2023-03-18 St. Patricks Festival

2023-03-18 St. Patricks Festival - Collins Barracks

So there I was, Thursday night, facing into the St. Patricks Holiday weekend, three days with no plans. I figured I'd take it easy, sleep lots, eat crap food, maybe, just maybe go to the cinema.

Then my phone buzzed and my plans changed immediately. It was a message from Cat Dowling, 'Would I like a pass to the St. Patricks Festival on Saturday night?' Obviously I replied YES! and then went to check out who was playing...

The lineup on the Main Stage was:

As it turns out, there were a few other stages dotted around, but somehow I managed to totally miss them. I'm not exactly sure how I did that, but I think the lesson to be learned is to read the website correctly!

So, how was the festival? Well, the venue itself, Collins Barracks, is excellent, and well served by public transport with the Luas stopping right outside. There were plenty of food and drink options, a decent amount of benches too. The older I get, the more important those benches are! Staff were helpful which is always nice. All in all, a nice spot for a gig and I'll be back there in August for The Vamps.

Tthat's all well and good, but how was the music??? Well, I could tell you that Khakikid was exciting and energetic, jumping in and out of the crowd all set, or that Cat Dowling put on a fantastic show and Animals remains one of my favourite live tracks out there, or that I'd never heard bass notes like those produced by Katie Kim, or even that Pillow Queens were feckin immense and closed out the night in front of an adoring crowd.

I could do all that, but I'd rather show you some photos of the day instead:

Khaki Kid

Cat Dowling

Katie Kim

Pillow Queens

2022-03-26 Buskers on Grafton Street, Dublin

I took a walk around Dublin today, thought I'd check out the buskers on Grafton Street. There's a fine history of busking in Dublin, acts like Hothouse Flowers , The Frames , Rodrigo y Gabriela , Damien Rice , Paddy Casey , Kodaline and a host of others all cut their teeth on and around Grafton Street. It stands to reason that some of those busking today will be successful in the future! So, who did I get to see today? Well, check out the photos below: Zoe Clarke Allie Sherlock Paul Jenkinson

Interview with King Kong Company

Originally published 10/09/2013 on Chunk.ie So, there I was, wandering around the Electric Picnic wondering who I was going to watch next. One of the lads said he had heard good things about King Kong Company and that we should check them out, so off we headed to the Body and Soul Arena to do just that. As I mentioned in my review of the Electric Picnic, the gig was epic. I figured we just had to interview them here on CHUNK.ie, and here it is! First things first, congratulations on a storming gig at the Electric Picnic. It completely blew me away. Was this your first Picnic experience? We’ve been to many Electric Picnics over the years but just as punters, and it’s always been a great festival, so it was a fantastic experience to play at its 10 year anniversary. King Kong Company is a rather interesting name for a band, where or how did you come up with it? The name is taken from the film Taxi Driver. If you look closely, Travis Bickle is wearing a badge which says King

2023-08-26 The Playing Fields Festival - Clane GAA

It's The Playing Fields Festival time again! TPFF23, it's third outing, is back and it's the same, but a little different also. For the first time, it's not just an Irish affair. The legendary Basement Jaxx headlined the Sunday night. Also, for the first time, it's under canvas. Not a big circus type tent, a more low rise, stretched canvas affair, as per TribFest a few weeks back. Given the state of the Irish summer, it was a great decision. The final difference was that I was only there for Day Two as I'd already arranged to bring my niece to see The Vamps , and that clashed with Day One. So, along with Basement Jaxx , who else was playing Day Two of TPFF? Well, we had: The Flavours Altered Lines Diversion Raging Sons Spring Break Roisin O and CamrinWatsin I think we can agree, that's a pretty good mix of rock n' roll, party time and dance music! Even under canvas, the stage was pretty big and sounded good

IrishMJ

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