result – it's exactly what we were aiming for."

Television/Radio Appearances

Date	Appearance	Guest or Performer
2006	The Late Late Show	Performer ("Trouble")
2/12/06	Tubridy Tonight	Performer ("Fantasy")
21/12/06	The Cafe	Performer ("Fantasy")
21/11/08	The Cafe	Performer ("The Reason")
28/02/09	Tubridy Tonight	Performer ("Postcards")
04/03/09	The Ray Foley Show (Today FM)	Guest
04/03/09	The Will Leahy Show (2fm)	Guest
05/03/09	Fully Charged with Ryan and Tracy (Spin 1038)	Guest
06/03/09	Seoige	Guest (Niall Breslin Only)
13/03/09	The Cafe	Performer ("Postcards")
18/03/09	Meteor Awards	Performer ("Trust Me I'm a Doctor")

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album	Label	IRL #
2006	A Public Display of Affection	Universal Music Ireland	4
2008	The Domino Effect	Universal Music Ireland	1

Singles

Year	Title	Peak chart position [30]
2005	"First Girl to Leave Town"	11
2006	"Trouble"	6
2006	"Miss Fantasia Preaches"	9
2006	"War of Words"	25
2007	"Fantasy"	16
2007	"On the Right Track"	—
2008	"Trust Me, I'm A Doctor"	2
2008	"The Reason"
2009	"Postcards"	24
2009	"Buy It Sell It"

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Awards

The Blizzards are multiple Meteor Award nominees and winners. They received the award for Best Irish Live Performance in 2009. ^[31]

Year	Nominated work	Award	Result
2008	The Blizzards	Best Irish Pop Act	Nominated
2008	Oxegen 2007	Best Irish Live Performance	Won
2009	The Blizzards	Best Irish Band	Nominated
2009	The Blizzards	Best Irish Pop Act	Nominated
2009	Oxegen 2008	Best Irish Live Performance	Won

References

1. [1] Official Oxegen 2005 line-up
2. [1] Oxegen 2006 Line-up @ http://www.rte.ie
3. [1] Retrieved from http://www.chart-track.com (week 44, 2006)
4. [1] http://www.entertainment.ie
5. [1] http://www.sputnikmusic.com
6. [1] http://www.irma.ie
7. MySpace.com - The Blizzards - Mullingar, IE - Pop / Ska / Punk - www.myspace.com/theblizzards
8. "The Blizzards head out on massive nationwide tour…"
9. The Blizzards are coming
10. Playing the field
11. MACNAMARAS' BAND
12. http://entertainment.ie/album-review/The-Blizzards--Domino-Effect/5849.htm
13. Loaded: 26/09/08
14. The Blizzards video - see it first on Independent.ie
15. Tubridy Tonight guests are revealed
16. Blizzards and Bishop set for The Café
17. ''The Cafe'' – 13 March 2009. RTÉ. Accessed 13 March 2009.
18. Saturdays 'flattered' by Blizzards cover
19. Boyzone & Blizzards to play the Meteors
20. The Blizzards Online Gig
21. Slane support line-up confirmed
22. 10 more Oxegen acts announced
23. Calvin Harris, Horrors, Noisettes join Oxegen festival line-up
24. Rain fails to dampen Oxegen vibes
25. Accident forces Lizzy to cancel Punchestown
26. The Blizzards & Laura Izibor join Cois Fharraige line-up
27. The Blizzards announce Olympia show
28. http://www.rte.ie/arts/2008/0924/theblizzards.html
29. http://www.theblizzards.ie/bio.php
30. [1] http://www.irishcharts.ie
31. Top accolade for The Script