Bridgetown School scoops €5k in rock gig comp

Bridgetown Vocational School in Co. Wexford went home with the €5,000 first prize from the BEO competition to find the school that promotes the best rock show in the country.

BEO is a TY project running in Donegal since 2009, and the 2012 final took place in Letterkenny at the weekend, with a panel of judges that included Hot Press’ Jackie Hayden, Paddy McKenna (RTÉ broadcaster and lead singer with Storyfold), Mary O’Hagan (Senior Producer of The Last Word on Today FM), Cian McCarthy (Musician, DJ and radio producer) and Derry promoter Brian Fisher.

TY students all over Ireland were invited to organise a live music concert, and six of the best were then asked to present a live audio-visual report of their entry to the judging panel. They were also encouraged to use the Irish language as part of the process.

The Letterkenny event was organised by students from Coláiste Ailigh, The Loreto Convent and St Eunan’s College, and ended with a celebratory live gig at Letterkenny’s Cultural Centre featuring local heroes Jamaican Vampires, followed by The Dirty 9s , Storyfold and More Than Conquerors.

Announcing the winners, Jackie Hayden said that whole there might be a global recession, on the evidence of the talent on show in Letterkenny there was certainly no recession in Irish rock music. He also paid tribute to the competition’s main driving forces Seosamh Mac Ceallabhuí, and Carmel Baker, and remarked on the fact that all six colleges ran successful gigs that attracted impressive audiences.

The five runners-up were Pobailscoul na Rosann, Pobailscoil Ghaoth Dobhair, St. Columba’s College, Gaelcholaiste Chill Dara and Grennan College in Kilkenny.