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

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

Wonder Villains new single out today!

The wonder Villains have a new single "Ferrari" out today. As you'd imagine it's a wonderful slice of sing-a-long-a (anti)pop music filled with sprinkles and hundreds and thousands.  Also bundled with it are Calgary 88 and Marshall.  All 3 are worth a listen, especially if your into your winter Olympic anecdotes or songs about cars.


Ferrari on Itunes
Ferrari on Spotify

Mental Deficiency new music vid featuring Wyldling

So the Mental Deficiency guys have a new video up featuring the one and only Wyldling! Read her earlier interview with PastieBap here.  this is the sort of cross promotion we love, like when your 2 best mates eventually get it on.  It's so wrong that its almost right.  
The video itself feature the kind of subtle humour we've come to expect from the MD guys blending toe-sucking with silver thong gags galore.



Hopefully Wyldling will be getting the old gig on the go soon, but in the meantime heres the latest demo:


 Mental Def have a few gigs coming up that's always good to shill:

Upcoming Gigs

Feb

11

2012

Supporting Alestorm

Venue: Speakeasy Bar

Town/City: Belfast

Country: Northern Ireland

.

Feb

18

2012

Dead Wing Promotions Festival

Venue: The Cellar Bar

Town/City: Draperstown

Country: Northern Ireland

.

Jul

14

2012

Curse the Gods of Summer II (All Day Event)

Venue: The Pint

Town/City: Dublin

Country: Republic of Ireland

Going to a Pantomime at 29 years old.

Jack and the Beanstock Pantomime

@ The Grand Opera house

For the 3rd year in a row I went to the Panto at the Grand Opera House this year.  I used to go to the Panto every year during primary school, then in primary 7 it all stopped for about 16 years until my wife's mother was visiting us from Scotland for Christmas and we were trying to find things that everyone can do together. And I think thats one of the best things about a Panto,  anyone from 5 years old to 79 years old can go and enjoy it. It's bright lights, pyrotechnics, special effects, huge sets, crude jokes and pure entertainment.  I'm a massive wrestling fan and the parallels between the 2 are not hard to draw.  


I went to the Panto with my wife, mum, dad, sister, granny and mother-in-law. As we approach the GOH (Grand Opera House) we see through the glass walls kids running everywhere, light up wands and guns(?) and ice cream and sweets being sold from every conceivable place.  As we get in and get our seats we realise that we're probably the only ones here without kids, but we do have 2 septuagenarians so I image the experience to be very similar.  My nineteen year old sister then decides that she wants a flashing rotating light gun thing, so when I bounce off  to get her one I end up telling the lady behind the counter it's not for me, it's for the kids.  She looks at me like the teller looks at Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone.


And so the show begins; oh no it doesn't, oh yes it does! (sorry couldn't resist)  The star of this show is undoubtedly May McFetridge, in fact in recent years they've done away with the star names in favour of a 3D section of the show and this has bolstered May up to top billing.  The story of the Panto is Jack and the Beanstalk.  Basically Jack must slay a giant that has been terrorising his "magical village of Ahoghill" or as the fairy calls it "A hog hill".  The giant also steals his prospective bride and so it's doubly important that he completes his task. He sells his cow for some beans and when they're thrown out the window they grow into a magic beanstalk that allows him to climb up to the Giant's castle.  He rescue's his bride to be and destroys the giant.  It all culminates in a wonderful wedding between the two.  The story is secondary however, as this is all about the entertainment, and entertain it does.  

As I said earlier May McFetridge is the star of this show from the moment she arrives in a Smart car on stage. Whether she's heckling people for being too hung-over, getting the young ones up on stage to do a sing-a-long of the music man or singing a broadly Belfast accented version of Lady GaGa's Born This Way (complete with a bra with mouths that sing along and try to eat people) she knows what the crowd want and she gives it to them.  The Panto is also heavily tinged with local references, political, religious and the other.  After asking a small girl where she's from and what instrument she plays (East Belfast and the Violin) she tells her that she heard they were all on the fiddle down there!  


In the second half we're treated to the 3D, arguably the second star of the show.  This is done extremely well with giant ogres hands reaching out to grab you and creepy crawlies appearing to be crawling your way as we make our way through the giants castle. I see a few people taking their glasses off as it gets to the part with the spiders!  I was pretty surprised at how well this was done and enjoyed every second of it.


I take this point to mention how well done all the sets were.  Absolutely immaculate and the the Giant was sat there in his house reaching from the floor of the stage right up to the highest part of the curtain.  Complete with moving eyes, lips and arms.  I love this kind of spectacle and judging by the noises form the crowd when he appeared so did the rest of the audience. This was the moment we'd all been waiting for and it didn't disappoint. The use of local actors was also great to see (and hear).   My only complaint would be the amount of "Pop culture" references that were seemingly forced in.  The worst of these being the part were the fairy performed a Catherine Tate inspired "Am I bovvered" skit.  It just seemed very dated and fell flat with the crowd.  It actually made it seem dated (The Catherine Tate show finished about 5 years ago) and I would like to see less of these and at very least more relevant references. 


So all in all we had a great time and I would recommend the Pantomime to anyone of any age.  As I mentioned earlier we took my wife's mother who's originally English but now lives in Scotland.  On the way out we asked if she enjoyed it "oh yes, it was wonderful" and did you understand what May McFetridge was saying OK? "No, I couldn't make out a bloody word".  So it seems that the Panto, this time at least, even transcended language.

Fire in the Taco Bell

I feel no shame in admitting that I literally know about two Electric Six songs, probably the exact same Electric Six songs that most of you all know: Gay bar and Danger! High Voltage. But as a fan of eccentric, light-hearted disco I jumped at the chance to get my grubby little mitts on a last minute ticket to see them in Belfast at the Spring & Airbrake last Friday.

The night started out very well; myself and assorted family members managed to jump the queue by repeatedly asking for 'Tony' and making my brother hobble around precariously on crutches ( he does actually have a fractured leg, but this rouse worked so effortlessly that I vehemently recommend this method to everyone, if you can get your hands on a pair of crutches and the venue's phone number). So by 8.20 or so (ten minutes before doors opened) not only we had secured ourselves a table, but we had first dibs at the empty bar and were effectively living the dream...

Mental Deficiency

Local insaniacs, Mental Deficiency were up first and they tore through a 30 minute set which the crowd seemed to love every second of. They played the classics, culminating in everyone's favourite 'GHHGHB'; Mental Deficiency, promoting respect for women since the dawn of time. To be honest, 30 minutes wasn't nearly enough, but with morph suits, pyjama bottoms, and top hats galore, Mental Def seemed to be the perfect accompaniment to the madness which is Electric Six.

Swound!

Next up, the long awaited Swound!, four guys appeared on stage with an array of plaid shirts, Justin Bieber-esque sweepy fringes and classic indie nerd glasses (prescription or not, you decide). At first sight they really don't look like the kind of band that should be touring (however briefly) with Electric Six, but I have to admit that they were good. Their music was catchy enough and being an impressionable teenage girl, I would definitely give their music a second listen, but the awkward pauses in which they attempted to converse with the audience left me feeling a little uncomfortable and wishing for it all to be over. Swound! you're either going to love them or hate them, as you can probably already tell from their overly punctuated name... Personally, I didn't really think that Swound! were the party starters that they should have been and would have put Mental Def on before E6 in order to kick things up a gear, but hey, each to their own.

Now onto the main event, Electric Six were definitely on fire! Mr Dick Valentine, frontman extraordinaire looked positively homeless; unbrushed hair, baggy ill-fitting suit, crazy wide eyes. This was honestly nothing like the debonair, coiffured, gyrating gentleman which I had expected. Well, as debonair and coiffured as 'Gaybraham Linoln' can be. My favourite aspect of Dick's outfit however, was his super creepy latex gloves which he wore, yet never mentioned.

Now, I'm a fan of a band which engage with the audience, and E6 did not disappoint, from jokes about Ireland, to telling us that Van Morrison's nephew was his drummer, Dick Valentine kept up a lively banter with the audience which seemed effortless. For someone who really didn't know an awful lot of E6 songs, I thoroughly enjoyed their mammoth 15 song set and was even able to sing along to a fair few. Despite this, the best was yet to come as Mr Valentine announced that they "didn't come all this way to play a 15 song set, they'd come all this way to play an 18 song set", suffice to say, the final three songs were well received and everyone left feeling a little bit more camp than they had when the night began.

By Laura Caldwell

MTV EMA's in Belfast or How Justin Bieber interfered with my Saturday

So the MTV EMA's came and went. Lady Gaga wore a mad hat, a staged Belfastian streaked across the stage, Justin Bieber "killed it" and Selena Gomez was as dull as dish water. I first found out about the EMAs bring in Belfast on twitter, probably like a lot a people, and immediately wondered what it would actually mean to Belfast and most importantly - what it would mean to me.

The first thing i encountered was posters.

Getting off at Belfast Central daily I began to notice that adorning the lamp posts either side of the road on the way into town were these purple posters proclaiming the imminent arrival of said awards. I like purple, it naturally makes people in a better mood. So I was pleased with this.

Walking through Belfast on the Friday night before the EMAs I walked past them building the stage, it looked impressive.

The city hall was lit up like a Jean Michael Jarre concert and looked equally impressive in it's own right.

But the biggest effect it had on me personally was on Saturday. I had a few friends over from Scotland, one just happened to be over, the other was over with an artist that was appearing at the EMAs and since we all had the day off we went for a few drinks. The city was a buzz on Saturday. Kids every where, massive purple posters on buildings, buses and shops. The stage loomed large at city hall reminding everyone what was happening the next night. And as I went to take my mates for a few rums in The Spaniard bar I was greeted by the sight of hundreds of people thronging the end of the street it was on. Then I noticed the whole street was cordoned off by security and police.

As I asked about getting to The Spaniard, 2 words came back ringing in my wars. Justin Bieber. Justin Bloody Bieber. Or Ustin Bieber as a Spanish lady screamed at me on my way skirting round The Merchant Hotel (Where he was allegedly staying). We tried the other side of the street but it was even worse. Girls with Justin on their face, ladies crying and even a few rubber necking spides. I thought Belfast was better than this but ah well. I guess like the EMAs itself when you watch it on TV, it could be just any city in the world when the Beibs is in town. For those of you worried, we just made out way to The Duke of York for a cracking pint of Guinness instead.

I watched the EMA's like 99% of the people did of course.  On my TV.  Belfast looked great, the city represented itself well as a whole and it apparently brought a lot of money in for the province. But what the EMA's meant to me - Drinking Guinness in the Duke of York instead of Rum in The Spaniard.

According to a later tweet from the PSNI the Biebs never was staying in the merchant in the first place. So I guess in the end it wasn't even his fault.



By Chris Caldwell

Britney, Oh Britney!

Like most boys (men) of my age I remember Britney when she first burst  onto the worlds radar as a nubile lolita figure belting out a song about  domestic violence whilst dressed as a slutty school girl.  Cut from that to near 15 years later and what I saw last night at the "Femme Fatale" tour and, well, let's start by saying the concert was "interesting".

My wife is a Britney fan.  I was a Britney fan, albeit for different reasons than my wife is. She has been an omnipresent figure since I was about 15.  So when I got an e-mail yesterday saying I had won 2 tickets (a near £130 value) to go and see Britney live at the Odyssey Arena Belfast, I thought "might as well". We missed the support act of Joe Jonas, a single Jonas brother( I guess they've split the Horcruxes up). So as we got in with 5 minutes to spare the first thing we saw was a giant screen counting down to the start of the show. 

The place was mostly full.  A massive stage had been erected with all sorts of moving video walls and what looked like a pylons either side.  The countdown finished and an intro video started playing on the screens.  Some creepy guy talking into a microphone and then videos of Britney getting arrested.  It would become clear over the night, as these video's peppered the concert, that this was supposed to be some sort of narrative about a guy stalking Britney or working for a radio station or talking about "Femme Fatales"(who know which).  Basically it was incomprehensible but it presumably allowed Britney to get changed between songs and apparently allowed her to wheel out set designs like a Prison and an ancient Egyptian Boat and a Barbie jeep.

But I digress, Britney eventually appeared to a sea of cheers and a hero's welcome! She looked fine for a woman who's now 30 years old, but it's obvious she's not the performer she once was. She then proceeded to mime every song bar one and shuffle her way through the most unenergetic dance routines I've ever seen.  She did a lot of hand dancing and not a lot of foot dancing. 

She had a fleet of about 12 dancers and as they danced up a storm Britney generally stood in the middle and moved her arms.  Then she skipped to the next mark and repeated the action.  In the middle came the bit where she sung live. I think it was live.  To achieve this she had to sit on a swing, I'm not sure if the act of standing and singing would've been too much, but we'll never find out because she never did both simultaneously.

The culmination of the concert and the increasingly bizarre video clips was the coming together of the 2 pylons and as the pylons (for whatever reason) spat fireworks into the sky Britney ascended towards the roof and giant angels wings unfurled, or at least they were supposed to.  One unfurled and the other sat there limp and life less.

The concert was fine but as I said to my wife afterwards, it was more like "Britney: The Musical" than a Britney concert.  She didn't sing, she barely danced and she looked oddly vacant throughout. But with that much stage production and actual dancers it's hard not to enjoy the spectacle.


By Chris Caldwell