25th Galway arts festival preview

David Kitt, Lambchop, Divine Comedy, The Frames, Sigur Rós, Buddy Guy, Steve Earle, The Divine Comedy, Eddi Reader, The Undertones, Altan The Frames Cornershop. These are just some of the scintillating musical attractions appearing at this year’s Galway Arts Festival, which runs from July 15-28.

Now in its 25th year, Galway Arts Festival is firmly established as the leading arts festival in the Republic of Ireland and features a wealth of performers from Europe, North, South & Central America and Australia. The Festival has consistently presented innovative and exciting work in spaces and sites all over Galway and continues to broaden its range and scope each year. This year sees a strong focus on new Irish drama with world premieres from Macnas and Druid, a Festival co-production with The National Theatre and several new commissions in various other artforms.

Music has always played a big part in Galway’s Arts Festival line-up over the years but this year, fans are particularly well catered for. According to the Festival’s Artistic Director, Rose Parkinson, there is more music at Galway this year than ever before with a particular emphasis on Irish bands and artists,

“We’ve more venues to choose from, which was always problem for us in the past,” she explains. “We’ve places like the new Radisson Hotel and we’re using St Nicholas Church for some of the gigs including Lambchop David Kitt and The Divine Comedy. It has fabulous acoustics and a great atmosphere and we’re confident that it will work out well as a venue.”

An equally strong comedy line-up at Galway this year sees the cream of Irish talent with Tommy Tiernan, Ardal O’Hanlon, Jason O’Byrne, The Kevin Gildeas and, most appropriately in the year that’s in it, The Après Match team. “We couldn’t not have Après Match this year,” Parkinson says. “Although we were a bit concerned that the World Cup would have an effect on our ticket sales overall. As it turns out we needn’t have worried. We opened the box office last week and tickets are flying out the door with some events completely sold out already.”

On the broader theatrical front, major attractions include Compagnia de Danca Deborah Colker from Brazil. One of the world’s most exciting dance theatre companies they bring their stunning show Rota to the Festival Big Top. Featuring a cast of 22 dancers in a show that promises to be a high-energy, gravity-defying performance charged with an urgency that is riveting to watch. Rota illustrates the Festival’s continuing commitment to staging ambitious dance projects with this, a show that is not to be missed!

The Festival continues its creative relationship with America’s foremost theatre company Steppenwolf with two events, following the company’s appearance in Galway over the past two years. What Ever, a Steppenwolf co-production with New York based performance artist Heather Woodbury has been hailed as a phenomenal and breath-taking tour de force by American theatre critics while The Remembered City is the latest Steppenwolf Traffic event featuring musician Steve Earle and poet, artist and actor Tony Fitzpatrick. Traffic are a series of arts events/collaborations bringing together artists working in different forms.

For the first time in the history of both companies, Galway Arts Festival and the National Theatre join forces this year. “Instead of being a passive receiver of art we’ve decided to commission some works specifically for the Festival,” Rose Parkinson explains. The Festival and the Peacock will co-produce Michael Healey’s The Drawer Boy, a new Canadian play directed by Lynne Parker and featuring David Calder and Festival regular John Mahoney. New Irish drama features prominently with Galway companies Macnas and Druid presenting world premieres for the 25th Festival, Grainne Mhaol and The Good Father respectively, while Little John, Teatro Punto and Galway Youth Theatre all present new work.

Galway Arts Festival and Stephen Dee have also entered into collaboration to produce a new cross-media event. Freakshow? is a celebration of the world of 1920s American sideshows and features original sculpture by Stephen alongside banners, old photographs, music and film. The Festival has also entered into collaboration with French photographer Denis Felix and Irish musician Joe Wall of The Walls fame to create an exhibition with an original soundtrack. Another highlight which can be enjoyed by everyone is French artist Nicolas Tobazeon Chevalier who has been commissioned to create light projections all over the city of Galway throughout the Festival.

Talks and literary events at this year’s Festival include Ireland’s Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney along with uilleann piper Liam O’Flynn in an evening of words and music, Jamaican reggae poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, writer and broadcaster Peter Stanford and the Daily Telegraph’s Diplomatic Editor Anton La Guardia.

But back to the music – and in 2002 the choice is dizzyingly varied.

Buddy Guy is a stalwart of the Chicago blues scene for nearly half a century and long hailed as one of the finest guitarists of his generation. Achieving worldwide acclaim and picking up four Grammy Awards along the way Guy performs at the Festival Big Top on Friday 26 July. The Frames headline the Festival Big Top on Saturday 27 with support from Australia’s Dirty 3, Welsh band Gorkys Zygotic Mynci and England’s Cornershop for what promises to be an evening of electrifying performances.

Humanitat join forces with the Festival to present a series of concerts in the beautiful surroundings of St. Nicholas’ Collegiate Church with US alt. country outfit Lambchop performing on Tuesday 16. Lambchop are joined by special guest Eileen Rose who performs a solo acoustic set on the evening. David Kitt and his band premier new work from his forthcoming EP and album and are joined by special guests Daniel Figgis & Decal on Tuesday 23. The Divine Comedy perform eagerly awaited new material along with some of the band’s most popular hits on Saturday 27 with special guest Damien Rice while one of the world’s most popular new bands, Iceland’s Sigur Ros perform on Sunday 28.

Making a welcome return from Cuba are Pucho & his Latin Soul Brothers with their inimitable mix of Latin, jazz and Cuban rhythms on Wednesday 24 while the nine-piece Cuban Salsa group Loca take to the stage in Bar Cuba on Wednesday 17. Also at Cuba are Festival regular Donal Dineen presents his unique blend of eclectic music with a slideshow of new photographs on Friday 26 (see panel), while Relish also play Cuba on the following night, Saturday 27. The Warwick Hotel plays host to Altan on Wednesday 24 and The Undertones take to the Warwick stage on Thursday 24.

The Róisin Dubh, Galway’s best known venue, plays host to several shows throughout the Festival with one of Ireland’s most eminent folk/traditional outfits, Scullion, coming back together for two rare and special performances on Friday 26 and Saturday 27. Máire Ní Chathasaigh and Chris Newman perform their blend of traditional, jazz and bluegrass music on Thursday 25 while whistle and fiddle player Breda Smyth launches her debut album Basil & Thyme on Wednesday 24. Sean Tyrell, who is at the forefront of Irish folk music, plays on Wednesday 17 and Dawn Kenny, who has garnered much attention in recent times following the release of her new album Dawn Kenny plays on Monday 22. From Mississippi comes Chad Dughi who sings the blues, jazz and old-time country songs from his recent album Down Home Blues on Monday 15. One of the finest contemporary female singer/songwriter Katell Keineg plays on Tuesday 23, with relative newcomers Charis performing on Tuesday 16 and James Yorkston, a force in Scottish music, who takes to the Róisín stage on Sunday 21.