Mike Ryan delivers his verdict on the third and final day of this year’s All Together Now, featuring ØXN, Sprints, NewDad, Just Mustard, The Prodigy, Nealo, Trá Pháidín and more
Photos by Ian Davies
The Scratch
There are many theories on how to best kick off day 3 of a music festival. Some All Together Now attendees opt for a breakfast bap from Phat Cow foodtruck, some like to ease into it with some yoga. There’s also saunas and hot tubs, if you were quick enough to nab the early morning slots when they were announced. For many people however, the best way to start any day 3 is by entering the transcendental space that is a mosh pit at a The Scratch gig. The riotous Dublin quartet are familiar faces in Curraghmore, and audiences are well aware of what to expect from one of their appearances at this stage. The crowd surfing began early, and continued throughout the hour-long trad-metal frenzy.
Mary in the Junkyard
Mary in the Junkyard followed them on the Lovely Days stage. The London-based trio were under pressure, telling the crowd that they’d never played an hour-long set before. It didn’t seem to be a problem however, as they pulled some new tracks out to road test in front of the damp but attentive Sunday morning crowd. Singer Clari Freeman-Taylor’s unique voice cuts through the grunge-flavoured guitar riffs while Saya Barbaglia switches between bass guitar and viola. It’s an interesting combination. Violas in grunge music should be more of a thing. I’m going to make it a thing.
Efé
Raising the energy levels for a late-rising Sunday festival crowd is a tough task, but it seems to come very easily to EFÉ in the Jameson Circle stage, as she delivers an adrenaline shot of soulful, indie-pop goodness. The stage technicians are pumping out more haze than at a Glass Beams gig, and the set features a full band wig change before the stage stormed with cheerleaders for the finale.
I hang around the Circle stage to catch some of Nealo. It’s the rapper’s first gig of 2024, back from an extended break, and with a renewed love of music. He slots right back into form on the small stage, comfortably bantering with the audience as he treats them to a masterclass of tightly written, heartfelt bars.
Beach Fossils
Another band that were on many people’s watch list was Beach Fossils. The young American outfit were joined a sizeable crowd, considering the persistent rain. The band are full of the joys of Irish festival living, (one of them informs us multiple times that it’s his birthday), and their sound is mature and solid. Like a wall of authentic American indie.
ØXN
ØXN provide a masterclass in musical dread over in the Something Kind of Wonderful stage once Beach Fossils finish up their set. Stunning and haunting, the quartet is brimming with Irish musical talent. Radie Peat, at one point, appears to be playing one synthesizer on her lap, and another on the ground with her bare feet. Katie Kim’s voice is one of the few on this island that can match Peat’s, and as they soberly burn through tracks from their debut album CYRM, it’s clear that they’re well on their way to cementing themselves amongst some of the great monuments of the Irish music landscape.
A highlight of last year’s festival was the high-octane performance put on by Sprints in a tightly packed Jameson Circle stage. Since then, Sprints have been touring Europe, the UK, and the US on an epic scale. They return to Waterford having graduated to the much larger Lovely Days stage, and the gig feels like a homecoming. It’s their only Irish festival date of the year, and they don’t take that lightly. The set is rammed with the angsty, aggressive style of garage punk that they’re famous for. They quickly begin to clash with the festival security who are trying in vain to stop the crowd from moshing, and by the end of the set frontwoman Karla is closing out the set with the iconic ‘Little Fix’ from the middle of the pit herself. Two years in a row now Sprints have left me with my favourite moments from All Together Now.
Just Mustard
The Sunday evening is overflowing with great Irish talent, with Just Mustard treating fans in the Circle area and NewDad playing to an enamoured and bulging Something Kind of Wonderful tent. But by now there is a real sense that everybody is on the home stretch.
NewDad
On my way to the Main Stage, I swing by the Global Roots area, which has been providing a robust programme of Irish trad, folk, and world music for the entire weekend. The enigmatic Trá Pháidín have already laid claim to the stage by the time I get there.
Garbed in beanie hats, sunglasses, and hi-vis jackets, the experimental trad/jazz fusion ensemble, now nine or ten strong (depending on when you catch them), are one of the most unique and enthralling acts on the Irish festival circuit. Much like their live performance, their debut album, An 424, is as surreal as it is sublime, and the fact that their set overlaps with the Sunday headliners doesn’t seem to deter a hearty audience from joining in the madness.
Trá Pháidín
Speaking of which, All Together Now 2024 wraps up with The Prodigy taking to the Main Stage. Maxim prowls the stage in a black poncho for the first two songs while repeatedly asking the crowd “Where’s Waterford?” but lack of directions aside, the veterans put in a solid set from their iconic back catalogue. A silhouette of Keith Flint appears behind the band as they launch into ‘Firestarter’. It’s a touching tribute, but you can’t help but feel that the band will still be playing festivals when the entire original lineup have transitioned from this earthly plane and taken their own places as silhouettes at the back of the stage. Still, their mastery of the genre, and their unrivalled energy is undeniable. An ideal way to close out a rainy final night at one of Ireland’s best festivals. Mike Ryan
The Prodigy
