The week we had no reviews!

Well, it finally happened. This week we didn't go and see anything and as such we're having a wee break from reviews! So we leave you with 2 things.
Firstly, we noticed that PastieBap favourites Wyldling have debuted a new video. So since they're the current holders of our most viewed post ever we thought we'd stick it up for you to have a butchers at. It's a rocking good tune with some great screming from Jilly. We're liking this harder edge!

Secondly we've been working on transferring the site over from Blogger to Weebly and thought we'd give you guys a wee look so you can give us some feed back.  The main problem with Blogger is that its terrible with handling pictures, which are a very important part of Pastiebap.com. Also we're liking the fact that this is more like a website and less like just a blog. Anyway have a wee look and let us know what you think.  We've still to update graphics, etc so please consider it a work in progress;)

PWU Proving Grounds at Malone Rugby Club

It was about this time last month (29th July to be precise) that my brother and I were sat in Malone Rugby Club getting ready to watch PWU’s “Proving Grounds” event.  It had been a few years since I last caught any of the PWU shows, back when they were held in the Wellington Hotel, and I was ready to get stuck back in. 

I’ve been a wrestling fan myself for as long as I can remember - bar a few years at secondary school when it dropped off my radar - I’ve always enjoyed it. From sitting in the Kings Hall chanting for Big Boss Man and the Undertaker, to proposing to my wife at Wrestlemania 21 in Los Angeles (yes this is a true story), the big time wrestling of WWE and not TNA is a great spectacle for all. But let’s not forget the smaller organisations, the local ones. Well this is where PWU comes in. All tickets were priced at £5, a bar and screaming and shouting welcome. 

The Massive Giant "Tron"

“Proving Grounds” is a yearly show that is used to showcase new and emerging talent alongside the existing stars of Pro Wrestling Ulster and what a great show it truly was.  We’re sat in the Rugby club and before us is a 20”x20” ring squeezed in the corner, it’s the same size as the WWE use and it’s huge! There’s a crowd of between 70-90 people, a mix of couples, kids, parents and groups of friends.  It’s a good atmosphere with the majority really getting into it.

The Battle Royal under way!

Tonight we’re getting 6 matches and a battle royal. We begin with the biggest guy on the roster, standing somewhere over 7 feet and having spent a while in WWE development, it is easy to see that the guy has come on leaps since the last time I saw him years ago. He has a look, he can talk and by god he can wrestle! He has a lovely opening match verses Bonesaw with the crowd and especially the kids really enjoying this classic good versus bad match-up (or in wrestling speak – Face vs Heel).  Then just before the 20 minute break is my favourite match of the night - Darren 'Blue Guy' Andrews vs 'All Ulster Champion' Christopher Tiberious Banks III. A really quick, crisp and (as much as the low ceiling will allow) high flying affair.  These two really put on a show and I would thoroughly look forward to seeing them again.

Throughout the night we get a triple threat with some wrestlers from south of the border, a tag team bout with Vampires and Mexicans and then we round it all off with all the competitors in the Terry Thompson invitational Battle Royal.  For those not familiar, Terry Thompson is the Vince McMahon of PWU, he’s the money, he’s nefarious and he’s the man in charge. So it was only right that at the end of the battle royal as he went to hold the “winners” hand aloft, he quickly revealed that he was in the battle royal too and threw him over the top rope to declare himself the true winner!

 

The timing of the show was spot on, 2 hours with an interval. It held my attention the whole time and it brought me into the storylines as well as the action.

PWU have an upcoming show on Sunday 26th August at the Balmoral Hotel. It will have the re-match between Darren 'Blue Guy' Andrews vs 'All Ulster Champion' Christopher Tiberious Banks III. This time for the belt and my money is on it stealing the show once again!  Unfortunately we’ll not be in attendance due to previous commitments but we’ll be doing our best to catch all the shows going forward.  It’s a great way to spend a Sunday night regardless of your age and at £5 it is a bargain for live home grown entertainment, oh and there’s a bar so there really is no excuse!

A Fabulous Day at the Dalriada Festival

It was with suspicious eyes that I opened the curtains on Fri 13^th July; it looked like the sun was shining, but with this being Northern Ireland, one can never be too sure.  Sure enough though, there it was!  But would it stay? That was the main concern. We were headed to the Dalriada festival in Glenarm later that day, and with the festival being 90% outdoors, the weather was pretty crucial to its success.  We had my mother in law and my niece over staying with us from Scotland and were trying to show them the best of what NI had to offer, so after a morning at Titanic Belfast we headed out towards Larne, the North Coast and eventually Glenarm. We arrived at the grounds to Glenarm Castle with the sun still shining and as we quickly discovered a lot of other people had the same idea.

We navigated to the carpark easily as the grounds were well signposted and a short walk later we were paying in. With under 12s free and discount for seniors it was priced very competitively. My wife and I paid £10 each. The next few hours were spent having an amazing time, but first we scurried over to the Fine Food zone for some hog roast and coffee while the Broken Strings bluegrass band played in the background, which later made way to a display of Irish dancing.

We then moved round to see the cooking display from Channel 4s Fabulous Baker Brothers.  The guys were on great form as they took us through cooking a salmon en croute using all local produce, which we managed to grab a piece of to taste once they had finished. It was delicious (even though I don’t really like salmon)!  The guys were super nice and stayed behind for a good 20mins taking pictures and chatting with everyone.  They were handing out stickers for their website and as they stuck one on me I thought it only fair to stick some of the new pastiebap.com stickers on them. 

After the cookery we saw Willie Drennan’s Ulster Scots Band playing in the beautiful walled gardens. We had some ice cream while we attempted to watch the world’s first sheep fashion show. This was absolutely mobbed but we managed to glimpse Lady Baba and Super Lamb walking the catwalk with ease.

We caught the tail end of the massive muscle men taking part in the 'Clash of the Celtic Giants', tossing the massive caber in the air. We had a quick go on the Segways on the way round and to finish the day off, there was the amazing dancing acrobatic display that is the AFRIKAN WARRIORS.

The Dalriada festival has some solid sponsors in the shape of P&O ferries, UTV, Calor and Audi and it’s great to see these companies getting behind what is a different kind of festival that is truly for the whole family.  In an over saturated market of music festivals, Dalriada truly is something different and long may it continue!

Glasgowbury 2012 preview

I went to my first Glasgowbury in 2008. That year the event was headlined by ASH.  It was the first small festival I’d been to, upto that point I’d only been to larger fests, Leeds weekender and Download.  I was blown away by the intimacy, the atmosphere and the commitment to local music. 

Since that time Glasgowbury has grown every year, but their commitment has remained the same, the atmosphere has stayed the same and it’s still a heck of a day out. To get to Glasgowbury you have to drive out of the city, into the countryside, to the foot of a mountain, get on a bus, drive further up the mountain and then hop into a field. But it’s worth the effort. You get to see the cream of Irish music in an amazing setting, mountains in the background, sun shining (hopefully) beer in hand with the volume turned all the way up.  So here’s our wee preview of the bands to see, what to bring, useful links and some sage advice that I’ve garnered over the years.

At a glance

Website: http://www.glasgowbury.com/

Ticket: £45

Parking: £5

Bus: £3

Pint: £3.50

Food: £4-5
Postcode for the Sat-Nav: BT45 7EN

What to pack

How it goes

As you get near to Draperstown you'll start seeing signs directing you to the site, the first one usually appears at the roundabout in Draperstown. Follow these and you can't go far wrong.  You'll eventually see some guys in fluorescent jackets directing you to the car park.  It costs £5 to park the car and I've never heard of anyone having issues with security in the car park, but make sure to hide any valuables out of plain site and lock the car.  You 'll then walk over to the ticketing area, where you collect your tickets, or if you already have them show them to the staff. They'll give you a wrist band. Do not lose this! It's your proof that you've paid to be there.  After tickets there's a security check.  They're mostly checking for glass and cooking or fire making stuff and should only take a minute or 2.  After this there's a wee hut where you pay £3 for a return coach ticket.  The walk to the campsite takes about 25-30 mins and it's all uphill, with all your stuff. So this really is the best option. The coaches come about every 10 mins and one is never far away.  The bus then takes you and your stuff up the hill and leaves you at the campsite.  There's usually 2 main ones: family and camper-vans and there's loads of staff around to direct you to the right one.  Once in, set up your tent and get your sleeping bag out. Basically take 15 mins to set your area up first.  You'll be thankful later!

Next open a beer and have a well deserved drink!  Take a look around and note where your tent is, this will come in handy when you're staggering back later that night.  When you head over the Arena you'll be checked for booze and have your wrist band checked.  You can nip back and forth to the campsite as much as you like but make sure to keep any valuables on you.  Have a walk around and note where the stages are, so you know where to go to see the bands you want.  Be sure once you're there that you soak it all in, join in a drum circle, make a poster, get your face painted, check out some new bands! Make sure and eat and drink some water through out the day, it's a good 12 hours and you want to make sure you see it all. 

Trying to decide what bands to see and when, use the clash finder.
Put in your choices, colour code them and then print it out!

Clashfinder

Glasgowbury sent out this wee notice of information. A must read if you're going.

Checklist link

Our Recommendations

Intermission


A 3 piece Alt-Rock group from Derry who have been around making noise (in one band or another) for quite a wee while now.  The noise is starting to be heard and it's getting louder. Great anthemic choruses and crunchy guitars makes us look forward to finally seeing these guys live.

Silhouette

You know the song off that NI 2012 Our Time, Our Place ads? Well that's Sillhouette; catchy huh? Fronted by Shauna Tohill it's "high energy alternative pop laced with flavours of darkness, hope and desire."  Having finally seen them live at Pigstock we're pretty excited about catching them again.

Pocket Billiards


9 Piece Ska bastards from Belfast.  Coming with a new album under one arm and a ready made party under the other.  The most fun you can have with your clothes on.


Triggerman


If you like your riffs chunky and your rock hard, then these are the guys for you. Bringing a sound thats familiar, catchy but strangley unique.  Rock up on the day, let your hair down and perhaps even join in a mosh pit.

Tucan
Beautiful music played beautifully.  Known for thier amazing instrumental re-workings of modern pop songs, These guys play the most amazing and precise guitars you'll hear all day.

We'll be heading up early on saturday morning and have a full write up ASAP.  We hope to see you up the mountain! #smallbutmassive

This Is My Jam

We've just signed up to thisismyjam a new website that lets you pick and display your pick of new (and sometimes not so new) music. Every week we'll be picking our favourite tunes form around the Island for your listening pleasure.  So here's our first pick! Click the pic below to see and feel free to follow us.

Merry Quizmas! The Quarterly Pub Quz at the MAC

Manic is one word to describe the first 'Quarterly Quiz' at the MAC. Fun is another. As you walk in you are greeted by the sight of a roaring fire being projected on to a screen that occupies most of the reception desk - an electric guitar, pedals and amp are there too. Also there are fairy lights, a small table, a chair, a pint of Guinness and local comedian Paul Currie. It's at this point you feel under dressed. Starting at the floor he is wearing a pair of perfect white cuban heels and a Ron Burgundy style suit (only in blue). He has teamed all this with shoulder length hair and a wonderful beard. Standing at least 6 feet tall, he is, quite literally, a feast for the eyes.

The Quarterly Quiz happens every 3 months (hence quarterly) and is £5 for a team of 5. It started about 8:30pm on Sunday night, finishing about 3 hours later (for a full nights entertainment it was certainly value for money). As the Quiz started, Paul revealed that he had a different prop for each round.  He had a snow hat and goggles for the Geography round (as he made wind noises into the mic and quoted Captain Scott) and a visor and sunglasses for the film round - oh and a rubber hand on a ten foot pole for the "draw a horse" round. Yes thats right, there was a draw a horse round and the results were quite surprising, in a good way. Our team won this round with help from our friends over at The Skeleton Blog, as the rubber hand of fate picked our flying horse to be the best.

Guitar Intros

The other rounds consisted of film, Geography, culture, general knowledge, picture rounds, guitar intros and sport.  The picture round, rather ingeniously, consisted of pictures of various bar staff behind their respective bars and you had to guess what bar it was. Extra points if you knew the bar person's name.  The usual "guess the intro" round was replaced by the intros being played on an electric guitar.  It's always great to bring a bit of live music in when possible and this was a fun round.

Currie also conducted the sports round in a "spide" accent the whole way through, like. Because who loves sport more than spide.

Wall of Horse

We didn't win the overall quiz, but the awarding of the prizes was no less frenzied than the previous 3 hours. The first place winners were disqualified from winning prizes because they had sneaked more than 5 onto their team.  The second place winners were also exempt from winning prizes because they were made up of MAC staff. So the 3rd place winners won the 1st place prize and 4th place won the second place prize. Stop me if any of this is making sense...

The prizes consisted of jotters, Lowry prints and colouring in books, tickets to shows at the MAC and vouchers for meals at the MAC restaurant.

The winning Horse

All in all it was a brilliant evening. I was designated driver so ne'er a drop passed my lips all evening and even stone cold sober it was a brilliant time.  We'll be back in 3 months, you should probably get a team together and do the same.

Theatre at the Cinema! Frankenstein at the QFT

Recently Cinema has been in decline, so they say. So the cinemas are trying all manner of new ways to get us back into their darkened little rooms. 3D, digital projections, £3 Tuesdays (Or £3 Mondays at the QFT) better food, comfier seats the list goes on...  The recent trend of showing live events in cinemas for me however, is the most intriguing and sustainable.  I think this is a brilliant use of cinemas.  They are, after all, Public auditoriums and should be used as such.  The act of watching an event with fellow spectators always makes it better, grander and a lot more fun.

So this past Sunday as treat to my dad (it was father’s day after all) we took him to see a showing of the stage version of Frankenstein at the QFT. 

The QFT (Queens Film Theatre) is a marvellous place to while away a couple of hours. Situated to beside Queens University, right in the hub of the Botanic area is the film theatre for the film department of Queens and a great place to catch indie films and cult classics. The recent refurbishment, the beer garden and the addition of the Jameson’s bar have all been greatly received.  You can catch all the movies here that you don’t get in the multiplexes.  We recently went to see Iron Sky here and as usual the cinema was full to the brim. Also be sure to have a cup of their coffee, which I highly recommend!  On Mondays all films are £3 as well, so there are bargains to be had.

The play was originally performed in the National Theatre in London (this was a pre-recorded version). Directed by Danny Boyle (who rather topically is directing London's opening ceremony for the Olympics 2012) and starring the UK and US versions of Sherlock Holmes: Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Millar as Dr Frankenstein and 'the monster'. Each night this play was performed, Cumberbatch and Millar switched roles, and the earlier showing at the QFT that day was the alternate version to the one we saw. We saw the version with Cumberbatch as Frankenstein and Millar as the Monster. Tickets for this show were £10 a pop - dear for a film, cheap for a play - and seeing as this nestled somewhere comfortably between the two, I thought this was a perfectly acceptable price.  The screen was full; I saw 2 empty seats in the whole place. As we sat down on our really comfy seats with a cup of coffee we were first treated to a “DVD extra” in the format of some interviews with the stars, writer and director of the film as well as some footage of rehearsals.  This was a nice touch and it really whet our appetite for the next 2 hours.

As the play starts off we see the size and grandeur of The National Theatre, the rotating stage and a pulsing skin tent.  The monster is born and he writhes around the stage for about 10 minutes, trying to stand - he held the audience's attention effortlessly. At this point I realised what a brilliant actor Benedict Cumberbatch truly is, (and throughout the night, this wasn’t the last time I thought this) with a lesser talent this would’ve been quite tiresome. One of the main differences with this stage play to other versions of Frankenstein I’ve seen is that the monster talks, this works brilliantly and makes the monster feel like more of a character - a man scorned by society - rather than a pawn for the action to unfold around.  It made me realise that I’m not truly sure of the original story of Frankenstein as penned by Mary Shelley. This in part may be due to the various different re-enactments that we've seen on screen.

The rotating stage was used to great effect and to ensure smooth transitions between scenes, a massive lighting rig overhead (basically consisting of several hundred lightbulbs dangling from the ceiling) buzzed and faded in and out when the monster was being born, this also helped add atmosphere throughout the play.  A few set pieces were welcome also, such as the huge train that came in along the train tracks in the floor, and the massive windows and rooms inside the grand house in Geneva. Jonny Lee Miller was also excellent as Doctor Frankenstein, a man torn between what science can do and what is perceived as “the right thing”. In the “DVD extra” we saw at the start, Millar and Cumberbatch both stated that as rehearsals and shows progressed they could feel certain parts of the character they played in the monster, manifesting themselves when they played Frankenstein. Watching this play it was easy to imagine the two reversing roles, as the central two characters they were very much in this together.

I really enjoyed this trip to the QFT and will be looking out for more live events at the cinema.  Being part of a crowd, laughing and gasping at the same time definitely adds to and enhances the experience of watching a show. This is one experience I’d been keen to repeat!

QFT has a season of shows from The National Theatre coming up, including an adaptation of the amazing book “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”.


Check their website for regular updates.

By Chris Caldwell

Taste of Dublin 2012 - Delicious and filling!

PastieBap headed to Dublin for the weekend to attend Taste of Dublin (a foodie fest). Visitors to the Belfast Taste and Music Fest which has been held in Botanic Gardens for the last few years will be familiar with the set up:  local restaurateurs set up tents and sell tapas size dishes of their best and newest creations to willing punters for the in-house currency of florins. 

Day 1 - Thursday

It was dry as we arrived in Dublin after a swift two hour journey from Belfast, but then the rain came and as we all know in Ireland - when it rains, it pours! As we began queuing to get into Taste of Dublin we soon discovered that a bit of rain certainly doesn't put the people of Dublin off a day out and some good food.



As close as PastieBap could get to Jamie Oliver!

As we arrived on the Thursday we are greeted by probably the world’s most famous (and certainly the richest) chef, Jamie Oliver. We then watched as he performed a cooking demonstration (shoulder of lamb) for the crowd before we headed off for our first gourmet experience.

Becks Vier Masterclass

We tasted 4 beers and 2 ciders and accompanying foods that went with each as our hilarious Belgian beer master took us on a voyage of discovery.



Our Belgain Beer Master

One doesn't usually associate beer being paired with foods, the way wine is. But here he showed us how different foods can definitely be enhanced with certain beers. How a sweet food can enhance an amber ale and how a pear cider can help soften a strong cheese. For being such good pupils we all got a free pint of Becks Vier as well.



Some of the food and drink they served us at the Masterclass





Upwards of 20 restaurants were represented at the food fest which was situated in Iveagh Gardens, St Stephen’s Green in Dublin and it was hard to decide where to eat first. My dad bought some Beef Peng Curry from the Taste of Thailand stall, which was delicious. I sampled Chang (A Thai beer), followed by ciders, cheese, yogurt, sausage and prosecco. We eventually wound up in the Volvo tent, where it was nice and dry, doing some Virtual graffiti!



Virtual Graffiti

Kanchi Dine in the Dark

Next up we were booked in for Kanchi 'Dine in the Dark' where you are served by visually impaired waiters, in a pitch black room and with your vision impaired your taste buds are able to fully waken up.  This was excellent, we had 3 courses and a glass of wine. Each course was a dish with 4 tastes and as we sat there in the dark we tried to pick out all 4. Afterwards in the cold light of day, the Chef revealed all to us. We got most of them right! This gives you a real insight, although brief, on how your life would be affected if something were to happen to your sight. A challenging but brilliant experience, and the food was second to none.

A Duck Confit and Smoked salmon and Mackeral

The San Miguel bar was open where you could watch the European football and sample some of Spain’s most famous dishes – tapas (starter size portions of any dish).  There was a barbecue master class for when (if) the weather gets better (more about that later) and of course live entertainment - with live bands such as the upbeat Spring Break, and Smash Hits playing throughout the four days. This wouldn’t truely be an Irish festival without a little bit of drink and with West Coast cooler, O’Briens wine, Rekorderlig cider and the aforementioned San Miguel and Becks beer on hand, the crowd's thirst was certainly quenched.

We finished the day off with a wine tasting class run by O'Briens wines, where we tried a presecco, a white and 2 reds as the owner of the wine company, who had flown from Italy, talked us through each one. 

I have to say that the organisation of this whole event was excellent. We were given free ponchos on the way in, so that even though it rained it wouldn't stop us. Numbers looked high and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

We were lucky enough to attend the food fest on the Friday also, with a couple of tickets won from a competition run by Hi-Life (thanks), who also had a stall on hand for anyone wanting to pick up the foodie’s favourite two for one dining card.

Day 2 -Friday

As we arrived for day 2 perhaps a little bleary eyed, thanks to the Becks Vier the day before, we notice something different than the previous day:  the sun had come out! We  went to the 12pm-4pm session and wondered what we had left to do,  because we had done so much on the Thursday. We needn't have worried as there was still plenty to do. 


We watched (and tasted) the chefs at the Knorr stand prepare asparagus risotto and chicken, rice and peas before leaving with a wee sample of their new stock pots to attempt it ourselves at home. We sampled the new Tropicana range, with orange and lime proving to be the favourite. We had free samples of cheese, orange and ginger Crabbies ale,  Spanish wines, cured sausages, pizza, beers, chicken and yoghurt!

Derry Clarke and Kevin Dundon

Our highlight of the day was watching Ireland's own top chefs Derry Clarke and Kevin Dundon taking us through a BBQ master class.  You could tell that these guys are friends and enjoy working together because the craic was mighty at this demo.  They jibed, joked and poked fun at each other for the full hour.  The whole time giving endless genuinely great tips on how to BBQ properly, the correct use of smoking, the best types of BBQ and of course cooking some food! They produced barbecued salmon,  cabbage and bacon and flambe banana. The taste of each was simple but beautiful.

As this finished we managed to nip over and catch the last half hour of Super Chef Jean Christophe Novelli's demo were he was making all kinds of delicious fish dishes. He was on fine form as well, even joking when someones phone went off  "I think that is my mother checking that I arrived safely in Ireland". 

Chef Jean Christophe Novelli reaches for the Herbs

 I'm starting to think that the typical view of Chef's as hot heads is a total myth. He brought a friend of his on stage, an Irish Chef who's name I didn't catch and he gave an impassioned speech about how Ireland needs to re-capture it's food heritage and outlined steps he was taking to help ensure this.  A great speech that was  rightfully greeted with a round of applause and I hope that in future years we'll be seeing more Irish food stalls at festivals such as this.

Massive Parmesian cheese wheel

After assessing how many florins we had left we stopped off for a cone of steak and chips (yes really) and the most amazing Parmesian risotto I've ever seen or tasted.  It's prepared in the traditional way and then put into the most massive Parmesian cheese wheel where the cheese melts into the risotto. It's  then scooped off and served.

As we all travelled home in the  car with perhaps a little more weight than when we arrived, we agreed that it was a great way to spend a day or two and we couldn’t wait  to return next year. After seeing the popularity of this years’s Taste of Dublin we look forward to August when the Belfast Taste and Music fest returns to Botanic Gardens and tasting some more local fayre.

Pigstock & Glasgowbury - Local Festivalling at it's best

So with the sun shining and temperatures reaching as high as 20 Celsius, for the music lover this can bring to mind only one thing - festival season is upon us!

See that picture above?  The one with a terrified looking Duke Special?  That's me (fairly drunk) at Glasgowbury 2010. Look how much fun I'm having scaring this poor man.  you too could have that much fun.  Just read on...

Over the last 13 years I have been to festivals of all kinds, in different countries and of all shapes and sizes -  Leeds weekender, Download, Sonisphere, Oxegen, Forfay, Novarock, Electric Bay to name a few.  I actually met my wife at a festival 13 years ago, so they'll always hold a special place for me. I have been to at least one festival every year for the last 10 years and wouldn't consider a summer complete without one. So I would consider my self somewhat of an experienced festivaller (is that a word?) They're a great time to get away for a few days, immerse yourself in music and have a laugh with your mates.   This year I'm pretty skint, so with that in mind I'm forgoing attending a major fest and instead keeping it local, I know I'll spend no-where near the amount of money on the 2 weekends at the smaller festivals that I'd spend on the one big festival. So..I thought I'd write a few of my thoughts on festivals of all sizes and then preview the 2 I'll be attending this year.


Having been to a festival with 100,000 people and one with a few hundred, I wanted to put a few points across for going local, to the smaller fest that's crammed with local talent.

Money

A big reason is money, there's a recession on and people are wanting more bang for their buck. For example Pigstock festival is £35 for the weekend  and that includes camping, so for £35 you get 2 days and nights of non-stop music, accommodation and night time cinema/shenanigans.Usually about £70 would do you for booze and food, so you can see for about £100, it's a cheap enough way to spend a weekend.  On the other hand a ticket to Download festival will set you back £200 plus plane fare and spends when you're there. I've never come back from a major festival without spending at least £250 and that was purely on food and booze. At the end of the day you're not walking away with change from £500. 

 

Local Talent

Supporting and discovering local talent is a great reason to go as well.  This country is crammed with talent, and while international acts are all well and good, it's always good to check out what's on you doorstep.  The smaller festivals tend to be top to toe local entertainment and as such are a great time to check them out and possibly find your self a new favourite band.  

The Undercard

Swanee River @ Pigstock

Always look at the under card, we know that the big boys are on the main stage, but when theres not a band on you like go and check out a band you've never seen before.  It's all too easy to plonk yourself in front of the main stage near the bar and just check out the "mainstream" acts, and if there's band on you love - by all means do exactly that, but when there's not, take a wander and see other bands, it's a great opportunity to see band's that you normally wouldn't. Perhaps bands that you wouldn't listen to at home but make for a great live show, or even some local talent that don't usually play near you.  I've discovered loads of bands that are now in my CD collection this way - Mental Def, Triggerman, General Fiasco, 2 Door cinema club, ASIWYFA.  Also before you go to the fest perhaps give a few bands a listen, that way you will know earlier if they're something you might like.

This year Pastie Bap will be going to 2 festivals - Pigstock and Glasgowbury. We've been to both of these before many times and love them both dearly, like our own special sons, so here's a wee preview of both.  We'll be reporting back after the events too!

Glasgowbury

Wonder Villians @ Glasgowbury

The big Daddy of Norn Irish fests  - it may only be 1 day and 1 night, but what a day and night it always is. Statistically the last weekend in July is NI's hottest and that’s when Glasgowbury is held, so chances are you're in for a fine weekend weather wise.  Put that together with 4 stages at the foot of the Sperrins, some drink and a tent to sleep it all off in and you can see why this is such a good time.  This is the biggest of the local fests, so the "Small but Massive" motto that they boast is entirely apt. 

The Signs @ Galsgowbury

 I've been to Glasgowbury 4 times now and it keeps getting bigger and better, they added a comedy tent last year that went down a storm, they have excellent food vendors and awesome extras like drum circles, (the now infamous) sign making and guys from the circus school bouncing around.
The early bird camping ticket will set you back £40 and it's money well spent.

Therapy? are headlining this year and there's always more acts being announced.

The Japanese Popstars / Fighting With Wire / LaFaro / Axis Of / RunawayGO / Best Boy Grip / Soak / Pocket Billiards / Sons Of Caliber / The Wonder Villains / Farriers / Marc O’Reilly / Amidships / Silhouette / Paddy Nash & The Happy Enchiladas / VerseChorusVerse / Pretty Child Backfire / Our Krypton Son / Kowalski / Enemies / Katie & The Carnival / The Man Whom / Droids / Master & Dog / Tied To Machines / The Dead Presidents / Tucan / The 1930s / The Jepettos / Scorpion Jack / Fox Jaw Bounty Hunters / John Deery & The Heads / Humanshield / Mojo Gogo / Intermission / 4 Conors /Psycatron / Deep Fried Funk / Boxcutter presents The Host / Space Dimension Controller /Ryan Vail.

http://www.glasgowbury.com/

http://www.facebook.com/glasgowbury

https://twitter.com/glasgowbury

Pigstock



No Mean City @ Pigstock

If Glasgowbury is the big daddy, then this is the naughty school boy of NI festivals.  With a leaning more towards rock music but with something for everyone Pigstock is a weekend of loud music and good times.  Improving every year and forming from humble beginnings, Pigstock expanded last year to 2 nights and a much batter layout.  It has 3 stages of music, a spoken word tent, late night cinema, an on site bar and of course the famous hog roast that it's named after, that truly has to be tasted to believe.  It's a very family friendly festival with separate campsite away from the rowdys with its own noise curfew.  It's held in a field in the middle of nowhere, well Killinchy to be more precise. 

Mental Deficiency @ Pigstock

A weekend ticket with Camping will cost you £35 (and possibly your soul)

Headlined by MOJO FURY and Fighting with Wire with supporting cast from

Jogging/ More Than Conquerors/ Colly Strings/ Jamie Neish/ Not Squares/ Rarely Seen Above Ground/ Kowalski/ Tieranniesaur/ Ryan Vail/ Team Horse/ Chris Campbell/

Mojo Fury/  Mmoths/ Squarehead/ Pocket Billiards/ In Case Of Fire/Silhouette/ Run Away Go/ Farriers/ Eatenbybears/ In Elegance/ Not Squares/ Rarely Seen Above Ground/ Kowalski/ Tieranniesaur/ Ryan Vail/ Team Horse/ Chris Campbell

http://www.pigstockfestival.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/Pigstock

https://twitter.com/pigstockfest