The Holy Grail

It's fantastic when a a celebrity responds to you via Twitter, but the true golden nugget is when you manage to get one of Ireland's best selling authors and one of the world's most respected rugby players to join you in the same conversation. The ability to do this can be very helpful for a social media campaign.

Understanding the Twitasphere

It's not just about harnessing the potential of social media for a company's commercial gain, one must keep up to date with all the latest trends and contributing factors that could rewrite the social media rulebook in a matter of days.

The post below is an exchange I had with national radio host Rick O Shea regarding some people's choice to purchase large quantities of 'fake followers'.

'Fear the Beard' goes viral

On the Day of Brian O Driscoll's last Irish international game at home, it occurred to me that poor 'man in the middle' Gordon Darcy might be overlooked on the big day.

The popularity of this tweet reinforces the notion that piggybacking on a large sporting event or music festival will tap into a community's buzz and capitalise on mass excitement.

Getting on the wrong side of Graham Linehan (and his followers)

It's always an honour being favourited or retweeted by your wishlist of music, film, TV or sporting icons, but occasionally this can go very wrong. During the phenomenon that was season five part 2 of Breaking Bad, I voiced an opinion that the episode that centred around a single insect wasn't of the usual calibre I had come to expect from the show. The TV writing legend Linehan and his fans disagreed...

Daithi moves to the beat of his own synths

On the release of his new album, music pioneer Daithí Ó Drónaí talks to Owen Sweeney about the expectations put on modern electronic musicians 

In the era of TV talent shows, there are few success stories worth noting once another rotation of the X Factor or Britain’s Got Talent comes to an end. The exception of this rule is electronic artist and graduate of The All Ireland Talent Show, Daithí Ó Drónaí. Although the short-lived formulaic reality series is now nothing more than an origin story for Daithi, it was the vessel that first delivered his hybrid performance of synthesised fiddle and electronic dance music to the Irish masses.

Equipped with loop pedals, his trusty fiddle and a strong heritage in traditional Irish music, Daithi soon found himself as a talent show contestant again on Sky’s music-centric offering  Must Be the Music. Despite the short turn around time between TV shows, the outcome from this opportunity would set Daithi on the path to success, one he would travel on his own terms.  

“It was going to be an absolute kick up Britain’s Got Talent’s arse and that’s how it was going to work. That’s how he sold it to me,” recalls Daithi. 

“I went down there and I saw that they had a really good way of doing the show. Once I started getting through the rounds, they were bringing me to studios in London and letting me record my own music. They would help you record the single that you would play on the show, and then it would be available on iTunes the night of the TV performance. They even gave all the proceeds of the song to me...that gave me the money I needed to build a studio which was used to record my first EP.”

Four years on and Daithi is signed to a major label and has cemented himself as an act synonymous with the Irish music scene, thanks in part to manager and mentor Eoghan ‘Gugai’ MacNamara and the rest of the Róisín Dubh family. 

“The Róisín is where I came from. Gugai is my full time manager and he has been for a long time. I think it’s really important to keep someone there who is looking out for you more than they are looking to make money or anything like that. That’s more important. He’s been great to me,” explains Daithi. “When we started having talks before we signed with a major label it was interesting because they had never signed up anyone before who knew the industry so well...We had a set idea of where we wanted to go with it and they seemed delighted that we were so much ‘in the know’ and very forward thinking.” 

For Daithi the accomplishment of signing with a major label is not an invitation to sit back and declare himself a star. Once signed, he explains, the label assists with financial assistance similar to a bank loan and the all-important radio airplay, while Daithi handles the majority of PR and promotion himself.  This month the electronic artist, who is now based in Galway, launches In Flight via Sony Music Ireland, a record that combines synthesised loops, an array of guest singers including: Elaine Mai, Senita and Jesse Boykins III and his indispensable fiddle.

Despite an abundance of undeniable talent there isn’t an ounce of music snobbery present in Daithi. Citing numerous inspirations, covering everyone from Final Fantasy (AKA Owen Pallett), Arcade Fire, John Hopkins to Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé, he happily admits that he loves making pop songs. The high quality production work audibly resonating from the already-released singles Have to go and Chameleon Life have the ability to change the music tastes of even the most cynical of music writers. Quite humbly, Daithi professes that the album might not be where it is today without the tutelage of Young Wonder’s Ian Ring who though him how to record and produce “properly”.           

For any music professional working in the electronic space, one obstacle that must be overcome is the migration of the studio magic to the live show format. In a time when some of the world’s greatest electronic acts face criticism for contributing little to their live shows other than pressing the play button, Daithi knows how important it is, for the audience and himself, to be constantly working and creating something on stage whether with live fiddle or synths to avoid what he jokingly calls, “feeling like such a cop out”. With the 2014 line-up even stronger than last year, there will be no shortage of hard working acts on the Róisín Dubh stage.  

“I think that the Róisín Dubh stage is perfectly set up to be the kind of the ‘off-kilter’ stage, slightly different from the general line-up at the Westport Festival and that’s what makes it very special,” says Daithi. 

He continues, “Those acts are part of a proper Irish music scene that people might not get to see a lot. It’s a family orientated crowd, but that’s a good thing because we don’t get to play to that kind of person a huge amount either. I think people get a good buzz out of that and if you can get a good crowd there then you are doing something right.” 

Daithi performs on the Róisín Dubh stage Sunday 29 June, and by the sounds of things there’s nowhere else he’d rather be. Look out for the ’Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man’ that marks the entrance to the Róisín Dubh stage.

Home truths on show

Unraveling the expat audience

Owen Sweeney

National bias aside, it’s hard to deny that the Irish audience is king in the realm of live music. Whether its singing along to every word of every song or identifying what hit the band is going to play next in delight just by hearing the sound of a guitar being tuned across the PA system, there’s an undeniable passion in the hearts of Irish concert goers and a genuine respect for musicians. This truth is especially obvious to anyone who has seen a popular music act in both Ireland and a foreign venue, shocked by the silence during songs in the latter before polite, yet loud, applause erupts once a song ends.

If an Irish concert goer was to turn to a fellow punter at a UK club date for a successful Irish band  and explain that “You’d never get this close to the front at home” or “the place would usually go mental for this one”, there was a time when these comments might warrant a polite smile or a passive “oh yeah?”. Now, with a little help from emigration, audiences across the world have their own perceptions of how Irish act at a concert, especially for homegrown acts from Ireland.

Sadly these perceptions are not all positive. In 2007 I was fortunate enough to attend the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in California, the year Rage against the Machine reunited to perform as a headline act. Lower down on the bill were both Damien Rice (and then band) and the Frames. With a lineup clash sadly meaning I missed Damo, I went along to see Glen and Co. at about 3.30pm on the Saturday for the sake of seeing an old favourite. Although a great gig and a professional performance from all involved, Hansard’s frustration at the first two rows of the audience was hard to miss as he tried to ignore repetitive screams of “When are you playing Whelans again?” while green, white and gold paraphernalia  was hoisted in his eye-line.  This example deals with the Irish audience ‘on tour’ and only amounts to a bit of cringing for both the band and fellow Irish concert goers who wish to elect better ‘audience ambassadors’.  In a recent interview with Dave Geraghty from Bell X1 and Join Me in the Pines, however, I gained insight into how full-on expat audiences can have the power to ruin a gig.

Bell X1 have been independent for their last three studio albums and accompanying live outings, a fact that has never slowed the band down, but this means that Geraghty, Noonan and Philips are responsible for reinvesting profits into future promotion, studio time and tours. Understandably, bringing  the show on the road to the US can be a costly endeavour and a mission that needs to succeed in order to help expand the fan base into new territories. Geraghty encountered the hard way that in certain venues around the world bands can end up playing in front of an all-Irish crowd that is not bringing with them a fond familiarity of home.

“Yeah…It was actually the night of the infamous bus fire in Boston. We had done a gig…I think it was a career low point, for me anyway. We did this gig in TT Bears bar, I wouldn’t even go as far as calling it a dive bar, but it was full of drunken paddies,” recalls Geraghty. 

“We had to go through the crowd to get off the stage and there were some real moronic, drunken, people who didn’t know the band, yet were introducing people to people in the band, personally. It was that real drunken ‘hands all over you’, over-familiarised sort of thing and I was just going ‘we’ve come all this way, it’s cost us all this money and we’re playing to these people, who are just roaring and shouting over us’.”

It’s easy to understand Geraghty’s frustration, especially as travel costs for bands increase and the spreading of, what he jokingly refers to as, “the gospel of Bell X1” lands solely on the band’s shoulders. Luckily Geraghty and the band haven’t encountered such a concert in a while and can identify some lightness in this difficult past experience.

“There was this fad that we still laugh about, that’s just gone. I don’t know how, I’m just glad it has, were people just shout parts of Dublin or Ireland that they are from. It started off with cries of “CELLBRIDGE” “LEIXLIP” “LUCAN”. What are we doing lads just practicing our geography? What’s going on? There was that strange element that thankfully has stopped....So it hasn’t happened in a while thankfully but when it did happen it was pretty grim. We had gone all that way and spent all that money getting there and we end up playing like what feels like The Temple Bar in Temple Bar.”

Bell X1 will embark on a four date tour in Australia this July , stopping in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Perth; four cities that have no doubt been receiving care packages of Barry’s Tea and Tayto for some time. Here’s hoping that the band have a successful run far from the events of that fateful night in Boston

Into the West

MUSIC Memorable Westport Festival strikes right chord

A feast for the senses at memorable Westport Festival


Owen Sweeney had an action-packed two days in Westport House

Day One
This year’s Westport Festival of Music and Food was a fantastic success as 12,000 people gradually made their way through the gates of Westport House over the course of the weekend. The crowd consisted of regular festival-goers making their annual pilgrimage, weekend ramblers looking for something a bit different, and of course a strong constitution of families taking advantage of the very attractive ‘under 12s go free’ offer. We were told the sun would be out by lunch time, and indeed, it made a special appearance at 2.30pm.
The Westport Festival of Music and Food had always promised to offer something for everyone, and in the end, no-one could argue that the variety of acts and food offerings didn’t cater for a wide variety of tastes. Saturday’s Chefs kitchen was a delight, with the inaugural slot featuring L’ecrivan’s Derry Clarke, hosted by former Dragon’s Den star Norah Casey, enticing punters into the purpose-built kitchen with little effort.
Republic of Telly’s Bernard O’ Shea was one of the first big name draws to the Comedy Tent on Saturday afternoon. As he performed alongside a large ‘Parental Advisory’ sign it was clear that this tent would be the only non-family element of the festival. O’Shea had no problem getting laughs even with the stage’s handicap: the all-too-close proximity to the Roísín Dubh Stage. 

"It actually sounds like the QE2 s coming into port,” he joked as the sounds of Funeral Suits set attempted to drown out the comedian’s sound. The Comedy Tent naturally had to get louder, but in doing so the nearby children’s entertainment area “overheard a few choice words”, as a young parent phrased to me afterwards. Naturally this referred to Reginald D Hunter’s provocative, yet hilarious, set.

Decisions to be made
Over on the Main Stage, the Blind Boys of Alabama attempted to get things going. The soulful hits and fantastic musicianship received a warm reaction from the growing crowd but the band’s delivery of ‘Way down in his hole’ from the TV show The Wire got the biggest response. The Stunning brewed up a storm and got the Marquee Stage rocking and singing while some people had made a noticeable compromise of only seeing the first half of the Stunning and then the remainder of ABC.
The Waterboys got the first real sing-along going on the Saturday with ‘Fisherman’s Blues’ making an early appearance in the band’s setlist. Mike Scott’s jokes about last year’s downpour of rain and a story about how he had earned permission from Christy Moore to play ‘Raggle Taggle Gypsy’ as part of their hit list loosened up the crowd who were clearly holding it in for one man.

Although the Roísín Dubh Stage lineup was packed with some of the biggest names in the modern and up and coming Irish music scene, the arena failed to draw a meaningful crowd during the day time. This changed in the evening when ‘Le Galaxie’, kitted out in disco ball hoodies, injected the stage with an insane amount of adrenaline. Their hit song ‘Midnight Midnight’ led whispers of “I usually don’t like this thing, but this is great,” from spectators. Front man Michael Pope’s synthesised shouts of “Can you hear me Christy” and “Don’t forget your shovel” got a big laugh, and simultaneously reminded some folks that it was time to jog across to the main stage.
We clearly caught Christy Moore on a good night. The Kildare man dished out the banter and crowd pleasers that were all beautifully accompanied by Declan Sinnott’s seamless guitar work as the crowd clapped along to fight the evening chill. Highlights included ‘Don’t Forget Your Shovel’, ‘Ride On’, ‘Joxer’, ‘Chicago’, and a rendition of ‘Lisdoonvarna’ that had the festival crowd at their peak of excitement for day one. 

I interrupted Reginald in the press area for a chat and overheard some of his very strong terms of endearment being said to Norah Casey, who awkwardly tried to laugh it off, while everyone else in the vicinity just laughed.

Day Two
The festival’s closeness to Westport’s town centre provided a short walk to the grounds each day, and in doing so helped nurse some sore heads on Sunday after revellers easily kept the Saturday night going through to 2am thanks to the special exemption across Westport.
Over the weekend, the main attractions of Westport House were open to the public for free. The family-filled crowd were delighted to get a glimpse and make use of the House’s Pirate Adventure Park, Swan Pedaloes and Westport House Express Train.
On the walk up to the Comedy Tent it was encouraging to see a circle of children and their parents enthralled by a children’s entertainer as they participated in a game, their hands full of accomplishments from the Crafts Tent.
In the Comedy Tent Barry Murphy, AKA ‘Gunther’, showed us the true power of laughing at ourselves and made the plight of the country’s economy a reason to laugh hysterically while cementing ‘Pixie Head’ as an acceptable phrase.
Meanwhile, at the Marquee Stage, Damien Dempsey’s wide smile during his Sunday performance let the crowd know they were doing a great job harmonising to hits like ‘Apple of My Eye’ and ‘Almighty Love’.
I only caught the end of Squeeze, but if the crowd’s reaction to ‘Up the Junction’  is anything to go by, the band were Westport’s cup of tea.
There were a number of converted vans and busses offering fantastic food, but in terms of refueling, the weekend’s winner was definitely Saba, with the Cadden family’s pink van having the two longest queues in the festival. The hungry revellers were kept entertained by the 10 foot high walking Mannequins of Kurt Cobain, David Bowie and John Lennon while they waited for their noodles and curries.
Then there was Imelda. Looking fab and assuring us we would be suitably rocked, the Liberties legend raced through a set that consisted of sweet love tunes like ‘Kentish Town Waltz’ before, in full swing band glory, belting out tracks like ‘Roadrunner’ and ‘Johnny Got a Boom Boom’. The whole field was dancing, children on top of parent’s shoulders happily clapped along as Imelda proved she could easily have pulled off top billing if required.

Stage by stage
While surveying Imelda’s loyal subjects bopping and shaking, I had a quick chat with Kieran from Delorentos who admitted that it would be nice to transplant some of this crowd to the Roísín Dubh Stage for the band’s headline slot later that night. He needn’t have worried. By 9.30pm Delorentos had the biggest crowd at the Roísín Dubh Stage for the whole weekend. You could see the lads were delighted. I quickly lost my female festival companion who joined the group of young women who were planted firmly in front of dashing bass player Niall Conlan. The crowd’s recognition of hits like ‘Care For’ and ‘Bullet in a Gun’ showed the band’s rise to success in recent years.
The sprint to Elvis Costello and the Imposters was one of the best decisions I made over the weekend. The Main Stage crowd was in their element and listened intently to Costello’s stories and admired his guitar collection that belongs in a museum. Joined by Squeeze’s Chris Difford, the band’s closing set featured ‘Oliver’s Army’ and ‘Pump it up’. At this point no one was sitting down and even the most conservative of people let it all shake to (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding. No sooner had the band left the stage when one of the most impressive fireworks shows I have seen in a long time ignited the night sky, leaving the Westport House glinting in the glow of the multi-coloured explosions. Shouts of “Thank you” could be heard as festival-goers took it all in one last time before heading home. “Same time next year” is no doubt trending on twitter.