Nik Kershaw interview

NIK KERSHAW was undeniably one of the absolute kings of the ‘80s, no question.
Try and conjure up a mental image from the seminal music videos of the mid-80s period and you can’t look further than the strange ‘Tron’-like video for ‘Wouldn’t It Be Good’, in which Kershaw danced around in a strange, glowing suit, hair coiffed to the max.
Likewise the Bristol-born singer’s ‘I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me’, which featured vacuous, pale-faced children mouthing the words to the song, while the teen-idol danced around a castle which billowed smoke, on this occasion sporting a dyed blonde look.
Kershaw, who was also one of the standout performers at Live Aid, comes to Limerick this week for a ‘No Frills’ acoustic gig - his first time gigging in Ireland in more than 20 years.

“I'm very much looking forward to this Irish expedition, or exhibition,” says Kershaw, speaking from his home and stumbling momentarily over his words.
“It might be a bit of both - me making an exhibition of myself,” he laughs heartily.
A genuine legend, both of the above songs were absolute standards of the 80s era, ensuring the Bristol-born singer spent a record-breaking 50 weeks in the UK Top 50 singles chart in 1984. Both featured on the debut album ‘Human Racing’ - still a classic to this day.
However, come 1990, his star was beginning to wane, and after four albums and eight million record sales, Kershaw stepped out of the spotlight, rather abruptly.
He has flitted in and out since, preferring to remain as a songwriter and producer, working with the likes of Elton John, Cliff Richard, Bonnie Tyler and more latterly, Imogen Heap, Gary Barlow and Let Loose.
Oh, and he wrote and produced The One and Only, sung by Chesney Hawkes - a monster smash hit that no-one the planet could ever claim not to have heard.

“It was huge and it still keeps coming back to haunt me,” agrees Kershaw when asked about the song, which was sung memorably by Chesney Hawkes.
“I'm still very good friends with Ches - despite me ending his career,” he laughs. “That was a weird one, that was almost the first thing, when I decided to write songs for other people, that was almost the first thing I did, and then I stuck it on a shelf and forgot about. I co-produced it, recorded it and then forgot about it. A year later the film came out and blimey - it was mad.”

Remembering the dizzy heights of his own career, Kershaw is more phlegmatic. It is clear that he was never interested in the attention and trappings of fame, indicative of his decision to step away from the limelight, rather than become almost a parody of himself.
“Well you know, it is like the old adage - be careful what you wish for, because I wanted to make music and be known for making music, and I wanted to play in front of thousands of people, but then I was totally unprepared to deal with it, to deal with the public thing, the press and media - I just wasn't very good at it,” he says simply.
On Live Aid he laughs: “That was certainly a big moment - although I keep getting reminded about it, because for obvious reasons people want to know about it, but most of my memories from it have been.. I don't know if they are real anymore, because it has become something I talk about in interviews, and I don't know how much of it is made up and how much is real”.

While he has been keen to stay out of the limelight, the affable Kershaw has nonetheless released a studio album every four to five years, all to considerable critical acclaim, most recently on 2006’s You've Got To Laugh.
He returns this year with ‘No Frills’, which essentially documents his return to the stage, performing acoustically, solo and minus the mullet and shoulder pads.
“Saying I choose to do anything is a bit misleading for me, because there is never a plan, I have always just bumped into things, which I have been doing all my career,” he explains.
“What happened was, I got offered a couple of gigs in Dubai, little acoustic ones, and I thought, I fancy going there and I can try the acoustic thing out and no-one will know any different.
“It went ok and the next time somebody asked me, I surprised myself and said yes, and I did a load of acoustic gigs last year, and I have done quite a few this year. I'm quite enjoying it, so I'll keep going.”
Kershaw is playing a wide variety of songs, classics and newer material, possibly some very new. But surprisingly for a guy who performed in front of hundreds of thousands in Wembley Stadium and elsewhere, he still admits to the pang of nerves before going on stage.
“I'm not beyond nerves, I get nervous before every show. In some ways, especially the smaller gigs, the more nervous I get, because it is just me and a guitar - no smoke and mirrors or a band to hide behind,” he says.
“I was very surprised because I was thinking "anybody can do this" - you think there is nothing special, but you are sharing something with a bunch of people, and I am delighted with how well the gigs have been received,” he adds.

Nik Kershaw plays in Dolan’s Warehouse this Friday night, with an Eighties Night to follow.

Best Gigs of the Year in Limerick 2009

TEN BEST LIMERICK GIGS OF THE YEAR 2009

10 - Big Chillum with Horace Andy - Dolan’s Warehouse, June.
Horace Andy (of Massive Attack fame), Inntinn and Dom from Blood and Fire gave us a dub session extraordinaire in June

9 - Great Friday Festival - A field, Murroe. April
A wet, windy day in April saw the Great Friday Festival return to Murroe - but good spirits, a superb line-up of local bands and a heaving dance tent made up for the weather.

8 - The Wailers - Dolan’s Warehouse. February.
The first of two gigs in the Warehouse from The Wailers, fronted by sole surviving member Anton ‘Family Man’ Barrett, plus rising star Elias Atias, saw the group play the seminal ‘Exodus’ album in full.

7 - Franz Ferdinand - Dolan’s Warehouse. February.
Heavyweights Franz Ferdinand arrived in Limerick - one of only three gigs in Ireland to promote new album Tonight - and reminded us what a superb live band they are. An electric performance.

6 - Walter Mitty and the Realists album launch - Baker Place. August.
One of Limerick’s best up and coming bands launched their debut album Green Light Go in Baker Place in August, an adrenalin-fuelled energy rush of a gig that leave the audience sweaty and hugely entertained.

5 - Tweak - Sunken Foal - St. Munchin’s Church. September.
An electro-acoustic delight, as part of the week long Tweak Festival that saw several innovative performances. We look forward to next year.

4 - Elton John - Thomond Park. June.
The first concert in the newly developed €40m stadium. Rod was good, but Elton knocked our socks off.

3 - Donal Dineen - Fresh Air with Katie Kim and James Yorkston - Daghdha. December.
The final night of the Christmas Presence weekender featured Donal Dineen’s projections and Katie Kim’s heart-stopping post-rock rhythms.

2 - Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - Trinity Rooms. October.
A nine-piece brass band from Chicago that play fun, soulful superb jazz and R&B that was so good they got a slot as the house band for Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz’ project. Their second gig in the Trinity Rooms was a masterclass in exciting jazz-funk, which had the room on their feet for two hours. Fingers crossed they come this way again.

1 - Lisa Hannigan - Daghdha Space, St. John’s Church. August.
The beguiling Lisa Hannigan in the finest venue in the city was quite simply a recipe for gig of the year. The band still play with a smile on their faces, and the music is still superb, plus Hannigan’s new material screams of potential. We look forward to seeing Daghdha become more established on the gig scene in 2010.

Pink to play in Thomond Park next June

THE LIMERICK Leader can exclusively reveal that American superstar singer Pink is to play in Thomond Park in June of next year.
Pink - real name Alecia Beth Moore - has sold in the region of 30 million albums worldwide and is the first act to be confirmed for next summer’s gigs in the €40m stadium.
The American singer will bring her theatrical ‘Funhouse Summer Carnival’ show to Limerick’s Thomond Park on Saturday, June 20 2010.
Aiken Promotions confirmed to the Limerick Leader that the self styled rock chick will perform a huge outdoor show in Thomond Park next June, and while a spokesperson denied that there were other acts already booked for next summer, the Limerick Leader understands that up to four dates have been provisionally booked in the stadium, which memorably played host to Elton John and Rod Stewart this year.
Pink will play three open air shows in Ireland next summer, with shows at Belfast’s King’s Hall Complex and Dublin’s RDS preceding the Thomond Park gigs. T
he news will come as a considerable boost to the local economy, as a recent survey conducted by BDO Simpson Xavier on behalf of Munster Rugby determined that the Elton John concert generated €9.9 million for the local economy, with 13 local hotels reporting 100 per cent occupancy. It is believed that the Rod Stewart concert had a similar impact.
While Aiken and Thomond Park undoubtedly played safe with the first series of gigs, they are aiming for a younger market with the selection of Pink, who has sold a massive number of tickets worldwide, including 58 sold out arena shows in Australia and several sold out shows in Ireland this year.
The Pennsylvania-born performer released her first album “Can't Take Me Home” in 2000, while 2002’s follow-up Missundaztood sold an estimated 13 million copies worldwide. Her present album “Funhouse” has also clocked up massive sales around the world, with lead single “So What” taking Pink to her first Billboard number one American chart success.
Tickets for the concert will go on sale from Ticketmaster outlets and Empire Music on O’Connell Street next Friday, October 23, at 9am.
General admission tickets will be priced at €58.30, while seated tickets will be available for €63.20.

Elton John in Thomond Park - from today's Limerick Leader

A HUGE crowd of 22,000 brave souls packed Thomond Park on Saturday night to see one of the world’s biggest music superstars deliver a storming set, despite the inclement weather.

After two weeks of glorious sunshine the heavens erupted on Saturday afternoon, but there was to be no ‘tantrums and tiaras’ from Sir Elton John, who blasted through a muscular 27 strong set of his greatest hits from his 40-odd year career, playing for just under two hours and twenty minutes on the hallowed turf.

The rocket man’ acknowledged the efforts of the crowd and his surroundings after his second song, the memorable Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting, declaring himself “very happy to be here – thanks for turning out in this rugby weather”.

Peter Aiken of Aiken Promotions, who began formulating the idea for concerts in Thomond Park several years ago, told the Limerick Leader that Elton John had been “very emotional” after he left the stage.

“Elton is a trooper and he put on a great show, he was very emotional at the end. I was at the far side of stage when he came off and he said, ‘that was amazing’,” said Aiken, speaking in the ‘Away’ dressing room in the bowels of the newly developed €40 million stadium after the concert.

“The great thing for us is that the audience were so good. We have a 100 percent satisfied artist, his manager was here tonight and was blown away by it.”

Over 400 people were employed on the night, and Peter paid tribute to the stadium and its management. “You can have a great venue but it doesn’t matter if you don’t have good people and there are good people here. This is one of the most accommodating venues we have worked in. This is one of the great stadiums,” he added.

Fans young and old, wet and dry, from the wheel heeled to poncho-wearing revellers, all danced their way through a tremendous set that showcased Elton John’s status as one of the best entertainers in the business.

Classics like Rocket Man and Tiny Dancer came early in the set, as did a number of songs from the seminal ‘Tumbleweed Connection’ album, while Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me, Candle In The Wind, a rarely heard Skyline Pigeon and the upbeat Are You Ready For Love whipped the crowd into a frenzy. 22,000 voices joined in unison for the Crocodile Rock, which closed the set, before Elton returned for a two-song encore of I’m Still Standing and Your Song.

“You’ve been an amazing audience, you must be freezing, but what do you expect from the Irish? It’s always a pleasure to come here, you’ve been so warm and welcoming, thank you Limerick,” declared Elton John as he walked off stage, before being whisked away immediately to Shannon Airport to fly home.

Watching proceedings keenly was John Cantwell, Thomond Park director, who heralded the stadium as a world class venue.

“It was a brilliant show, he really went for it and didn’t hold back, I thought the sound was excellent,” said John. “We are used to superstars here in Thomond Park and we had another here tonight. This was a great occasion for the stadium and for Limerick and hopefully this will have highlighted what a truly world class venue we have here.”