LIMERICK Docks was transformed into an outdoor music venue for one night only on Saturday night, as the Coors Light ‘Peak’ concert drew hundreds of revellers down to the banks of the River Shannon to hear some fine music. The free concert took place on Steamboat Quay in the shadow of the Clarion Hotel, with large mounds of scrap metal acting as intriguing backdrops.
Local band Walter Mitty and the Realists, along with local DJ Brigadier JC, were selected to fill a much coveted spot on a bill which also included well-known Irish acts Dark Room Notes and R.S.A.G. and UK indie band Reverend and the Makers.
This was the popular Sheffield band’s second appearance in Limerick this year and loud-mouth frontman Jon McClure told the crowd Limerick was a “lovely spot”.
McClure told the Limerick Leader that Limerick is a “lovely kind of cool town” and that he had a “wicked gig”.
The gig was particularly notable for the use of a space normally reserved for rusting metal and a number of shipping containers were used to create a sort of amphitheatre effect, while a large canopy covered the crowd, which, in the event of it being such a fine evening, was not required. Local photographer Ken Coleman had been commissioned to create some visual projections, which danced their way across the metal containers while the bands entertained the crowds. “The idea is to use shipyards and ports - custom building venues out of unconventional sites," said a spokesperson for Coors Light.
"Limerick was chosen as the first venue for this series of gigs because it is seen as having lots going on and being quite forward thinking,” added the spokesperson.
A specially designed stage and screen was custom built for the event, as was a bar made from a 40 foot shipping container. Kicking off at 6pm on a fine and warm September evening, local rock band Walter Mitty and the Realists were given the opening slot and wowed the crowd with their frenetic Talking Heads-esque brand of rock, playing songs almost exclusively from their very recently locally released debut album, Green Light Go.
(All pics courtesy of Ken Coleman)
