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2024-08-02 Tribfest - North Kildare Sports Club, Kilcock

No one, and I mean no one, goes to TribFest to be cool.  After all, it's hard to look cool dancing to the music of Joe Dolan, ABBA, Tom Jones, Cher or Queen, well, maybe Queen, but... No, people go to TribFest to party, to listen to great music and most of all, to have fun.  Fun, that's the most important part of a festival, and it was in abundance this year! The festival was a three day affair this time out and, for the first time, kicked off with a night dedicated to hard rock and metal, featuring IE/DC (AC/DC), Live Lizzy (Thin Lizzy), Whiplash (Metallica) , Guns Reloaded (Guns n' Roses), and Legendary (Bon Jovi).  Was it loud?  Yes, yes it was.  Did it rock?  Most certainly!  Were the leather clad crowd entertained?  Most definitely.  What a way to kick off TribFest! Live Lizzy Whiplash Legendary Guns Reloaded IE/DC Night two of TribFest was a much more relaxed affair with sets from Mairead Rooney (Shania Twain), The Classic Beatles (The Beatles), Will Power (Joe Dolan)

2018-07-07 Bare in the Woods - Borris House Carlow


I’m a big fan of Bare in the Woods.  It’s a fantastic festival.  After taking a break last year, Bare in the Woods changed venue this year and moved to Borris House in Carlow.  It’s a beautiful venue, with incredible views.  Best of all, it’s only 40 minutes from my house!

The festival seems to attract some of my favourite Irish acts. From this years lineup, I really wanted to see Peco, Wolff, My Tribe Your Tribe and MINDRIOTmt.  After that, anything else was a bonus.
Unfortunately for me, the My Tribe Your Tribe set clashed with Wolff, so something had to give and I missed their set, sorry guys. Along with the others mentioned above, I did manage to catch great sets by Under Starling, The Pale and God is an Astronaut.

I first saw Peco a few years back, but I'd never seen him with the full band before. Great set to open the day with. Wolff never fails to deliver. A set full of dirty guitar driven rock. Loved it!

My favourites on the day we're MINDRIOTmt and not just because we spent the day hanging out. I've been trying to get to see these guys for the last 3 years, but something always got in the way.  This time though, the stars aligned and they blew me away. What a great set.

Under Starling were new to me and they are loud, brash and they rock, I enjoyed their set.  The Pale, look, if you're can't have a good time at a Pale gig, you're more than likely dead. As for God is an Astronaut, well they don't say much, but they make one hell of a noise, and not in a bad way.  They were the surprise of the festival for me.

You might not hear a lot of local acts on Irish radio, but don’t be fooled in to thinking the local scene is dead.  Far from it, the bands mentioned above are worthy competitors to anything the US or UK can throw at  us.  Go see them live, support them, buy their music.

Check out the photos below:

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