Hands down the most happening annual psychedelic event on this small green island, Dr. Crippen’s Waiting Room will return to Belfast’s Voodoo on March 10 and March 11 with a first-rate cosmically-inclined bill. As well as live sets from Blumehaus and Schreinein, a host of DJs from across Europe will congregate and serve up the very best psych sounds for over two nights. Go here for the show’s Facebook event page.
English indie rock quartet VANT with support from Derry’s The Wood Burning Savages at Belfast’s Oh Yeah Music Centre. Photos by Sara Marsden.
Having declared “No More Delays – Name the Date for a Referendum”, the Coalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment will organise and spearhead a huge march this International Women’s Day (Wednesday, March 8) from Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance at Parnell Square East. Asking the public to “demand a Referendum to Repeal the Eighth Amendment and respect women’s lives, health and choices” the march will kick off at 5.30pm and run until 7.30pm. Go here for the march’s Facebook event page.
Co-presented by Cork Opera House and Coughlans Live Promotions, Right Here, Right Now is a new Cork festival “celebrating the vibrant, eclectic music scene in Cork City” from April 28-30. Set to feature over 20 artists including Shookrah, Hank Wedel, Interference, Mick Flannery, The Shaker Hymn (pictured), John Blek & The Rats, Clare Sands, Marlene Enright, Jack O’Rourke and more, the festival hopes to offer “a unique snapshot of a time and place through the lens of the city’s artists.” The festival will take over Cork Opera House for the whole weekend with shows in the Main Auditorium, in The Right Room…
The Answer kicked off their Irish Tour at the Limelight in Belfast with support from Maverick then down to the Academy in Dublin. Photos by Liam Kielt and Lucy Foster.
Having previously went under the name Mr. Rosso, Dublin two-piece Isaac Clarke and Henry Ernest AKA Ro Gang will release their second album, H.E.R. – an album reportedly informed by everything from Young Thug to Burt Bacharach – via Little L Records on March 15. The first single to be taken from that, ‘Smoking’ is a typically riotous affair melding far-out lo-fi tangents with chorus-pedal-soaked tones. We’re sold. Have a first look at the video for the single – a VHS-shot effort featuring Clarke and Ernest trying, and failing, to crash a party – below.
As positively hectic as any festival on the face of the globe, SXSW has long been established as a veritable cornucopia of film, music and interactive media from far and very wide. And with festivals of much smaller scale: where the excess of choice becomes something of a burden, planning ahead and knocking up a makeshift “must-see” guide is next to obligatory to ensure FOMO doesn’t become an all-consuming spectre during your festival stay. Just as important is getting some essential listening in before heading off in said sensory abyss. So if you’re SXSW-bound this year and want to check out some…
The 17th annual Belfast Film Festival, running 30th March – 8 April, is on the horizon, and the organizers have announced a range of festival highlights. Principal among them is the news that John Cusack, one of modern cinema’s most unconventional stars, will be in town as this year’s special guest and recipient of the festival’s Outstanding Contribution to Cinema award. The screenwriter, author and star of Say Anything, High Fidelity and Dragon Blade will be joined in conversation by local film broadcaster Brian Henry Martin at the Movie House Dublin Road on Friday 31st March, to reflect on his…
Last week Dave Longstreth, founder of American indie outliers Dirty Projectors, made an announcement; “It’s been 4 years, 7 months and 11 days – long enough.” With that Dirty Projectors, the most revealing album of the project’s discography, was shared online three days earlier than its original release date. Everything about Dirty Projectors is new, it signifies a journey of coming to terms with a new identity. Longstreth is solo – both professionally and personally – for the first time since the infancy of this project, which he began in 2003. None of the previous members of the band are present…
Almost fifteen years after bursting out of East London, grime has officially taken over the mainstream. The genre, originally popularised by the likes of Dizzee Rascal, Wiley and Kano, has had a sudden second wave and has been creeping up AOTY lists and making loud impressions at the Brit Awards. Out of this second wave has emerged Michael Omari AKA Stormzy. The Thornton Heath based 23 year old racked up a ‘One To Watch’ nod at BBC’s Sound of 2015, has won Best Grime Act twice at the MOBO Awards and has scored a summer of appearances at some of the UK’s…