To our absolute delight, the whole of New Order rocked up on Sunday night, happy to indulge our fangirl and fanboyship, while the smooth-talkers of Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and the impossibly cool Richard Fearless of Death In Vegas succeeded in making us feel like total squares by comparison.
Then there were mini-gigs from We Cut Corners and Windings and belly laughs from Joe Rooney and Paddy Cullivan, not to mention banter with the thousands of readers who turned up to see what all the commotion was about! Twelve months later, we’re ready for round two! Open for business throughout the June Bank Holiday festivities in Kilmainham, the Hot Press Speakeasy will feature a mixture of live performances, public interviews and meet ‘n’ greets. There will also be goodie bags for fans arriving early, and loads more surprises. Leading this year’s charge is Neon Neon, the disco-loving duo comprising Super Furry Animal Gruff Rhys and California producer Boom Bip, who’ll be telling us how they turned the life of Italian political activist Giangiacomo Feltrinelli into a kick-ass party album.
Reggae legend Lee “Scratch” Perry will also by dropping by to muse on his remarkable 50-year career, and a whole host of Irish movers and shakers will be stepping onto our stage, including floor-filling electro peddlers Le Galaxie, rootin’ tootin’ rockers The Hot Sprockets, lean mean songwriting machine The Mighty Stef, dance-punk misfits Fight Like Apes and lo-fi alt. poppers Tieranniesaur.
We’ll also be hearing from electronically-inclined UK MC Ghostpoet and homegrown funnymen Kevin McAleer, Joe Rooney and Paul Woodfull. And that’s just for starters! There are oodles more exciting acts to be confirmed between now and June 1.
It is, we can safely say, going to be a blast! If you can’t make it, fear not, because hotpress.com will be carrying all the highlights.