Meath singer Lisa Hannigan is among the headline turns at the Liss Ard Festival, which takes place on the weekend of August 4 and 5 at Liss Ard House in Skibereen.
The new name for Cork X Southwest, the original boutique festival is brought to you by the same people as Body & Soul and will have a wider artistic, cultural and holistic flavour.
In addition to the divine Ms. H, the first batch of confirmed artists include Chic, Blue Nile-man Paul Buchanan, Toots & The Maytals who played a brilliant – if Toots-less! – gig at last year’s Electric Picnic, Interference, Roy Harper, local Cork star (and recent Irish Noi.1) Mick Flannery, Rhob Cunningham, The MacRae Sisters and ex-Sugar man Bob Mould – who’ll be playing the whole of his classic Copper Blue album. There will also, Hot Press has confirmed, be an appearance by the West Cork Ukelele Orchestra! Perhaps the uke-toting Lisa Hannigan might join them for a number…
Given its location in the heart of the West Cork food movement’s home turf, there will also be a strong foodie element to the gig, highlighting the outstanding produce being created by local artisan producers, food shops, restaurants and cafes.
Previously used for live music events in the ‘90s, the Liss Ard estate is tailor-made for festivals and has all manner of hidden delights.
Tickets are €39.50 (Day), €70.50 (Two-Day Non-Camping) and €89.50 (Two-Day, with Camping).
Stay tuned to hotpress.com for regular updates.
California boys Red Hot Chili Peppers put on an incredible show in Dublin’s O2 back in November, proving that they’re back to their thrusting, flailing, electrifying best. Bunny-hopping from ‘Under The Bridge’ to ‘Scar Tissue’ to ‘Can’t Stop’, Kiedis and co. appeared to be in a nostalgic mood – but to our pleasant surprise, hot-headed newbie ‘Factory Of Faith’ sounded just as dynamic as the old reliables. If the seasoned rockers are in this kind of form when they hit Croke Park in June, we’re guaranteed an unforgettable show – as we pointed out last November, who can argue with 105 hit-packed minutes of killer riffs, demon percussion and consummate showmanship?
The summer festival season has claimed another Irish victim with the cancellation of Titanic Lockdown, the boutique bash due to take place in Belfast on June 1 and 2. Headline acts were to have included New Order, Anna Calvi and Roots Manuva.
“Due to poor ticket sales in a challenging economic climate, it is with great regret and disappointment that we must announce the cancellation of the 2012 Titanic Lockdown summer festival,” reads an official statement. “Despite a huge wave of goodwill, ticket sales have been significantly slower than forecast for an event featuring such high profile acts. As a result, it will not be possible to deliver the event.
“We would like to offer our sincere thanks to all who have supported, endorsed and believed in the project. In addition, we offer good wishes to all local festival organisers, promoters and artists currently beating the drum for the Arts in Northern Ireland. They make a wonderful contribution to the cultural life of our city in these bleak economic times.
“No one is more disappointed than us that the event will not now be taking place, but unfortunately the circumstances are simply beyond our control.”
The extremely good news is that after pulling her Stradbally Hall visit due to recording commitments, Azealia Banks is back on the Electric Picnic bill.
Apparently she’s “been able to make up recording time elsewhere” and will be doing her festival thing as originally planned.
Phoenix Park is set to become a mecca for music fans this year. When Madchester patriarchs The Stone Roses announced their reunion last October, you couldn’t ring your local telecommunications provider without getting caught up in a 20-minute debate about the long-awaited reconciliation (bizarrely enough, we speak from experience…). Luckily for Mani and company, ticket sales reflected the hype, with the Phoenix Park date – like every other show they put their name to – selling out in just a few hours. An understandably elated Ian Brown responded, “We plan on spending the rest of the day jumping up and down with our hands in the air!” Here’s hoping the band that made the astonishing The Stone Roses in 1989 and the almost equally brilliant The Second Coming in 1994 remember their excitement in July and deliver the brilliant set we’re all hoping for.
July 5, The Phoenix Park, Dublin
Tickets priced €63.65.
The one-day festival takes place at Skelly’s Bar, in the Longford town of Ballymahon.
Having previously announced a fine initial bill for a micro festival that included the likes of Ash, Duke Special, Jape and The Kanyu Tree, the good people behind the Helium Music Festival have today revealed the full details.
Delorentos and Neon Wolf are just some of the other acts who are Longford-bound on June 9. Tickets cost €40 and are available from [link]www.tickets.ie[/link]. All proceeds go to Ataxia Ireland, a voluntary organisation that cares for people disabled with Friedreichs Ataxia and other genetic Ataxia diseases.
Check out the line-up below: Main Stage
11:30 – 01:00 Ash 10:00 – 11:00 Delorentos 8:30 – 9:30 Duke Special 7:50 – 8:20 Nathan Flutebox Lee And The Clinic 7:00 – 7:45 The Kanyu Tree 6:15 – 6:45 Saint John The Gambler 5:30 – 6:00 Peter Doran Band 4:45 – 5:15 The Driftwood Manor
no ego Stage
12:15 – 01:00 Tivo Trad Hop DJ 11:30 – 12:15 Chewing On Tinfoil 10:30 – 11:15 Rebel Souls 9:00 – 10:15 JAPE 7:55 – 8:35 Neon Wolf 7:00 – 7:40 Frantic Jack 6:15 – 6:45 Of Fiction 5:30 – 6:00 Stephen Young And The Union 4:45 – 5:15 Reverend JM And the Panic Worship 4:00 – 4:30 Gypsy Rebel Rabble 3:20 – 3:50 Bill Coleman 2:40 – 3:10 Tommy Moore Band 2:10 – 2:30 Conor McCauley
British Sea Power are the latest big name act to be confirmed for Indiependence, which takes place over the August Bank Holiday weekend in Mitchelstown.
Also joining headlining turns 2manydjs, Maverick Sabre and Feeder are Foals who’ll be performing a DJ set, Horse Meat Disco, Fish Go Deep, The Pale, Zombie Computer, Slow Motion Heroes, Last Days Of 1984, The Gandhis and The Shoos.
There are still another 30 acts to be confirmed, including the Indie12 bands who’ve entered to play on the Red Bull Bedroom Jam Stage.
Dublin rockers Kopek have been scoring some major Stateside syncing success with their White Collar Lies album.
Worked by Good Seed PR’s Linda Coogan Byrne and Religion Music’s Glen Herlihy, ‘Bring It Back Home’ has ended up on American Reunion and Jersey Shore; ‘Love Is Dead’ – Saw 3D; ‘Sin City’ – Degrassi, Jersey Shore and The Challenge; ‘The Easy Way’ – Punk’D and Jersey Shore; ‘Bigger Than Us All’ – Jersey Shore and ‘Love Sick Blues’ – Real World.
That’s quite a tally! On the home front, the new Kopek single, ‘Floridian’, is out on June 22. We’ll be having a chat to the Kopek boys in the near future.
Overlooking the impossibly gorgeous Blessington Lakes, Knockanstockan resembles a smaller, more street-level Electric Picnic. We’re big fans of the festival’s vibe, typically featuring an eclectic mix of Ireland’s lesser known unsigned bands (rootin’, tootin’ country rockers The Hot Sprockets are regulars on the bill), but with all the hippy-tastic crafts and activities, there’s really no time to stress. The first batch of acts will be announced at the 100 Days To KnockanStockan gig in the Grand Social on April 13, with a complete line-up to follow in May. Consider us on the edges of our seats.
ACTS: Arrow In The Sky, Blind Yackety, Christof, Crow Black Children, Cry Monster Cry, Earthship, Elk, Enda Reilly, Fox.E & The Good Hands, Guilty Boy Association, Hassle Merchants, Indecent Cigar Emporium, King Modo, Little x’s For Eyes, Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six, Medulla, Mikey & The Scallywags, Mojo Gogo, Raglans, Rocket Surgery, Ross Breen, Sal Vitro, Sarah Red, Swords, The Bambir, The Envelope, The Fitzafrenic, The Hot Sprockets, The Louisiana Six, The Riptide Movement, Trap Door, Twin Headed Wolf, Veroa, Wizards Of Firetop Mountain, Wyvern Lingo, Sive, Best Boy Grip, The Eskies and Cat Dowling.
Easily scooping the Best Tagline award (“small but MASSIVE”), Glasgowbury comes to the panoramic setting of Eagles Rock in the heart of the Sperrin Mountains this July, taking with it a gang of 60 + homegrown rock and alternative bands that have still to be announced. Over a decade after it first pitched up in a back garden in Draperstown, the festival is best known for its immaculately-chosen line-up, which teams the best of new Irish talent with seasoned live favourites such as And So I Watch You From Afar, Fight Like Apes and Fighting With Wire. Glasgowbury 2012 promises five stages of dynamite music, as well as some general merrymaking in the form of street theatre, circus performers and comedy gigs.
ACTS: Therapy?, The Japanese Popstars, Silhouette, VerseChorusVerse, Amidships, Pretty Child Backfire, Farriers, Space Dimension Controller, Ryan Vail and Our Krypton Son, Marc O’Reilly, LaFaro, The Wonder Villains, Paddy Nash & The Happy Enchiladas, Pocket Billiards.
Tickets priced €48 for festival and camping and €36 without camping (early bird prices)
www.glasgowbury.com
Three shows have been announced for this year’s Galway Arts Festival so far: an Irish folk pop bonanza featuring Choice Prize-nominated troubadours James Vincent McMorrow and Lisa Hannigan; a pop rock triple header with hitmakers The Coronas, Bressie and The Kanyu Tree, and Misterman, a critically-adored one-man-drama starring Cillian Murphy that was granted its debut performance last year at this very festival. Thanks to Murphy’s and other performances (there were 176 in total last year), Galway Arts is widely recognised internationally as one of Ireland’s finest festivals.
ACTS: James Vincent McMorrow, Lisa Hannigan, Elaine Mai, The Coronas, The Kanyu Tree, Bressie, Misterman with Cillian Murphy and more to be announced.
Tickets priced €30 to €33.50.
www.galwayartsfestival.com
