I was looking over old photographs, wondering when and where I first stumbled across Max Zaska . It turns out that it was back in 2019, at the now defunct Knockanstockan festival. Since then, I've been lucky enough to catch his show a few more times. They're always a very upbeat affair, full of love, positivity and funky, neo soul vibes that make you want to shake your booty... Tonight, in The Grand Social , was no different. It was an unusually warm October night, and the club was already hot and sticky before Zaska came onstage. It wasn't long before things got even hotter as he was joined onstage by a string of guest vocalist ( Jess Kavanagh , Melina Malone , Nealo , Shiv and Rob DeBoer ), and the crowd loved every moment, as they sang and danced all night. Anyway, go catch Zaska live the next time he is in town, you'll love it! Now for some photos:
Merchy Christmas, in The Grand Social, serves two purposes. First and foremost, it gives music fans a chance to meet some of their favourite artists and to buy their merch. Stickers, Posters, Beanies, Baseball Caps, Scarves, T-Shirts, Hoodies, Tapes, CDs, Vinyl... Whatever you wanted, you could find!
The second purpose of Merchy Christmas is to help raise funds for the Simon Community. If you're not aware, the Simon Community is a charity which helps homeless people. It's incredible that we have a housing crisis in Ireland. It seems to be a mix of greed, mismanagement and, well, ineptitude. If you couldn't make it to Merchy Christmas, but would still like to make a donation, just click here.
On Friday, Merchy Christmas put a call out for photographers to attend the event. I couldn't make Saturday, but said I'd be there Sunday for a few hours. I met up with some old friends, made some new friends and took some pretty photos. I came home a lot poorer finically from this, but the craic was great and I got to catch-up with some great folk, so it all balances out!
Anyway, time for some photos. First up it's the wonderful Daire Heffernan:
Next up was the fantastic Krea (yes, that is Karen from Wyvern Lingo):
And finally, the brilliant Carslbad.