Two different musical homecomings this week - The Devlins and the Hothouse Flowers. For The Devlins - brothers Colin and Peter Devlin, drummer Sean Devitt, and manager and brother number three, Padraig Devlin - Friday night's gig in Dublin's Red Box was their first in Ireland for nearly two years. The band have had a phenomenally successful year - a song on the Batman soundtrack, a sell-out tour of the US, a critically acclaimed new album, Waiting, and perhaps most importantly, the honour of playing the first gig that singer Alanis Morisette went to in three years.
Lots of old friends and admirers joined them for the Red Box gig but there was no hanging around for the Devlins - they're appearing at the Cork Opera House tomorrow and then flying back to the US for the next leg of their tour. New Year's Eve will see them performing their biggest gig yet - playing to 16,000 people in Detroit and sharing the stage with the intriguing Barenaked Ladies.
Wednesday saw a homecoming of a different sort when the Hothouse Flowers played at the Olympia for the first time in four years and old friends - Mary Coughlan, Kieran Kennedy and Simon Carmody - all came along to enjoy the gig.