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2024-12-02 Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - The Academy, Dublin

Christmas came early this year for me.  Never did I think that  Me First and the Gimme Gimmes  would be playing Dublin, and never did I ever think I'd get to shoot one of their shows! Well, that all changed last week when they played the Academy in Dublin on a cold, damp, Monday night! I've been a fan since 1997, when one of the lads I worked with, brought in a copy of Have a Ball . It was love at first listen! I did manage to catch them live back in 2019 when they played the O2 Forum in Kentish Town , London, and it was every bit as good as I'd hoped, but it paled in comparison to Monday night in Dublin. So, how did it come about?  Well, back in 2013, I interviewed the band for a now defunct Irish website called Chunk.ie .  Over the years, I've stayed on their PR roster, so I took a chance and emailed my contact there.  Lo and behold, a few emails later and all was sorted, I was down to photograph the show. How was it?  Brilliant, amazing, fantastic,...

2022-07-16 Forever Young - Palmerstown House, Naas

After 30 months of a pandemic, I finally got COVID, 11 days before Forever Young Festival, where I was due to shoot!  So, after COVID kicked my ass, I had to isolate for another few days, my first day of freedom being the first full day of the the festival!

Should I have went?  In hindsight, probably not.  I was no longer infectious, so that wasn't an issue, but I was drained, had no energy and hadn't eaten properly in 10 days.  Add on to that the heatwave Ireland was experiencing and I think we can all agree, it was stupid of me to go.

In my (albeit weak) defence, it was the first time I'd got a Media Pass for that festival and I didn't want to run the risk of not getting another.  Plus the lineup was superb!  Artists such as Nik Kershaw, the Undertones, Tiffany, Bananarama, Paul Young, Nick Heyward and many, many more were set to play, it was going to be a trues 80s music feast!

Anyway...

There were so many highlights from the weekend, a most of the performers were absolute legends, making plenty of time for photographs and with fans, it was brilliant to see.  The crowd were electric, intent on partying and having a good time.  The weather was scorching, a rarity for an Irish festival. 

My own personal highlight?  I got to meet Tiffany, I was instantly turned into a 15 year old schoolboy again!

Some folk might look at festivals like this and wonder why you'd go.  Well it's simple.  Everyone knows the songs, everyone is there just to have a good time and there are no idiots looking for trouble.  It's all just about having fun.

Would I do it again?  Damn right I would, I loved the weekend!

Enough of the talk, lets have a look at some of the photos! 

Denise from Five Star

Buster Bloodvessel from Bad Manners

Bananarama

The Blow Monkeys

Chesney Hawkes

Heather Small

Holly Johnson

Johnny Hates Jazz

Leslie Dowdall of In Tua Nua

Johnny Hates Jazz

Limahl

Nick Heyward

Nik Kershaw

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Paul Young

Tiffany

Real Thing

Carol Decker of T'pau

Mark Shaw of Then Jerico

Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet

The Undertones

Wendy James of Transvision Vamp


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