2023-07-22 Stockton's Wing - Ballykeeffe Amphitheatre, Kilkenny

I hadn't been to Kilkenny in ages, so, when I heard that Stockton's Wing were going to be playing Ballykeeffe Amphitheatre, emails were sent and plans were made!

I was looking forward to the gig for a number of reasons. The first one being that I'd never seen Stockton's Wing perform live before. I'd seen Mike Hanrahan live on multiple occasions, but never the full band. Secondly, I was going to Ballykeeffe Amphitheatre and I'd wanted to go there since I first heard of the venue.

After the bad weather of the last few weeks, I was constantly checking the hourly forecast on Yr.no (Norwegian weather app). It's normally very accurate, so, when it said it would stop raining at 8:00pm that night, I believed it, but I still packed my waterproofs, just in case...

I arrived at the venue, nestled in an old slate quarry twenty minutes outside Kilkenny, got set up and awaited the opening act, Burnchurch. I knew nothing about them, but Mike had told me they were a great young band and he wasn't wrong. They are a young band who added a modern twist to their take on traditional Irish music. Really enjoyed their set, and I loved the uilleann pipes!

That's brings us to Stockton's Wing. If you know them, you'll know just how good they are live. If you don't, well, they mix Irish folk and trad with a bit of, I suppose, soft rock. A bit like the Sugababes, members of the band come and go, but tonight's lineup featured Mike Hanrahan and Paul Roche, both long serving members of the band.

The crowd loved it, and sure why wouldn't they? Treated to a fantastic set featuring both "Walk Away" "Over the Moors" and "Beautiful Affair", they sang all night long!

So that's it really. A great gig in a great venue with some superb musicians. Can you think of a better way to spend a Saturday night?

Now for some photos and a video. First up, Stockton's Wing:

And now for some photos of Burnchurch:

And that's it. Thanks to Stockton's Wing for having me down and thanks to Ballykeeffe Amphitheatre for being wonderful hosts, I'll be back!

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

2022-11-04 Mairead Carroll - Moat Theatre, Naas

Every now and then I have a choice of gigs to go to... This night, I could have driven into Dublin to see Meryl Streek in the Workmans Club , or I could stay local and go see Mairead Carroll in the Moat Theatre in Naas. Well, it was a no brainer. The weather was terrible and, well, I felt terrible too, so I figured I'd stay local. Mairead has played the Moat Theatre before, but always as support, never as the main attraction. Tonight, would be her debut headline performance and she didn't let anyone down! I'm not quite sure how to describe here music. It's not folk, it's not trad, it's not country or rock... It's. well, it's very light and soft and calming. Mairead is a poet who, only relatively recently, has started putting her words to music. It's a very relaxing affair! Her songs are very personal, and, at first listen, you might think them melancholy, but then you hear the joy and the love in them, and you start to see them for what they

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

IrishMJ

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