Never have our flaps been entered with such regularity. No, we’re not being rude, we’re talking about the three days of non-stop action in the Hot Press Chatroom.
Proceedings kicked off on Friday night when Orbital legend Paul Hartnoll came face-to-face with a tent-full of adoring fans who’d just watched the Irish debut of his new outfit, The Ideal Condition.
Picking out highlights is a tough call, but Saturday’s other choice moments included Stephen Fretwell blowing everybody’s socks off with an acoustic rendition of his new single, ‘Scar’; Delorentos on how they managed to con Steve Albini; Undertones lead singer Paul McLoone regaling us with his spookily accurate David Bowie and Bob Geldof impersonations; and Duke Special confessing to a previous life on the Northern Ireland working men’s club circuit.
Also making us love them more than we already did were 65 Days Of Static, Dave Geraghty and Polyphonic Spree mainman Tim DeLaughter.
After not being last out of The Silent Disco, honest, Team Chatroom was back bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on Sunday with The Aliens who gave us a remarkable visual interpretation of their Astronomy For Dogs album cover.
They were followed by Sons & Daughters, who talked about close encounters with Messrs. Morrissey and Marr; The Go! Team who explained how they’d cyber-stalked Public Enemy’s Chuck D; Architecture In Helsinki, who confirmed that they’re neither Finnish nor qualified to design your kitchen extension; Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, who were intrigued to discover that their keyboard-player is a ringer for Kerry footballer Colm Cooper; and The Flaws who put goosepimples on goosepimples with their acoustic set.
Also preferring to let his guitar do the talking was Damien Dempsey, who gasted everybody’s flabber with stunning versions of ‘Negative Vibes’, ‘Seize The Day’ and, well, you know the rest! Cheered on by what appeared to be the whole of Donaghmede, it was the stuff rock ‘n’ roll legend is made of.
Talking of legends, the Chatroom curtain was brought down by Mani who shook more hands in 20 minutes than Mary McAleese averages in a year. When not having his arm pumped by admirers, Mr. Mounfield had fascinating things to say about John Squire, Peter Hook, Bono, Iggy Pop, the Sex Pistols and the late, great Tony Wilson.
If you missed out on the Chatroom fun, or want to remind yourself of how deadly it all was, the best bits will be appearing soon on Hotpress.com.