Just confirmed to play support for the 22-20's, Mainline are enjoying some major label attention. Plus: Derry band Red Organ Serpent Sound sign to Universal.
With a little help from peers like Johnny Moy and Primal Scream, Mainline look like animating the Irish scene with some long overdue black-shades-and-scuzz-rock sleaze.
Who was it that said that beauty is a double-edged sword? True, it could be all too easy to denounce Mainline as six pretty boys, looking for all the world like a band of spruced-up Fonzies. Luckily their sound tells a different and much more substantial story.
Tagged as the next big thing to emerge from Ireland, Mainline have been gathering much acclaim from the likes of Q magazine and London’s XFM. Listening to their debut single, it’s easy to justify the hype. With a big dirty guitar riff pushing it on, ‘Black Honey’ wouldn’t sound out of place on a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club or Jesus and Mary Chain album. It sounds like nothing that has come out of an Irish band in years.
From Sister Sledge to The Spikes, plus non musical attractions such as massage, fortune-telling and art exhibitions, Castle Palooza promises a festival in the conventional sense of the word.
The IMRO Showcase Tour returns for its 17th year in spring 2008, and hundreds of Irish acts are expected to join the race for a highly coveted slot at one of the nationwide series of gigs.
They are chums with The Dandy Warhols and have been compared to Brian Jonestown Massacre. But Australia’s The Morning After Girls have patented a sound entirely their own.
It was a night of mayhem, hysteria and high decibel screaming which left LIAM FAY psychologically, emotionally and aesthetically scarred. It was TAKE THAT’S Irish debut at The Point. This is his report from the front line.
The Scottish/Irish rockers Idlewild have taken time out of their busy schedule - which includes playing support to the Pixies - to make an appearance at this year's Hard Working Class Heroes.
How many bands can you fit into a weekend? One more than you thought, because it's just been announced that Paddy Casey has will headline a night at Hard Working Class Heroes.
CORONATION STREET. It s an
institution. So who wants to live in an institution? Well - there s Ken Barlow, Vera Duckworth, Deirdre, Fiona . . . you know them all, don t you? Be
honest! ANDY DARLINGTON visits
the Street of Dreams, and finds out that it s real!
While the entity that is U2 continues to be the dominant focus in the creative lives of its four members, away from the band, Bono, The Edge, Adam and Larry have all indulged in extra-curricular activities, bringing them – and their music - into contact with such legends as Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, Keith Richards, and Roy Orbison, By Dermot Stokes
Dust off your platform shoes and get your camping gear at the ready - now that's some advice we never thought we'd give - 70s legends Sister Sledge are coming to Ireland!
As exclusively revealed last month in Hot Press magazine, Ian Brown, The Prodigy and The Streets will headline the inaugural Hi-Fi Ireland boutique festival on August 5 and 6.
It was always going to be a bit messy. Students being students you couldn’t but have expected the odd scuffle, girls vomiting on their expensive ball gowns, lads pissing wherever there was a wall and thousands of well dressed revellers drunkenly stumbling around the courtyards of Trinity College. What was unexpected though, certainly for a first timer, was just how good a night the Trinity Ball is. This was an event streets ahead of most outdoor events. Everything was well organised, queues for loos and bars were minimal, and security didn’t make themselves felt. It meant that all were allowed to just get on with the night at hand and enjoy Europe’s largest private party.
hotpress.com can exclusively reveal the hundred or so acts that are getting offered a slot at the prestigious Hard Working Class Heroes Festival 2005. Selected by over 25 judges including the likes of Thrills & Humanzi manager Allan Cullivan
No disco, no party, no foolin’ around – here we find Van Morrison by turns enraptured and embittered, on an album that is never less than engrossing and which is occasionally sublime.
Valentine’s Day is on its way. But forget the cheesy cards, the flowers and the pink ribbons. What every smart woman really wants on February 14th is the hot breath of a lover whose naked desire is for her, and her alone…
A couple of recent outdoor parties on a beach in north County Dublin have proved that there’s life in the old rave dog yet. We won’t mention the location in case there are any members of An Garda Siochana reading, but suffice to say global warming can’t be all that bad a concept if it enables over 1,500 techno loons to dance until dawn on a Dublin beach in April and May.
Temple Bar Outdoors announced the launch of the first ever Latin Quarter Festival, which will run over the August Bank Holiday Weekend and features a host of international and local musicians and DJ’s as well as a street carnival experience across Dublin’s Cultural Quarter.
There's one sure fire way to bring your music to the attention of the masses – and that's by getting it played on radio. Fortunately, Ireland has no lack of independently inclined stations out there – most of which play demos.
Another one from the archives: in a feature from 1987 – as Michael Jackson releases Bad – Neil McCormick charts the phenomenal career of the enigmatic star.
