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.

The Wailers return to Limerick

THROUGH death, legal battles, 250 million album sales and the acrimony that brings, the surviving member of Bob Marley’s original Wailers group is still touring, continuing to further the legacy of the reggae innovators.
This Thursday night The Wailers return to Limerick following a superb gig earlier in the year, plus a towering performance on the main stage at Electric Picnic in September.
Centred around Aston “Family Man” Barrett - reckoned to be one of the world’s finest bass players - this is the seminal Wailers line-up, not to be confused with other imitations.
Barrett and his deceased brother Carly, along with Marley, Bunny Wailer, and Peter Tosh made up The Wailers, and Barrett is continuing to perpetuate that mantle 40 years later.
Family Man and lead singer Elan Atias form the main axis of the current Wailers line-up, Atias sounding uncannily like Marley when the band visited Dolan’s in February and performed the seminal ‘Exodus’ album in full, Time magazine’s album of the 20th Century.
Atias was recruited in 1997 by former Wailers’ guitarist Al Anderson, who, together with Junior Marvin, also perform as the Wailers, but are described as a “rogue” band by Atias.
“There’s this rogue band that’s been going around saying they’re ‘The Original Wailers’ and they’re basically a cover band (with) guitarists that used to be in the band.
They’re going around saying they’re us, which is pretty funny,” Atias said in a recent interview. While Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh left the band in 1973, Family Man was ever present with Marley up to his death, to the point that he sued Marley's estate a couple of years ago, citing a right to royalties he was promised but never got.
He was unsuccessful in that bid, but together with new heir Atias, is preparing to release a new album under the Wailers title, featuring previously unused recordings by his drummer brother, Carly, discovered after his death.
“Family had a bunch of tapes of drum tracks made by his brother, Carly, before he died, “ said Atias.
“We started all these new tracks from them and then Family would lay down the bass and everybody would do their stuff.
“The whole idea is to bring the tracks to contemporary artists and other big artists from different genres to add their own vibes and write new lyrics to sing on top of this classic, Wailers-sounding material.”
The Wailers play in Dolan's Warehouse this Thursday night, doors 9pm. Support on the night comes from the local Roots Factory crew - get down early, bbq will kick the night off..

Natty dread

Good one in town tonight, as the Wailers make the trip to Dolan's Warehouse, continuing a tour they started on the 30th anniversary of the release of the seminal Exodus album, to play what Time magazine voted the album of the 20th century. High praise, and not unwarranted when you consider the classics contained within; Released in 1977, it contained the likes of the title track, Jamming, Turn the Lights Down Low, Three Little Birds, and the superb Waiting in Vain.

Of course Bob's not around to play with these lads, but they are some of the original members of Marley's troupe. Let's be specific, here's the basic blurb..

"The nucleus of the Wailers formed in 1969, when Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, and Peter Tosh recruited the Barrett brothers – bassist Aston “Family Man” and drummer Carly – from Lee Perry’s Upsetters to play on hits such as Lively Up Yourself, Trenchtown Rock, Duppy Conqueror, and many more beside..

Bunny and Peter left in 1973, two years after the posse signed to Island records. It was at this point that the in-demand Barrett brothers – whose rhythms also underpinned innumerable seventies’ reggae hits by other acts – assumed the title of Wailers, and backed Marley on the group’s international breakthrough album, Natty Dread. Under Family Man’s musical leadership, they then partnered Bob Marley on the succession of hit singles and albums (including Exodus) that made him a global icon, etc etc..

Drummer Carlton “Carly” Barrett died in 1987, leaving his brother as the main beneficiary of the Wailers' mantle. Subsequent line-ups have revolved around Family Man, who is widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest bass players (modest too).

Family Man (you'll love this, so called because he has fathered something like 52 kids, wow) and lead singer Elan Atias form the main axis of the current Wailers line-up."

Interestingly, Family Man sued Marley's estate a couple of years ago, citing a right to royalties, which he claimed to have been promised by the reggae superstar, but this action failed, much to his chagrin.

There you have it. Family Man contributed some of the finest bass lines in musical recording history, and has been cited by musicians such as Flea as a massive influence.

I'll be at this, front row, centre. See you there.

Monday blues...

I'm told that today is statistically the most depressing day of the year, and it is hard to argue. After the highs of Munster trouncing those upstarts from across the water on Friday, plus one hugely enjoyable night out in Salthill, Galway on Saturday, we found ourselves close to the depths of despair on a random Monday in January. Snow. It actually snowed today.

Fear not fellow strugglers, hope is on the way. I'm on my way shortly to the launch of this year's UnFringed festival, which promises much raucous theatre and music over a busy ten days, starting next week. High on the list is an acoustic Fred gig. The Cork band, who also boast strong local links, released one of the best pop/rock n' roll albums of last year in Go, God Go. Nuff said.

Also hovering over the horizon are the Wailers, Thomas Kitt, Franz Ferdinand, Bell X-1 and more. This week we shall be attending Mr Arlo Guthrie's solo performance in Dolan's (Wednesday) at the very least. Plus the MAMCA awards on Saturday in the Radisson, but more on them anon.

On top of all of this, Niall Colgan and friends launched their Living in the City project today, which promises to be fun. See here for more info.

I'll be in better form tomorrow, you'll see....