Top Ten Gigs Of The Year - Limerick 2010

10. Speakeasy Jazz: The Freeform Foundation - Shannon Rowing Club (January)
This was our first chance encounter with the Freeform Foundation, who blazed a hole through January 2010 at the popular Speakeasy Jazz gig, their lose-flowing and eclectic rhythms washing away the cobwebs of the New Year. Superb

9. Word of Mouth Presents: O Emperor, Sons of Noel and Adrian and Alessi's Ark - Dolan's Upstairs (January)
A new tour showcase that trundled through Limerick in January, and returns in Jan '11. This gig was special for our first opportunity to breathlessly witness the live brilliance of O Emperor, whose musical tastes belie their tender years. Smashing stuff.

8. Tommy Tiernan - Thomond Park (June)
An incredible gig from the top Irish comedian of this and any year - this Thomond Suite gig was centre piece of his World Tour of Limerick series which saw the funnyman play eight gigs in eight days around the city and county. 600 people laughed, very hard.

7. Bump Muzik Festival - Clonlara (June)
Limerick's own - very special - boutique festival on the shores of the River Shannon at the Angler's Rest in Clonlara. Organised by Viva, Double Bass and Secret Stash, the finest local and international DJs bumped and grinded at this amazing location. Set to return in 2011 at a new location. We can't wait.

6. UnFringed Festival (January)
Limerick's 13th UnFringed Festival was reduced this year to five days but the programme didn't lack in depth, with 16 distinct productions being packed into the festival line-up. Superbly eclectic, and returns for an amazing 14th year in January 2011.

5. Two Door Cinema Club - Dolan's Warehouse (March)
We approached this one with trepidation; lots of hype had built up this quirky, electro-pop driven Norn' Irish trio. As it turned out, the hype was justified - a packed Warehouse danced and waved glow sticks and we left happy.

4. Bell X1 - St. John's Church (November)
The finest, most stunningly atmospheric venue in the city provided one of the best gigs of the year - a stripped back and acoustic Bell X1 playing a selection of new songs and greatest hits to a rapt capacity audience. Had the X-factor.

3. And So I Watch You From Afar - Baker Place (February)
We knew they were special (if you haven't heard their clarion call self-titled debut, get it now) but we didn't know quite how good they were live. A rammed Baker Place was treated to a smashing set of balls-out, instrumental rock and roll. Crowd surfing, moshing and grins ear to ear. Wow.

2. Villagers - St. John's Church (December)
Would have been gig of the year but for a pair of grinning, plastic bag wearing rappers. Conor O'Brien returned to Limerick 18 months since his first Villagers gig, and blew a full St. John's Church away. The album of the year also, in our book.

1. The Rubberbandits - Electric Picnic (September)
It could have been any of a number of 'Bandits 2010 gigs in top spot; the mystery Christmas gig; a UL Rag Week stormer in the Stables; a triumphant Warehouse/Panic gig in September (very special); the A Conversation With gig in Daghdha; or the recent spate of three sold-out gigs in two days in the Warehouse (an amazing feat in these times). Let's face it, 2010 was the year of the Rubberbandits, and nothing captured their seizing of the zeitgeist - ahead of Horse Outside, Republic of Telly etc - than the duo's amazing gig in the Little Big Tent at Electric Picnic on the Friday of the three day festival. Nearly 2,000 people bounced, sang along and worshipped at the feet of the 'Bandits as they threw it down royally - performing the gig of the weekend at the Stradbally fest. Quite simply our favourite music moment of 2010.

Electric Picnic 2009 review

(Apologies for taking so long to get something up on the blog about the Picnic, the last few days have been spent recovering from a great weekend! Below is the piece I wrote for the Limerick Leader, pics are courtesy of Tonya O'Neill and Deirdre Cussen, so thanks to them. Looking forward to next year already, and Cois Fharraige this weekend! Cheers.)

THE sixth Electric Picnic festival was a very different affair this year with wellies a necessity rather than accessory as attendees trouped through mud fields that resembled the Somme, and stood in fear as black clouds threatened to rain on the colourful Stradbally parade.

However, although the feted ‘Indian Summer’ failed to materialise, neither did apocalyptic storms and the rain was restricted to showers on Friday and Sunday morning – with those hardy souls that stayed until Monday greeted with the perverse sight of clear blue skies and sunshine.

It hardly mattered for the near 32,500 fans that made their way to Thomas Cosby’s fields on the Stradbally plains, as those that pilgrimage regularly to the ‘Picnic’ were just relieved to be back, and those that were experiencing the music and arts extravaganza for the first time were wide eyed with wonder, some heard to mutter how they were simply “never attending Oxegen again”.

While the age profile may have met somewhere between the stereotypical notion of the Picnic and Oxegen being on opposite ends of the spectrum – certainly the mix of age was more noticeable this year – the fact that the organisers chose to extend the family campsite meant that many more free-running children were on display, a large crowd of whom were seen crafting toy swords in the Soul Kids area on Saturday, with an exciting series of duels taking place afterward.

Oxegen also scooped some of the top-of-bill acts that would have been more at home at Electric Picnic, and Friday’s line-up in particular was a bit hit and miss.

Main stage acts MGMT and a reformed Orbital failed to galvanise the huge crowds that greeted them, while even Zero 7 failed to turn in an impassioned performance. However, the acts on the fringes more than compensated, Villagers performing to a handful of well-rewarded fans on the Body and Soul stage and hip-hop crew Major Lazer turning in one of the gigs of the weekend by welcoming half of the crowd in the Little Big Tent onto the stage for their finale.

Comic Limerick rap duo The Rubberbandits later packed out this same tent, drawing huge cheers for their inspired blend of rap, hip-hop and showmanship, magicians, people dressed as drug paraphernalia and the Gardai drawing huge cheers.

On Saturday afternoon Ryan Tubridy made his way to the Leviathan area of the Mind Field – a large area that included the Literary and Theatre stages. Tubridy – fresh from his first Late Late appearance – hosted a festival revue, with a bizarre line-up of guests, including former TV3 presenter Lorraine Keane, and was later seen by the Leader in the VIP area nodding his head to the engaging strains of Madness, performing nearby on the Main Stage.

Ska trio White Cholera – featuring David Blake, from Limerick band the Brad Pitt Light Orchestra – performed on the Leviathan stage on Friday and Saturday night, drawing wild applause for their equally wild set.

Back out in the main site, the Tulla Ceili Band played the first of two gigs on the Body and Soul stage, first performing at 4pm and returning almost 12 hours later to close the stage, to the delight of the huge crowd present.

In between East London neo-folk band Tunng impressed on the main stage, while Lisa Hannigan looked a bit lost on the mammoth stage, but then she has played on every other stage and her success warranted such a slot. Limerick duo Size2Shoes played a Saturday lunchtime gig on the bandstand in the middle of the site, the O’Suilleabhain brothers professing their delight at playing at the festival afterward.

A large crowd gathered to hear fellow Limerick band Nick Carswell and the Elective Orchestra perform on the Tree Stage in Body and Soul on Saturday evening – and were moved to a standing ovation for final song From the Ground Up after a passionate and exuberant performance.

Brian Wilson lit up the arena on Saturday night through the strength of the set-list on offer, a Beach Boys greatest hits collection that almost made one forget they were listening in a muddy field in Laois. Wilson and his band The Wondermints brought the house down with spine-tingling performances of Good Vibrations and Surfin’ USA.

Although campers awoke to rain on Sunday morning – causing some to leave for home – the afternoon stayed dry and the evening boasted some of the best music on offer of the weekend, stellar performances from Florence and the Machine, Fleet Foxes, Bell X1 and Basement Jaxx delighting fans, while electro-pop outfit Passion Pit played what many termed the gig of the weekend.

Another superb year for Electric Picnic, despite the weather, and let us hope that organisers keep with the boutique, quirky nature of this festival for as long as possible.

Electric Picnic 2009 Preview

It's all Picnic all the way here, getting very excited. Here's a preview..

THE CLOCK is ticking, days are rolling by and kids are getting ready to go back to school.
For many September represents a return to normality, but for 32,500 lucky revellers - a sizeable share of whom hail from the Treaty City - the beginning of Autumn is that time again, the return of Electric Picnic.
The festival, now in its sixth year, has become the de rigueur music and arts extravaganza in Ireland, arguably better than any taking place in the UK or Europe.
In an era when words like ‘vibe’ and ‘boutique’ are thrown around like confetti, this is the only festival that can claim to be both.
Taking place in the rolling hills of Stradbally on Thomas Cosby’s estate - he sends the 400 sheep that normally occupy the fields off on holidays for the week of the festival - Electric Picnic Inc has suffered a year of ups and downs since last year, but seems to have emerged unscathed.
POD Concerts owner John Reynolds has had his much publicised problems this year, resulting in UK promoter Festival Republic buying into the festival. Festival Republic are owned by the same parent company as MCD, with many fearing that Electric Picnic would lose its aura if the Oxegen-bookers got involved.
This seems not to have happened, with Reynolds and POD still involved in booking acts for the festival, and it will continue in its vein as last year, when it was rebranded as a “Music Arts Festival”.
While the promoters are undoubtedly struggling to sell tickets in the recession, it is believed that - as other years - it will sell out in the coming week.
Admittedly attending the festival costs about as much as going on a week holidays, but most would argue it is well worth it.
This year the marquee names are Orbital, Brian Wilson, Flaming Lips, MGMT, Fleet Foxes, Basement Jaxx, Bell X1 and Madness, but there are literally hundreds of bands and acts playing over the three days, with another batch announced just last week, including Passion Pit, The XX and Irish artists David Geraghty and David Kitt.
But the festival is so much more than just music, as comedy, debate, cinema, cookery displays and theatre will take place over the weekend.
This year there is a brand new feature in Trenchtown, a reggae Jamaican village, while the usual boutique food stalls will be a fixture, including the Lennox St café, Diep Noodle and more.
As Siobhan O’Dowd of POD concerts told the Leader, this balance is what makes the Picnic so special.
"Its a three dimensional festival, as well as the music, the art, theatre and comedy are as heavily weighted and I think that is more defining and you wouldn't see that with any other festival," she explained.
"There is also an attention to detail and there are little pockets of activity like the Body and Soul arena which is like a micro-cosmic festival happening within Electric Picnic."
In fact, the aforementioned Body and Soul arena is basically the heartbeat of the festival, a natural amphitheatre surrounded by trees that hosts all manner of exciting events.
Limerick musician Nick Carswell and his band the Elective Orchestra are to play in the Body and Soul area at 7pm on the Saturday of the festival, while comic Limerick rap duo the Rubberbandits will play over the weekend, as will local DJ Paul Webb, well known from his residencies in Trinity Rooms and Saturday night show on Spin South West.
With everything from an Irish language tent to a free phone recharging facility on offer, this is the festival where literally anything can, and probably will happen.
Electric Picnic takes place September 4-6. Tickets are still available on Ticketmaster.ie.

Put the needle on the record yo!

RENOWNED independent New York radio station WFMU held a special broadcast from the newly opened Viva Music Studios last week.
As seen in the picture above, WFMU’s Billy Jam interviewed Dan Sykes of Viva Music Studios during last Friday’s live radio broadcast from Limerick to New York and the East Coast of the USA.
More than 20 guests also featured on the show - 'Put the Needle on the Record' - which was broadcast live over three hours from Sykes’ Viva studios on O’Connell Street.
Local acts like the Rubberbandits, Size2Shoes, Jay Red and True Blood Souljahz, plus a litany of other local DJs and people involved in the local music scene, all featured on the show.
Speaking after the show presenter Billy Jam praised the diversity of the local music scene in Limerick.
“The WFMU Live from Limerick show on March 27 not only proved what a richly diverse music scene inhabits the district but also how tightly knit these divergent scenes and individuals are,” he explained.
The show is available on the internet here (streaming) or for download here.
Info on Dan Sykes studio here.