The Seen a Million Faces music photography exhibition, featuring rare photographs of bands including Metallica, will take place in Belfast on October 9 until 23.
Villagers first single 'On a Sunlit Stage' released following their headlining performance for Hard Working Class Heroes festival in Temple Bar on Friday October 16.
Coldplay's Viva La Vida is likely to see the end of its current reign at the top of the Irish charts as U2 release re-mastered versions of their classic albums Boy, October and War.
In the edition of Hot Press dated 17 October 2007 (Volume 31, No.20) Hot Press published an article under the headline "John Clarke dismisses Sunday Times article". In it John Clarke of 2FM was quoted as saying that quotes, attributed to him from an article in Billboard by the Sunday Times reporter Jan Battles, were "a lie".
The playstation 2 console customising competition is just one of the highlights of this year’s Dublin Electronic Arts Festival which runs from october 17-27. Alison Martin finds out more.
Ireland gets world-premiere first dibs on David Gray's new album, A New Day At Midnight, when it's released here a full 4 days ahead of the rest of the planet on October 24th. At midnight of course
You can't keep a good man down, it would seem…having parted company 'by mutual agreement' with Warner Music Ireland earlier this year, Graham Hopkins' outfit Halite released their sophomore album, Courses on October 1st. Although the band have courted major label interest since leaving the Warner fold, their new album will be released on the band's own label, Brassneck Recordings.
A new 'Best of Luke Kelly' CD, containing previously unreleased material, is due for release October 1 as a homage to the ex- Dubliner also starts in the Gaiety, twenty years after his death.
On Sunday 16 October a unique event takes place in The Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, as the climax of the 1994 Dublin Theatre Festival. Organised by Amnesty International, Voices Of The Disappeared is intended to highlight their campaign on “ Disappearances” and Political Killings. Stuart Carolan reports.
Roses Kings Castles, the moniker under which Adam performs and records his own unique catalogue of blissfully astute acoustic pop songs, will play Whelans Dublin on October 8.
Following show-stealing performances at the Sonar, Reading and Leeds Festivals, Late of the Pier will play Transmission at The Button Factory on Saturday October 3
The Blizzards are the latest Irish stars to be added to the line-up for Music Show, which takes place in the RDS on October 3 and 4, adding hugely to a bill that already includes The Coronas, Imelda May and Republic of Loose, among the current leading lights of Irish rock.
Dublin's Pod Concerts has lined up a stellar comedy bill to take place over the October Bank Holiday weekend, featuring Roseanne Barr, Sean Hughes, Jim Jeffries and more.
The Blizzards will release the single 'And Another Thing...', inspired by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, on October 9 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the book's first publication.
DEAF (The Dublin Electronic Arts Festival) turns the Guinness Storehouse on, starting Saturday October 26th; and the Fleadh Electronic brings an acoustic-electric collision to Vicar Street on the 27th
Singer-songwriter Eleanor McEvoy, currently promoting her new compilation, Singled Out, will officially open the exhibition Where Birds Abound by Wexford-based painter David Daly at the Wexford Wildfowl Reserve in Ardcavan on Saturday, October 17 at 4 pm.
The Artists Formerly Known As Jove, Royseven, open their recorded account with the September 8 release of ‘Older’, the first single to be lifted from their The Art Of Insincerity album, which follows in October.
Fight Like Apes have rescheduled some of the dates on their upcoming Irish tour, and will now support the Ting Tings on their September/October UK tour.
It’s hot and sweaty nights out ahoy! as LCD Soundsystem mainman James Murphy pays an October DJ visit to Dublin’s Button Factory with DFA pal Pat Mahoney.
Live music industry stalwart Vince Power and classical guitar guru John Feeley are the latest additions to The Music Show, set for October 4-5 in Dublin's RDS.
After playing to a sold out Olympia audience last year, one of Ireland’s most famous crooners, Dickie Rock is back to play the theatre again this October
Codes underline their growing stature with an October headliner in Dublin’s Button Factory, which will doubtless feature all three of their Irish top 40 singles.
Pierce Turner, back in the USA after his recent successful gigs in Ireland, is rehearsing with a string quartet ahead of his forthcoming gig in New York's Joe's Pub on October 24th.
After a couple of delays, Dublin’s new Tripod venue launches on October 20 with a three-room dance extravaganza headlined by Groove Armada’s Andy Cato.
The Alternative Careers In Music Seminar is on deck for the RDS in mid-October, featuring everything the upwardly-mobile music obsessive ever wanted to know but was afraid to ask
Rock fans are in for a special treat with the addition of a special Rory Gallagher Exhibition to the attractions at the Music Show, which takes place at the RDS on October 3 and 4.
He was the man whose evidence put a huge hole in the stern of Pirate Bay, in a landmark judgement in Sweden earlier this year. Now the CEO and Chairman of the International Federation of Phonographic Industries, John Kennedy, is set to speak at The Music Show, which takes place on October 3 and 4, at the RDS in Dublin. He will speak on the issue of illegal downloading and the threat it represents to the Music Industry, which is currently undergoing massive changes as a result of the impact of the internet. The Music Show is run by Hot Press magazine.
Legendary Dublin band Lir are to release a posthumous live album on October 3 through 1969, the independent label whose roster also includes Pugwash and The Pale.
Following on from the successful launch of the Alternative Careers in
2002, the RDS has announced the 2004 seminar will be held in the RDS, Saturday, October 9.
The Electric Picnic-bound Mick Jones has his youth revisited on October 3 when The Clash’s 1982 set supporting The Who in Shea Stadium is given a CD release.
Songs of Praise will launch their new clubnight on October 15, promising to bring the madness that is Songs of Praise Rock + Roll karaoke to a whole new level.
PIAS Ireland has announced that Oasis album 'Dig Out Your Soul’ will now be released on October 3, instead of the originally planned date of October 6.
A timely release from the world’s most influential hard house club, ahead of its tenth birthday in October, celebrating its role at the centre of the extraordinary day that was the UK’s first Love Parade, at Roundhay Park in Leeds in July. Mixed by two of its most respected residents.
Dundalk's Spirit Store will celebrate 10 years of world class gigs with a special evening of music on Thursday, October 29 featuring some of the acts who have graced its stage over the past decade.
Australian singer/songwriter Pete Murray has scheduled a one-off show at Dublin's Ambassador Theatre this October to support the international release of his second album, See The Sun.
Famously footwear-bereft folkie Beth Orton cries our name once again at two Vicar Street shows in October, following the late summer release of fab new LP Daybreaker
Whitney Houston will have a new album I Look To You released in Ireland on October 19, days before tickets go on sale for her April 2010 concert at The O2, Dublin.
Ireland’s favourite troubadour is back with his second live album. Live At The 9:30 Club documents the Idaho native’s stopover at the Washington D.C. venue last October .
Traditionally the highpoint of the autumn music calendar, the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival takes place for the seventh time over the October bank holiday weekend.
Beats and pieces: The much-awaited October DJ and Digital Music Academy (DDMA) will be teaching this generation’s budding DJs on Saturday/Sunday October 2nd/3rd at The Digital Hub
A special exhibition focussing on musical inspirations as been lined up for The Music Show, which takes place at the RDS in Dublin this weekend, Saturday October 4 and Sunday October 5.
The man who signed The Smiths, Arcade Fire, The Libertines and The Strokes (to name but a few!) to his Rough Trade label, Geoff Travis makes a special appearance at the RDS on October 7.
You might remember Aileen Wuornos (legendarily misnamed ‘the world’s first female serial killer’) – a lower-end-of-the-market prostitute with an extremely troubled background, whose loathing of males led her to kill a series of ill-starred punters in the early ’90s before the law caught up with her. She languished in Death Row for the guts of a decade before being executed in October 2002, but from beyond the grave, Wuornos – inevitably, when you consider her crimes – has now been immortalised in a full-scale feminist-avenger biopic.
The first-ever dedicated sound and lighting exhibition to be held in this country takes place at the Green Isle Hotel in Dublin during October. Entitled ISLEX ’94, it’s being run by experienced exhibition organisers KMS & MD Associates. Report: Oliver P. Sweeney.
After the rip-roaring success of last year's event, Music Ireland '07 has been extended to a three-day event, incorporating a dedicated student day on Friday October 5. Aimed primarily at second-level schools, the day is set to be one of the most educational and entertaining school tours in the country. For those wishing to follow a career in music, the show is a real treat.
RTE Radio 1’s new spoof talk-show series Luneen Live is broadcast on October 26th.
STEPHEN ROBINSON meets the writers, including Fr. Ted co-creator ARTHUR MATHEWS and PAUL woodful and Luneen herself, comedian and actor DEIRDRE O’KANE
It took some old duffer in the House of Lords last week to bring back to mind one of the great crimes of recent years – the deaths of more than nine hundred people when the roll-on roll-off car ferry Estonia went down in the Baltic at the beginning of October.
As Ocean Colour Scene’s string section take a sabbatical to join Paul Weller on tour, singer Simon Fowler and drummer Oscar Harrison have opted to go back on the road also, with an acoustic show that debuts in Ireland
With Franz Ferdinand sweeping all before them, Tanya Sweeney talks to Domino Records’ latest star in waiting – and favourite son of Ireland’s singer-songwriter community.
John Walshe gets the lowdown on the release of
. . . And Finally, the second album from Derry guitarniks Scheer, released 15 months after they split up.
The 20th anniversary of the death of Luke Kelly is being marked by a double CD The Best Of Luke Kelly, and a week-long tribute Remembering Luke at the Gaiety. The Dubliners are, not surprisingly, deeply involved in both projects, and bandmember John Sheahan here explains all.
Ireland's The Answer have pulled off a major coup by bagging the support slot on the American leg of AC/DC's Black Ice tour. Cormac Neeson talks us through their first fortnight on the road.
Imaginative variations on the theme *The Pure Thrill of Living* were the focus of attention at the 9th Smirnoff Young Designer Awards which took place in Trinity College, Dublin recently.
THANKS TO HIS INTELLIGENT AND PROVOCATIVE BRAND OF COMEDY, STEWART LEE IS WIDELY ACKNOWLEDGED AS ONE OF THE FINEST STAND-UP COMICS OF HIS GENERATION. HE TALKS TO JOHN DONNELLAN ABOUT HIS CONTROVERSIAL MUSICAL JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA, THE POLITICAL DIMENSIONS OF HIS NEW SHOW AND REVEALS WHY IRELAND IS THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD FOR STAND-UP.
Eyebrows were raised in the Irish rock community at Dave Fanning’s appointment as a panellist for RTE’s next series of You’re A Star. Colm O’Hare gives him a chance to explain why he doesn’t care.
Pete Tong has long been one of the most influential figures in contemporary dance. His latest project sees him joining Heineken in their search for new djs, via the Heineken Thirst Extravaganza.
Kells three-piece Turn are on the crest of a wave, and are about to unleash their rather spiffing debut LP, Antisocial, on an unsuspecting world. John Walshe reports. Suit shoot: Myles Claffey
As the summer finally begins to fade and the dark nights of winter start to creep in, many of us look for a last chance to get an away break before the build-up for Christmas begins. Jackie Hayden reviews some of the options countrywide.
In addition to being an internationally renowned centre of artistic activity, Ireland is also famed for its party-friendly atmosphere. So, what better way to spend the summer than combining both equally noble pursuits – below is a comprehensive guide to the arts events on offer throughout the country over the next few months, and the sheer level of diversity on show offers further proof of our enduring love affair with the festival experience.
WEEK AFTER week I try to remain the right side of well-mannered when some myopic PR person or director phones and says "There's a play coming up in the blah-blah-blah theatre and it's got great music that'll really appeal to your readers."
…In October, actually. The reunited band’s guitarist and songwriter, Gary Kemp, talks about their rivalry with Duran Duran, inspiring Quentin Tarantino and the group’s long association with Ireland.
Running – appropriately enough – from the 26th to 29th of October in Dublin's IFC, the Horrorthon weekend is without doubt the ultimate word in non-stop guts and gore. The gruesome endurance test gets underway on the night of Friday 26th in IFC Screen One with a preview of John Carpenter's Ghosts Of Mars, a sci-fi/horror hybrid set 175 years into the future. Horrorthon highlights are as follows:
Steve Lillywhite, who produced U2's first three albums – and has featured on the production team of almost all of their records – looks back over the band's career and recalls the highs... and the lows
As one of Ireland’s few motor racing venues, Tipperary Motor Speedway is an important outlet for young people who love cars. Now, it is being threatened with closure.
When Enya s Watermark was released last September, few outside her closest associates could have predicted the runaway success which would ensue. To date, the album has clocked up worldwide sales of over 3 million copies with the Orinoco Flow single topping the charts in many countries, including Britain, Holland Venezuela! To promote her records, Enya undertook a gruelling promotional schedule in which the term globe-trotting took on a new meaning. This is an account of those travels . . . in her own words.
Having watched Shay Healy hold tightly onto his little camera as he, and the Music City USA crew, travelled thousands of miles across the United States this summer, believe me, I know he is driven by a sometimes infuriating "fundamental impulse" to capture beauty. Plus ugliness, pain, poverty, poetry in static form or in motion and humour - in one word: America, in all its twisted glory.
Let's start with a crescendo and build to a climax.
Being Irish, we talked a lot about the weather. Right from the start. Tornadoes in America and cyclones in east Africa. Doomsday. Biblical torrents raged down the Limpopo and Save rivers. The lucky ones clung to the tops of trees - there was even a baby born in one. But thousands perished. Villages too. A million or more were homeless. Family and tribal networks were destroyed. Roads and rails were in ruins. Thousands of landmines were washed away from their known zones to who knows where.
Anthony Gibney has lined-up several support slots on singer-songwriter Nick Kelly's upcoming tour, with a list of future TV and radio slots just confirmed.
Norwegian pop sensation Annie on her new-found celebrity status in Scandinavia, the music scene in her increasingly hip hometown Bergen, and why her future output is likely to follow in the same upbeat vein as her acclaimed debut, Anniemal. interview Steve Cummins
One of favourite alt.country bands, Richmond Fontaine, return from a long lay-off with perhaps their finest album yet. Plus, the original ‘Galway Girl’ (who is actually from Clare), has just released a fantastic new record.
YOU CAN pretty much guess what was said at the first editorial meeting.
We re going to produce a magazine like Loaded, except without the humour, irony and people who possess a modicum of journalistic talent.
Unpalatable truths about the 'war against terror' - and Ireland's involvement – will be revealed during the trial of Eoin Dubsky, the young Wexford man who spraypainted a US war plane refuelling in Shannon
The future in nifty twelve-point type, summoned for you out of the ether by the Oracle of Hot Press, the redoubtable, all-powerful, spookily omniscient, scarily prescient, frighteningly knowledgeable but really quite friendly when you get to know him, Old Hayden. Read it and live better
DUBLIN'S HARVEST Ministers release their debut LP Little Dark Mansion this week on Sarah Records, the UK independent label that released their first two highly successful singles on that side of the water.
He's been painted as a loud-mouthed yob but The Courteeners' Liam Fray is actually a complete sweetheart - so long as you don't ply him with liquor and encourage him to slag his rivals.
To mark the release of his new album, Jape main-man Richie Egan took comedian David O’Doherty to the zoo on condition that he write 1200 words about it for Hotpress.
NIALL STANAGE reports on a series of Irish gigs, headlined by STEVE EARLE, which will help the campaign for the abolition of the death penalty internationally.
Six Semesters could be the first independent Irish feature film with an entire cast and crew made up of students from an Irish university. Jackie Hayden goes behind the casting couch with director John McKeown.
On the occasion of the first Irish screening of Nagisa Oshima’s Ai No Corrida (In The Realm Of The senses), banned for 18 years because of its explicit sex scenes involving lead actor Tatsuya Fujii’s hardcore hard-on’s, Neil McCormick takes a ride through the history of the ’members’ of the film world’s penis colony and while he’s ‘at it’, talks to film sexpert David Sullivan about the ever narrowing gap between the porn film industry and mainstream cinema.
Award-winning singer-songwriter Julie Feeney puts pen to paper for Hot Press as she arrives in the Dutch city of Groningen for the annual Eurosonic pop festival.
2003 was a year of reinvention for the Irish dance scene, as dance recession which had been the talk of UK dance mags in 2002 finally had some effect over here.
Somewhere on my shelves is a book called Hooligan: A History of Respectable Fears. Even the title summarises the way too many people think about crime, and particularly the Minister for Justice and the Gardam.
Back in his native Fife, Scottish folk sensation James Yorkston chats about his childhood sojourns in West Cork and the debt his music owes to a sense of time and place.
They’re the Highest Band In Ireland (a more wholesome title than it sounds) but that doesn’t mean Killarney three-piece TEN PAST SEVEN are stopping at the top. Bassist Matt Shallow chats to Celina Murphy about going instrumental, spotting their name in horror movies and serenading mountain goats.
As Scottish tunesmiths BIFFY CLYRO prepare to release their fifth record Only Revolutions, Edwin McFee chats with bassist James Johnston and hears all about working with Josh Homme, why their latest sonic manifesto is their most positive to date and why he’s glad he doesn’t have to support Limp Bizkit anymore.
This year’s Cannes Film Festival is set to be the most successful yet for the Irish film-making community, according to film board chief executive Mark Woods.
John Walshe talks to Wilt frontman Cormac Battle about the band s new single, their forthcoming Dublin show, and why the music industry is like a virus.
Stonemason-turned-artful strummer Mick Flannery talks about nearly winning the Choice Music Prize for his album White Lies, his on-going battle against laziness and his dreams of breaking the UK
Craig Fitzsimons talks to oscar-winning director Kevin McDonald about his gripping new docu-drama touching the void, chosen to open this year’s stranger than fiction festival at the IFI.
Mike Leigh’s latest project all or nothing continues his fascination with the everyday mundanity of working-class life, but as usual there is warmth and a genuine humour at the film’s core
Writer-director Christopher Smith has already curried a great deal of favour with such clever Brit horrors as Severance and Creep. Triangle, a smart and nifty psychological chiller, suggests that Mr. Smith has only been clearing his throat.
Andrew Maxwell who has followed up a year of successful television appearances with a sell-out stand-up show and a nomination for a prestigious comedy award.
A Garda seizure and anecdotal evidence suggest that the dangerous drug DOB – aka ‘Snowballs’ – is well established in Ireland. and there’s worse to come.
There are those who argue that the best that Northern Ireland can hope for is dreariness. They’ll have been disappointed this year, so. It’s been grim instead, and right from the off.
MARK KAVANAGH reports on the continuing controversy over the awarding of Dublin's dance radio licence, while, below, EAMON SWEENEY, looks at the still- vibrant world of pirate broadcasting.
MARK KAVANAGH reports on the continuing controversy over the awarding of Dublin's dance radio licence, while, below, EAMON SWEENEY, looks at the still- vibrant world of pirate broadcasting.
The case for and against Holocaust Revisionist and Nazi apologist DAVID IRVING being allowed to speak on a public platform in Ireland. For: GERRY McGOVERN. Against: EAMONN McCANN
IN THE last issue of Hot Press we previewed the play which turned out to be the most universally-acclaimed production of the Dublin Theatre Festival: Marina Carr’s The Mai, which is still running at the Peacock Theatre.
Top 20 singles, festival gigs – Boy Kill Boy have come a long way from the East End. But they know where they really want to end up – lovely Mullingar.
“Goth groove” hopefuls Angel Pier are only a year in existence but already they’ve wooed audiences from Galway to New York. Might they be Ireland’s next break-out success?
Adulation from teenage girls, encounters with Jack Osbourne and hi-jinks with coked-up prostitutes – Donegal rockers The Revs are starting to make a name for themselves in Britain and beyond.
Controversy is already swirling around the forthcoming Abbey Theatre production, Barbaric Comedies. JOE JACKSON finds out what it s all about and talks to one Irish actress who decided against appearing in the play
They’ve played with Bloc Party and Muse and shared a studio with Fionn Regan. Now, London garage rockers The Noisettes are set to make a splash of their own.
Bad-ass rockers The Cult have reconvened following half a decade in the wilderness. Frontman Ian Astbury talks about standing-in for Jim Morrison, jamming with UNKLE and explains why it's good to return to his day-job.
In addition to Seasick Steve, the Royal Hospital Kilmainham will also be playing host to The Human League, Heaven 17 and ABC, and Aimee Mann and The Sharon Shannon Big Band.
After close to a decade of neglect, Pinter’s classic play The Birthday Party is currently enjoying a long-overdue renaissance thanks to directorial debutant, Michael Donegan
For two weeks now, the people of Rossport in North Mayo have been besieged by hundreds of Gardai, including riot police and even members of the Emergency Response Unit. Despite the pressure, hundreds of locals are protesting every morning.
Fifteen years on and still in a league of his own, Dan Oggly talks to Mark E. Smith about fame, footie and the truth behind his 'difficult' reputation.
Irish football fans had plenty to cheer in 2004 as The Boys In Green marched to the top of their World Cup qualifying group, and Shelbourne went stud to stud with some of Europe’s finest.
The north did not witness such seismic changes in Y2K as it had in preceding years. But there was still plenty going on, as a society in which war had become the norm stumbled towards peace.
Contrary to the usual hysteria around drugs, Irish authorities have been alarmingly slow to respond to the availability of a truly dangerous pill – dob.
Philip Watt, director of the National Consultative Committee On Racism and Interculturalism, outlines the urgent and necessary response to racism in ireland
With The Commitments, Black Velvet Band, Hothouse Flowers and a range of acting credits already to her name, MARIA DOYLE KENNEDY is finally releasing her debut solo album.
PETER MURPHY is charmed
Electric Avenue in Waterford City is now a firmly established stop-off on the Irish circuit. Proprietor and promoter Mick O'Keefe talks a little about his past and explains how he's in this for the long haul.
A recent postbag brought a cry of despair and bewilderment from a band who had been offered a management contract. An accompanying letter gave them about a week to sign it, otherwise they would forfeit a gig which the management had lined up for them. The band wanted my thoughts on the matter.
Earlier this year, the dance music community was shocked by the sudden departure of Darren Emerson from Underworld. However, the band continues to blossom, embracing new technologies and ideas to remain at the forefront of electronic music. Richard Brophy catches up with Rick Smith to find out more.
The Cronin Brothers have come a long way with their group The Aftermath since leaving Longford to make their fortune. With friends like the Kaiser Chiefs and fans like Chris Moyles, they’re on the brink of making it big.
If it s sombrely beautiful, slow-moving, Mogwai-esque instrumental mini-epics you re after, you ve come to the right place. EAMON SWEENEY meets THE REDNECK MANIFESTO.
Tower's Wicklow Street store manager Clive Branagan reflects on how the shop's independent stance enabled them to get progressively stronger, while others floundered.
The latest group to benefit from the tutelage of legendary producer Stephen Street, attitudinal Mancunian rockers The Courteeners are one of hottest newcomers on the UK indie scene.
Sliabh Notes are a trio of renowned traditional musicians who play dance music that long preceded the breed that flourishes these days in the club scene. Siobhan Long pays a visit to them in the best place possible to hear the music: a wedding reception in Kerry.
GEORGE MARTIN was intrinsic to much of The Beatles brilliance. Now he s coming to Dublin for a series of special concerts. GEORGE BYRNE sets the scene.
RAYTHEON, the armament-technology firm which manufactured Patriot and Sidewinder missiles, is establishing a plant in Derry and the local politicians couldn t be happier. EAMONN McCANN reports.
The Road Relish singles club has played a central role in the growth of the local independent scene. the main players explain their philosophy to Hannah Hamilton
Indie golden boys Delays are back – and they’ve gone all shiny and techno on us. But then that’s what happens when you make a record with produer-to-the-stars Trevor Horn.
You know her as the songstress from Stars and Broken Social Scene. Doing her own thing AMY MILLAN reveals herself to be, of all things, a country chanteuse, her heart heavy with woe.
THE SUBTONICS are young, gifted . . . and angry. Having made a name for themselves through their guerilla promotional tactics, they now tell EAMON SWEENEY that we re coming close to the end of rock n roll in Ireland.
From self-contained sound system to collaborators of choice for everyone from Mutya Buena to Kylie, Groove Armada have perfected the art of beat science.
For a few dizzying months in 2007, New Young Pony Club were London’s pre-eminent ‘it’ band. But despite a Mercury Music Prize nomination, commercial success never quite arrived. Now they’re regrouped and planning another full-frontal assault on the pop universe. Singer Tahita Bulmer talks about the personal traumas that coloured their new record and explains why they’re not angry with La Roux for stealing their electro-pop thunder.
The US-led ‘War on Terror’ has officially extended its scope to east African territory. But will this make the world a safer place or merely stoke the flames of Islamic extremism?
Presenter of Channel 6's Night Shift, an air hostess and a model, Michelle Doherty is rarely found at home... but that doesn't stop her from showing us around her Drumcondra abode.
By day he's Nick Cave's trusty lieutenant, but Conway Savage is also spreading his wings as a solo artist, tipping his hat to James Joyce along the way.
Ten years after his last solo album, and twenty years after he formed Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Holly Johnson is back with a new album and a new outlook on life. Interview: RICHARD BROPHY.
Tim Easton is currently delighting audiences around the country as part of Easton, Stagger, Phillips, with dates in Waterford, Dublin and Derry still to take place
With cork set to become european capital of culture just over a year from now, Colm O’Hare reports on the cultural attractions punters will be treated to by the lee in 2005
PETER MURPHY meets GAVIN FRIDAY and discovers a fascination with Kurt Weill that has led to Friday and Maurice Seezer’s Ich Lieb Dich revue at the Tivoli Theatre
That’s Northern European Protestant by the way. And it’s what we newly godless people are turning into as we increasingly take our moral cues from the nanny state
Now that he’s officially “too big for the perrier award”, Dara O’Briain is turning his attention to
conquering TV land. Here, he gives the lowdown on his new RTE series, The Panel, and attempts to rescue Angus Deayton from his titty bar hell.
Danielle Brigham catches up with new Britrock darlings The Futureheads to discuss their recent gigs in, respectively, a ski resort and the biggest shopping mall in the world, touring with Franz Ferdinand, appearing on The OC soundtrack and their collaboration with Bloc Party.
The current treaty debate says a lot about the make-up of modern Ireland. But we have to look beyond that and recognise the extraordinary achievements of a united Europe
The tears have stopped falling – because those who bitterly mourned the demise of The Go-Betweens soon discovered that what they got instead was a double-helping of the weird genius which had inspired the band in the shape of solo albums from Grant McLennan and Robert Forster. With both of them releasing new records and working on a film script together, everything seems to be coming up roses. Why Lorraine Freeney even got to see a breathtaking reunion gig . . .
Colm O’Hare talks to local indie heroes Saville, the acclaimed quartet determined to make their inspired blend of ’60s pop and rock heard above the din of their hipper contemporaries
Who better to launch this year’s Music Show than Irish band of the moment The Script? In a taster of what to expect from October’s RDS weekender, Danny, Glen and Mark treated a roomful of fans, music students and industry professionals to their thoughts on illegal downloading, songwriting, the dreaded Auto-tune and touring with Macca and U2.
One of the most hotly anticipated events at the Galway Comedy Festival is the show featuring stand-up comedian from the characters of Father Ted. Jackie Hayden talks to the evening's host Frank Kelly, a.k.a Father Jack.
Tara Brady talks to director Pete Docter about the latest Pixar mega-hit Up, which tells the story of an elderly widower who sets sail on an Amazonian adventure.
Having delivered a storming set at Oxegen, pop-rock powerhouse NOISETTES confess a love for all things Irish in the Hot Press Signing Tent. Plus, they hold forth on their passion for everything from jazz to punk to heavy metal.
JOAN ARMATRADING has been making impassioned, poetic music for two decades. She is also a political activist, having recently attended the 1999 Vienna Peace Summit. Adrienne Murphy met her.
JOAN ARMATRADING has been making impassioned, poetic music for two decades. She is also a political activist, having recently attended the 1999 Vienna Peace Summit. Adrienne Murphy met her.
Alabama 3 are known for their love of a good time. On their latest album, these rhinestone spangled bad boys let their inner funk monster off the leash.
In the run up to her Sligo Live appearance, chanteuse Martha Wainwright talks about learning from her father Loudon, channelling Edith Piaf and the perils of true romance.
Now that the picking season is upon us, Siobhán Long offers a guide to the pleasures and perils of Pysolisin, otherwise known as the humble magic mushroom. Pic: Alan O’Connor.
The missing link (ouch) between the Velvet Underground and Phil Spector, The Jesus & Mary Chain were one of the most influential and critically lauded bands of the 1980s. 20 years after Psychocandy though, Jim Reid found himself mired in serious alcohol addiction problems. Now domiciled in Devon, he looks back through the lens of newfound – but still precarious – sobriety.
It’s hard to believe, we know, but occasionally Dave Fanning likes to put his feet up and switch off from the outside world. Who would have thought, though, that he’d have such an interest in kitchen renovation?
When the Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain appointed two members of the Orange Order to the Parades Commission, he set himself up for a political bruising. But worse than that, he may have fatally undermined the ability of the organisation to function.
Vegetarians were once dismissed as long-haired lay-abouts too busy thinking up new ways of mistreating lentils to hold down a job. Nowadays, however, vegetarianism has gone mainstream. To mark Vegetarian Awareness Month, Hot Press asked some famous veggies about the benefits, and sacrifices, of a no-meat diet.
SIMON FOWLER of OCEAN COLOUR SCENE speaks to Colm O'Hare about the band s new album, his outing at the hands of the tabloid press, and hanging out with Noel Gallagher.
Honing his Best-Of set, working on a “secret” documentary for RTE, being compared to Bill Hicks, lollygagging at Dr Quirkey’s… it’s just another day at the office for Des Bishop.
East Timor is a small island close to Indonesia. Invaded in 1975 by its much larger neighbour, in the intervening years almost one third of its population has been wiped out in an ongoing campaign of international terrorism and genocide. The arms being used to terrorise this small island are being supplied by Britain. Report: LIAM FAY
"When did Ireland ever take a stand on anything?" Niall O'Dowd, leading Irish-American and author of a new book on September 11, attacks Ireland's "moral superiority"
In June 1993, the legislation decriminalising sex between men was passed in Dáil Eireann and the Seanad, and was later signed into law by President Robinson. Five years on, how has life changed for Irish lesbians and gay men? By DEBORAH BALLARD.
Never ones to be left behind the times, Bono and chums have gone 3D with the release of U2 3D. Director Catherine Owens gives us the inside track on the historic project.
The Catholic Church has blamed ‘system failure’ and human fallibility for its failure to crack down on the paEdophile Fr. Brendan Smyth. Not so, argues BILL GRAHAM: here, he
examines the role of the Church and, particularly, Cardinal Cahal Daly in the wake of Fr. Smyth’s crimes, and comes to some damning conclusions.
Social diarist Amanda Brunker is so high-maintenance even her paper plates are designed by Damien Hirst. Colm O'Hare joins the TV presenter, model, actress, budding novelist and loose-tongued Eamon Dunphy guest in her comfy sea-front residence in Clontarf. Photos by Cathal Dawson.
Loaded vocalist and guitarist DUFF McKAGAN has one complaint, that nobody has yet invented a system that would make soundchecks unnecessary. Jackie Hayden interrupted the former Guns N’ Roses bassist at his band’s rehearsal cabin on the eve of their visit to Ireland.
After five years of hard graft and dedicated shoegazing, The Boo Radleys came up with Giant Steps, an album so ambitious in scope that it’s been perched at the top spot of many end-of-year polls and has seen them heralded as the new Best Band In Britain.
Interview: LORRAINE FREENEY
A water polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union might seem an unlikely springboard for a moving meditation on freedom and oppression, but Children Of Glory director Krisztina Goda has pulled it off.
In a recent issue of Hot Press, John Farrell wrote critically of the Irish Museum of Modern Art exhibition, ‘Beyond The Pale’. Here, artist Nigel Rolfe answers back.
The end may indeed be nigh for discos and dance clubs in Ireland, with the Government s proposed changes to licensing legislation putting over 10,000 jobs and 650 businesses at risk. Mark Kavanagh reports.
Director PADDY BREATHNACH, producer ROB WALPOLE and writer CONOR McPHERSON take time out from polishing their latest haul of gongs to talk CATHY DILLON through the making of I Went Down.
As many as 12% of Irish people are happy to have sex without even getting to know their prospective partner's name first. That's just one of the fascinating statistics to emerge in a Durex Sex Survey, commissioned to mark National Condom Week.
It's one of the most heartwarming and deserved success stories in music - how Beth Orton learned to cope with illness, rebuilt her career and found herself sharing studios and stages with artists as diverse as Emmylou Harris, Ryan Adams, The Chemical Brothers and David Kitt
The Alien vs Predator movie has resurrected two of the most successful action movie franchises of recent years. You’ll kick yourself – in slow motion, and with gratuitous blood loss, of course – if you miss it, according to the film’s star Colin Salmon.
JOHNNY ROGAN didn't write just any old biography - he wrote a book about MORRISSEY which brought down a virtual pop fatwah on his head, with his subject declaring in public that he hoped the author would die a grisly death. Now, with the paperback version just published, the 'controversy' seems to have been given a new lease of life. It's not by any chance a publicity scam, is it? CATHY DILLON puts Johnny Rogan on the spot.
Silence. there is all too little of it. Elevators whimper with muzak, grocery stores boom non-stop consumer announcements , college dormitories wail a grotesque collage of Robbie Williams and The Doors.
Maggie Gyllenhaal has ridden out controversy and kept her private life to herself while carving out an impeccably cool career in Hollywood. No wonder all the girls fancy her.
They once blagged a soccer scholarship to America as a laugh. Now back in the UK with a number one album, The Hoosiers are at the forefront of their very own scene: “odd-pop”.
The physical form of how music is distributed and consumed is changing irrevocably, says Napster chairman Chris Gorog, who claims that this means the inevitable and imminent demise of the compact disc.
Patrick Freyne interviews Julian Clary about his new autobiographical show, his status as a camp icon and his roots in the anti-Thatcher British comedy of the ‘80s.
After a storming appearance at the Eurosonic festival in Holland, Patrick Freyne talks to Cathy Davey about recording, redecoration and ill communication.
Loved by the Kaiser Chiefs and bushy moustached Ukrainians alike, The Chalets have partied their way round most of the western world in recent months. Stuart Clark hears about backstage beerathons, ding dongs with Kele from Bloc Party and monkeys in track-suits.
Bob Geldof recently received the freedom of the city of Dublin. But three decades ago, when Geldof first crashed the Irish entertainment scene, with his band, The Boomtown Rats, he was a thorn in the side of both politicians and priests in a notoriously conservative country.
• If the number of albums being released at a given time is any indication, then Gaelic culture is in its healthiest state for years. It is particularly encouraging that real roots music is still being recorded, and indeed that the Irish language is still finding its place in this context.
On the eve of his appearance in the Dublin Theatre Festival and with a nationwide Irish tour pending, Jimeoin, the award-winning Irish comedian, talks to Tony Clayton-Lea about his journey to fame, from his early jobs as a builder in London and a carpenter in Sydney to his current status as the funniest man in Australia. He may own ten Van Morrison albums but he's still the best man around to liven up a night on the town.
On the eve of his appearance in the Dublin Theatre Festival and with a nationwide Irish tour pending, Jimeoin, the award-winning Irish comedian, talks to Tony Clayton-Lea about his journey to fame, from his early jobs as a builder in London and a carpenter in Sydney to his current status as the funniest man in Australia. He may own ten Van Morrison albums but he's still the best man around to liven up a night on the town.
Indie pretty-boys The Coronas aspire to be taken seriously as artists. They chat about their plans for breaking big abroad and explain why they're not the Irish Busted.
Every year thousands of film fans make the trip to the southern capital for the feast of cinema that is the Cork Film Festival. Hot Press looks back over the history of one of Europe’s longest-running cinematic events and checks out what this year’s packed programme has to offer. Report: Patrick Brennan
It’s that time of year when gongs are being dished out. Guest columnist Rossa O Snodaigh of Kíla makes the case for a change of emphasis. Plus news, gossip and all that jazz.
Over the past decade, the new wave of films from South Korea has made a stunning impact on movie fans worldwide. The acclaim peaked earlier this year when the remarkable OldBoy scooped the Grand Prix at Cannes. In a Moviehouse special we look at Korea’s visceral treats and talk to ace director Chan Wook Park.
Contrary to popular belief, not all Australians are surf fanatics from birth. However, that doesn’t mean that participating in the sport isn’t a hugely rewarding experiance, as Hot Press’ resident Antipodean Danielle Brigham discovered when she travelled to Bundoran ahead of the town’s eagerly anticipated ocean festival.
GER PHILPOTT examines the terrible ordeal of American writer Robert drake who was savagely attacked in Sligo earlier this year against the wider backdrop of continuing violence against gays in Ireland.
An office in downtown Dublin. A band. A journalist. And a tape recorder. Yes, it s another extraordinary Hot Press interview. Starring: The Frames. Directed by: Mick O Hara. With: A cast of 200,000 readers.
An office in downtown Dublin. A band. A journalist. And a tape recorder. Yes, it s another extraordinary Hot Press interview. Starring: The Frames. Directed by: Mick O Hara. With: A cast of 200,000 readers.
One of the most disturbing developments in the Middle East over the past number of years has been the rising number of female suicide bombers. Colm O’Hare talks to Barbara Victor, the pulitzer prize-nominated journalist who examines this alarming trend in a compelling new book, Army of Roses.
They were the great new hopes of Irish rock. Until, with their second album in the can, they decided to, er, call it a day. Thankfully, Delorentos have changed their mind and are about to step back into the fray with new LP You Can Make Sound. Hot Press joins them for a contemplative walk by the sea.
He may be better known as manager of The Corrs – but John Hughes has been a musician for well over 30 years. Besides, with a US top 50 album to his credit in the 1980s, his new record – the remarkable Wild Ocean – is just the latest instalment in an extraordinary journey that has taken him close to the edge and back. interview: Niall Stokes
Before he was the face of televised pop Jools Holland played empty pubs alongside U2, mentored a skinny kid called Mark Knopfler and rode to school in Daniel Day-Lewis's dad's Mercedes.
Since making it's debut in 1964, Match Of The Day has become a national institution watched by an average six million football addicts a week. Paul O'mahony goes behind the scenes at the BBC's longest running sports programme and discovers that the people piecing it together are every bit as commited to the 'beautiful game' as those on the terraces.
Raised in the Bible belt, Kings Of Leon have fallen in love with the devil’s music. In an exclusive interview, they explain why rock ‘n roll is just like preaching and reveal what’s in store on their next album.
what good was rock’n’roll in 2001? No good at all – and yet we couldn’t have got through without it.
Peter Murphy reflects on a year in which some old codgers stood up to be counted and many of us lived “on songs and hope”
He's reputed to be one of the toughest interviewees in music. But RAY LAMONTAGNE is slowly learning to chill out and, if not embrace the limelight, then at least live with it...
Poetry slam takes poetry out of the hands of academics and puts it on stage in front of an audience. But not everyone thinks this is a good idea, as a recent spat in Galway underlines.
The folk and traditional community has been agog with rumours of a row between Facé and Imro. But the signs are that the organisations will be working together now.
“I write a lot on the hoof when i’m walking,” reveals Carol Keogh, which may explain why The Tycho Brahe’s love life is one of the more satisfying sonic and emotional journeys of the year.
After suffering from a particularly nasty bout of 'difficult second album' syndrome, GOATS DON'T SHAVE have come up trumps with a record that's destined to take them way beyond their present cult status. PAT GALLAGHER tells COLM O'HARE how they managed to avoid becoming the world's first folk techno band and why doing-it-yourself is definitely the best policy.
SHOW ME a poster bearing the entwined silhouettes of two angular dancers accompanied by the words "Tango", "Sultry sensuous passion" and "Direct from Argentina" and the outcome is fairly inevitable.
For close to a decade, Lillie’s Bordello has been the nightclub of choice for the famous and not-so-famous of Dublin cultural life. But with the passing of the Celtic Tiger era and the current uncertainty over the club’s future, can Lillie’s retain its position as the capital’s number one celebrity haunt?
Low priced guitars and pianos manufactured in China are music to the ears of Western music fans: Mark Godfrey reports from the biggest music expo in Asia.
They're one of the biggest names in indie-dom but, with album number three about to be unleashed, Kaiser Chiefs can still go out on the town without being pestered by paparazzi.
Maureen Bolger's son Darren committed suicide in 2003, at the age of 16. This tragedy inspired her to create Teen-Line Ireland to assist other young people at risk.
Comedian of the moment Andrew Maxwell talks about his recent car-crash gig in Dublin, in which he staggered on stage drunk and promptly blacked out, the controversy over Tommy Tiernan's comments on the holocaust and his love/hate relationship with Ireland. Plus, why we're to blame for our current economic crisis and how going to the same school as U2 helped turn him into ther performer he is today.
CATHAL COUGHLAN has long been among the most articulate and angry of Irish songwriters. Here, he talks to JONATHAN O BRIEN about his new album, money problems and adapting to middle-age
Mohammed Amin was the cameraman on Michael Buerk’s historic Ethiopian famine reports, which shocked Bob Geldof into founding Band Aid. Now, as head of Reuter’s African Bureau, he spends his time trying to correct the west’s distorted view of Africa and to show that there is more to life there than apocalyptic crises and starving babies. Interview: Bill Graham. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON
As part of a scam to exaggerate the weight of the cannabis they sell, ruthless Irish criminals are lacing their wares with pieces of glass – thereby putting the health of consumers at serious risk.
Stripped of their dignity and forced to endure cramped conditions in lousy holding centres, asylum seekers are the victims of sub-human treatment at the hand of the Irish state.
Denounced by the Christian right in America and the Catholic church in Italy but championed by rockers as diverse as Marilyn Manson and Led Zep’s John Paul Jones, Diamanda Galas is unlikely to be hollywood’s flavour of the month as she rips into the oscar-winning Monster
The High Priest of Soul, AL GREEN is one of the greatest singers this century has known. Coinciding with his recent trail of magnificent shows in Dublin, the mercurial Rev granted this exclusive interview to KARL TSIGDINOS.
Pics: Bernard Walsh.
David Baldacci‘s unsavoury contacts within the vast American military-industrial complex have lent authenticity to his tangled tales of insider dealings in the corridors of power
Why the media were wrong in their assessment of Sharon Shannon’s court case; the latest musical venture from producer, director and PR ace, Mary McPartlan, plus the usual round-up of news from the world of folk and traditional music.
Action movie sweetheart and FHM-proclaimed second sexiest woman on the planet Jessica Biel gives us the lowdown on upcoming period rom-com Easy Virtue... and nothing else.
Cavernous arenas, capacity crowds, shrieking teenagers and a brisk trade in merchandising.
No, it s not a Take That reunion, it s eh, Dublin popsters picture house travelling the autobahns of Germany.
Our Eurosceptic in D|sseldorf: colm o hare
Former Moloko singer Roisin Murphy talks to Paul Nolan about collaborating with an all-star team of songwriters, her unique image and clubbing in Sheffield and New York.
He’s spent the past few years hanging out with Kate Moss and Primal Scream, but now it’s time for Irvine Welsh to look up some old pals. Yup, Begbie, Spud, Renton and Sick Boy are back in Porno, an XXX-rated tale which makes Trainspotting look like Harry Potter
RADIOHEAD are just about to release one of the most uncompromising and controversial records of the year in Kid A. As the band prepare for their upcoming Irish dates, mainman THOM YORKE talks about the genesis of a record that seems destined to divide rock fans for years. Not to mention Bono, Britney and Alicia Silverstone! Interview: DAVE FANNING
Defecating lemurs, exploding dogs, dirty movies, alien abduction and, of course, the longest feet in pop. it can all only mean that Gruff Rhys & Co. are back.
Occasionally, music from Derry effects the wider scheme of things with spectacular results. This year, the fun centred on the use of D:Ream?s ?Things Can Only Get Better? as a Labour Party anthem. The touchy-feely, get-off-your-arse-and-participate message of the song was just what Tony Blair wanted for his born-again campaign theme.
Hard house is this year s biggest dance craze, and it was born at the most renowned
after-hours gay club in the world, Trade. MARK KAVANAGH talks to LAURENCE MALICE,
the Caligula of clubland , about excess, success and his Irish roots. Photographs: Myles Claffey
An old friend of mine used to regularly take out a word and fondle it like a friendly animal. A very Irish amusement, I think. One particular favourite was the word “worrying”, as in dogs “worrying sheep”.
Ahead of the band s heineken green energy gig in Dublin, PETER MURPHY talks to
NINA PERSSON of THE CARDIGANS about success, sexuality, self-esteem and joyriding!
Californian-born JIM PAGE is no ordinary protest singer. Best known on this side of the Atlantic as the writer of such classics as 'Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Russian Roulette', his music has continued to move hearts and minds well into the corporate nineties. Here, he traces his roots from Bob Dylan to Public Enemy, and explains why he wrote a special song in tribute to Sinead O'Connor. Interview: GERRY McGOVERN
Well, absolutely, as anyone who's seen the gifted young Manchester United midfielder crack home a patented 30-yard rocket will testify. But off the pitch, as Jonathan O'Brien discovers, it's that little bit harder to get DAVID BECKHAM overly excited about anything. With the possible exception of discount designer clobber!
Having survived a flirtation with coke-addled infamy, nice-boy Britrockers Keane natter about the long road to recovery and how it feels to be Bret Easton Ellis' favourite band.
When Paddy Moloney isn t busy gigging, rehearsing or recording with his band of merry men, The chieftains, he s laughing. A man who makes The Laughing Policeman look like Leonard Cohen, Moloney recently took a 10-minute break to talk to Paul Byrne about the band s new album REEL MUSIC, their upcoming London festival weekend, their up-coming Christmas album, Van Morrison and oh, about four million other things The Chieftains are currently involved with. Hold onto your sides!
Dundalk-born director John Moore has produced one of the most gung-ho portrayals of the US military in recent cinema history in behind enemy lines, yet Craig Fitzsimons discovers a film-maker who finds flag-waving unacceptable
As we eagerly await the release of Duke Special's I Never Thought This Day Would Come, we thought we'd cheer up your Wednesday with a special preview of the album artwork.
Accompanied by images from his photo diary, DONAL DINEEN takes us through a month-by-month guide to the records that kept himself, and the Today FM faithful happy in 2001
He survived the IRA London bus bomb of February 1996 only to find himself wrongly accused of involvement in terrorism by the British press. His name having been duly cleared young Dubliner BRENDAN WOOLHEAD should have been able to put the worst behind him. Instead, he succumbed to heroin addiction and died in a London hospital having just undergone a costly and controversial detoxification treatment that is now being advertised in Ireland. In the week of the inquest into his death, OLAF TYARANSEN reports on the disturbing implications of a tragic case.
With a career-best new album under their belts, Razorlight's Johnny Borrell talks about bling, mid-career reinvention and Britain's battle with metrosexuality.
How much of the 50 Cent phenomenon is for real and how much for effect? Danielle Brigham meets the mainman and his crew in Dublin and attempts to make sense of the shootings and the sales figures.
Throughout the '90s and beyond, The Frank And Walters were effectively a lone beacon for Cork rock. But over the last year all that changed, with the emergence of an exciting new scene in the city, centred around the Cork Rocks phenomenon. If the momentum can be maintained, there's enough outstanding young bands strutting their stuff to ensure that the city by the Lee becomes the focus for unprecedented A&R interest.
From the ashes of The Libertines comes Dirty Pretty Things, Carl Barat's new band. But can Pete Doherty's old sparring partner escape the legacy of his old group?
Having made friends and influenced all sorts of people in recent months (including the likes of Gary Lightbody, Bob Dylan and Shane McGowan), the Republic of Loose have just announced an Irish mini-tour.
Every loser wins on patrick kielty s new Channel 4 show, Last Chance Lottery , and for the 26-year-old comedian, presenter and former germ , things have never looked so good. Interview: barry glendenning.
The decision of the High Court to jail five men for opposing attempts by the oil multi-national Shell to run a high pressure gas pipeline across their lands in the Rossport area of Mayo has brought an issue of major national importance to a head. Rory Hearne tells a story that may yet take on the status of legend in the west of Ireland.
MIKE SCOTT once fronted the greatest rock n roll band in the world, but before the world got a chance to wake up to the fact he had gone west and invented raggle taggle. Now with a new Waterboys album, A Rock In The Weary Place, just released, Scott takes time out to reflect on his strange but true adventure. By PETER MURPHY
That a bonefide Irish film industry actually exists is no small achievement, but with a new Minister For The Arts now in place, this is hardly the time for complacency. To ascertain how best the industry can be maintained and developed, Hot Press film critic, cathy dillon, canvassed the views of a number of key players.
