Orla Gartland and Fightmaster–House of Blues Cambridge Room Dallas, TX

May 4, 2025 – As a fairly new fan of both Fightmaster and Orla Gartland, I have to say I am so glad I discovered them in time to catch them both at the same time playing live! I knew of E.R. Fightmaster after they played Dr. Kai Bartley on Grey’s Anatomy as the love interest of my all-time favorite character, Dr. Amelia Shepard. Several months ago, my friend put me on to their music project that is Fightmaster. I saw they were opening for Orla Gartland and immediately went to check out her music as well. Orla’s songwriting and melodic abilities are one for the ages.I knew I could not miss this show!

Fightmaster started out the evening with one of my personal favorite songs: “Cowboy Tumbleweed.” They have this sort of aura about them that is so inviting and intriguing. Making eye contact makes one feel like their soul is exposed–it’s intimidating and welcoming at the same time? Anyway. Normally in this specific venue, it’s normal for the audience to be a bit unfamiliar with the opening act– not this time! Fightmaster had a big following in the crowd! The indie rocker played a seven-song opening set full of singles they’ve put out in the last few years. Ending on “Bad Man” was the cherry on top of an incredible live music experience. I hope Fightmaster continues to dish out more music as they are so talented and captivating and have one of the coolest tones ever.

Orla Gartland. WOW. The best way I could describe Orla both musically and stage personality would be Joan Jett meets The Beaches meets Miya Folick meets Remi Wolf meets Chappell Roan. Her ability to keep an audience captivated through an entire show, even during soft acoustic moments, is fascinating. I stood at the back of the venue and even the bartenders were sneaking moments to watch her perform. Orla got the party started with “SOUND OF LETTING GO” and “Kiss Ur Face Forever” from her latest 2024 album Everybody Needs a Hero. The Dublin based pop rocker played a solid nineteen-song set comprised mostly of said 2024 album with a few singles from her past discography mixed in. Toward the end of the set, Orla performed an electric cover of Chappell Roan’s “Red Wine Supernova,” and we all ate it the hell up! During “Back Seat Driver,” Orla brought up two fans to hold signs for the crowd: “LA LA LA LA LA LA” on one side and “I WOULDN’T TRUST ME EITHER” on the other during the bridge.

Some of my favorite moments during the show were honestly Orla’s little bits of banter with the crowd in-between songs. The barricade girlies were very excited to chat with her and offer gifts. At one point she was playfully frustrated and abruptly said something to the tune of“guys come on I’m trying to play my songs!” We love the silly goofy moments.I cannot remember exactly when it was but, at one point towards the end of the show, Orla switched spots with her drummer and gave us a taste of even more of her musical talents! After singing “Zombie!” from her 2021 albumWoman on the Internet, Orla giggled as she explained she would be taking part in the time-honored tradition that is pretending to have one last song on the set before leading into “Late To The Party” on which Declan McKenna has a feature on the studio recording.

After coming back for her encore, Orla played “Mine,” “Everybody Needs a Hero” and ended on fan-favorite “Little Chaos.” She stayed on stage for a few minutes after the show was over to hand setlists to fans at barricade and sign items for them. It was one of the best shows I’ve been to this year, and I will absolutely be back for her next North American tour!

If your thing is energetic, unapologetic pop rock goodness then I implore you to go grab some tickets to see Orla Gartland and Fightmaster on “The Hero Tour”ending May 16th in Portland, OR. HURRY HURRY HURRY get your tickets here:https://store.orlagartland.com/pages/tour

PHOTO CREDIT: All photos by Jessica Fagan for ZRockR Magazine – (c) 2025 – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED