Skeleton Blog: Mumblecore

Skeleton Blog: Mumblecore: Well I saw 'The Dark Knight Rises' the other day and thought it was pretty good. I didn't want to be bothered seeing it in the cinema, wh...

Glasgowbury 2012 - Massive but Massive

“Small But Massive” has been the tag line of Glasgowbury for many years now, but if it expands any further they are going to have to change it to just plain massive.  By 12 pm on Saturday 21^st July 2012 we had tents pitched, beers opened and were merrily dancing along to a carnival style multi-coloured drum circle.  As the drummers marched away, the crowd followed them as if they were the Pied Pipers of Hamelin only instead of leading rats out of town they led the people from the campsite to the Glasgowbury arena.

With a tweeked layout this year allowing them to accommodate six different stages the festival really did look bigger than ever.  As ever the main stage was flanked in the background by the scenic Sperrins.  The addition this year of the Red Bull Generator Stage - helmed by DJs throughout the day - gave relief to anyone seeking escape from live music.  Judging by the size of the crowds that danced around the DJ booth/bar it was a massive success.  The weather stayed dry throughout with the sun even making a few regular appearances. 

This year the G Session stage was moved to a giant circus style tent.  This allowed for much improved acoustics and an end to the sound bleeding which the winds on the site had contributed to the year before.  It was on this stage that we saw The Wonder Villains play for the second year running.  Ripping through their catalogue of sing-a-long favourites and trying out some new material. The year has been kind to The Wonder Villains and much improvement could be seen from this time last year.  The extensive touring and gig paying has certainly helped them hone their craft. 

It's recently been announced that Triggerman are supporting Sepultura later this year, and rightly so. They roared through their unique brand of heavy rock with the ease of a bulldozer thorugh a mountain of butter.  the were the bulldozer we were the butter. A sizable crowd had gathered and so the moshing and head banging was inevitable.  A great band to see live and definately a high light for me.

Silhouette was up next and as Shauna Tohill’s haunting voice filled our ears the crowd was captivated.  A genuine rising star whose unique sound is catchy and memorable - definitely one to watch.

As the afternoon well and truly set in,  Pocket Billiards hit the stage in order to wake us up, and as usual the crowd was on their feet. The nine-piece ska kings did what they do best and tore through their set of punchy classics, even being joined by Eimear Coyle from The Wonder Villains at one point.

We took a wander round the site and eventually found ourselves in the middle of another drum circle.  Just one of the many sideshows that could be found in and around the festival arena.  As we left the drum circle and headed towards the main stage we were accosted by seven-foot high silver faced devils.  Luckily we made it out in time to see the tail end of Axis Of. The sound was good, the pace frantic and we're sure we saw  Pocket Billiards join in the final track so this is definatley a band we'd like to catch a whole set of in the coming months.

 I’m not usually a huge fan of dance music but I defy anyone not to be swept along by the amazing stage show and the bombastic tunes that The Japanese Popstars produce.  As we looked around there wasn’t a single person standing still and Northern Ireland’s answer to the Chemical Brothers were a welcome support act for the headliners.

At about 11.05pm Paddy Glasgow, the legend himself appeared before us. The crowd roared as Paddy introduced the headlining act, Therapy?

Therapy? are without a doubt one of the most  anticipated Glasgowbury headliners ever and despite this year being one of the quietest - crowd-wise - the amount of people left standing for the final act was impressive.  Therapy? looked the part in well-fitted suits and they certainly quashed all rumours that they’re too old for this game as they played for well over an hour, rocking the Sperrins to its very core.

Andy Cairns was on fire, he kept the crowds’ spirits up as the rain set in and was constantly talking to the audience (a trait I love to see in a band, it males you feel a part of something and not just a spectator). Unfortunately drummer Neil Cooper couldn’t be at Glasgowbury this year as his wife had just given birth to a baby, but seeing as Andy recorded a message for him on his phone, he would still get a glimpse of the ‘Small But Massive’ madness. Luckily the drummer from LaFaro was on hand to cover and he didn’t miss a beat. As a massive fan of Troublegum, Knives and Screamager were personal highlights and the entire crowd, both young and old, was singing every word – proving once and for all that Northern Ireland was definitely in need of some Therapy?

I've been saying it for a few years now, but as Glasgowbury grows and grows the next step is definately to split this into a 2 day festival. With many more going on the first night, even without entertainment, we need that final push to put this up there amongst the Latitude festivals and the Download festivals of the world.  A niche festival but on a massive scale, it just so happens that the niche of this festival is local music.

Until next year Paddy Glasgow, Keep her lit and Keep her "Small but massive"

Glasgowbury 2012 - The Cartoon

So our good buddies over at Theskeletonblog gave us this exclusive cartoon of Glasgowbury 2012! Check out their facebook and website for new funnies going up every monday.

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!

Two Door Cinema Club free single

So... it seems those awesome chaps in Two Door Cinema Club have went ahead and put the first single off their new album on fine to download FOR FREE for 24 hours. So click below and get downloading!

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.