The sun was in its best and brightest form as thousands headed for the temporarily re-christened Fundoran when the latest renewal of Sea Sessions swung into action.
The annual weekender has won many the fan with its heady mix of surf and song, and this year was no different. A few months ago, Gavin James (pictured) told Hot Press that he'd never been surfing before; while we didn't happen to catch the Dubliner catching waves, he certainly mastered the main stage with aplomb. His Friday night set connected with the crowd in a way that only he can, and demonstrated that as the crowds grow and slots become more prestigious, he ups his game to match.
Elsewhere on that evening, Mark McCabe blasted trance and house classics to an electric atmosphere, finishing with a triumphant spin of 'Maniac 2000'. Asked for his summary of the night, Mark plumped for, "Savage!" - and who are we to disagree?! Indeed, one Mexican attendee proffered, "Muy divertido, buen ambiente y buena music"; we didn't need to dig out our Spanish-English dictionaries to catch her drift...
Things weren't looking quite so buen, of course, when Primal Scream were forced to withdraw from the weekender after Bobby G's Swiss tumble earlier this month. Ash, however, proved to be the perfect replacements, rolling out a sublime set chockfull of their greatest hits. They even gave a nod to the absent Scots with a storming rendition of 'Rocks', as well pulling out a blistering 'Teenage Kicks'.
Those in a less rocking mood were well looked after, of course, with R&B grooves served up for those looking to chill out, while deep house and techno kept raves going well into the early hours. Anyone looking for top Irish talent to keep an eye on were in luck too; Dublin electronic duo Cut Once and Dundalk hip-hoppers T.P.M. proving the future is very bright indeed.
The show might very well have been stolen, though, by DJ Yoda; from old-school hip-hop to moombah and even snippets of 16-bit, there was seemingly nothing the turntablist couldn't use.