Castlepalooza

When we land on the doorstep of Charleville Castle, the home of Ireland’s friendliest little festival, Castlepalooza, everything is just as we remember it. Bands are getting acquainted over cans, festival virgins are breathing a collective sigh of relief and everyone and their dog seems to be marveling at the largest Long Island iced tea in the known universe. Instantly, real life seems a thousand miles away and the only thing anyone’s interested in is making the most of their weekend at Indie Summer camp.
Of the few acts on Friday night’s bill, the brilliant Attention Bébé are the most fun. Specialising in ska-infused interpretations of ‘90s theme tunes and one-hit wonders, the 15-piece band have no trouble Boom! Shake Shaking the early comers.
On Saturday, the Main Stage boasts a tasty early morning line-up, kicking off with Breakfast With The Inkspots, the excellent Maud In Cahoots and six (yep, six!) piece The Dying Seconds. Dublin bluegrass act Tupelo really get things going though, with a fiddle-heavy set which temporarily transforms this sleepy crowd into a frenzied, straw-chewin’ hoedown.

Meanwhile, over on the Big Top stage, Tarantella Fall are showcasing their debut album and earning many a brand new fan. And for the rest of the day, it’s a race back and forth from stage to stage in an effort to keep up with the quality performances taking place. The Danger Is, aka Niamh Farrell puts on a stellar show on the Main Stage, followed by dreamy synth popper Waterford man The Casanova Wave, and the very-impressive-indeed No Monster Club. CODES, The Minutes and the excellent Le Galaxie keep the momentum going, with the latter throwing glo sticks into the eager crowd. Woo, free stuff! Jape is our worthy Main Stage highlight, and Mr. Egan’s set, as ever, goes down a treat with fans. 
Dublin duo We Cut Corners are among the Big Top highlights, with things taking a turn for the dancey as the sun sets – DJ Baz, Hudson Mohawke and Big Dish Go keep the beats going well into the wee small hours.
Sunday kicks off in the most bizarre fashion imaginable with Big Stu, a surprisingly clever Irish comedy rapper, who pens swaggersome odes to Mick Hucknall and his own moustache. The morning only gets more surreal when breakneck Dublin duo Kid Karate take to the stage – it’s not long into the set before guitarist and singer Kevin Breen is writhing around on the grass in faux-agony. It’s a whole lot of spazz-out before 1pm, but by the time they leave us, there’s not a hangover in the house. Pop rockers The Kanyu Tree, while they seemed totally at home on the Vodafone Stage at Oxegen, don’t have the required quirk to captivate a fussy boutique festival crowd. In fact, with the exception of a swoon-inducing set by Sacred Animals and a snappy show by dreamy garage rockers Squarehead, the Big Top is kicking the Main Stage’s behind today.

Jogging serve up some simply mind-shattering new tunes from their forthcoming second album, before Gavin Elsted’s We Are Losers lay out their very best spread of summery noise-pop. Instrumental wunderkind Enemies play an impossibly tight set, despite it being their third festival show in as many days, while experimental fiddle maestro Daithí is one of the highlights of the weekend. Joined by fellow Galwegian Elaine Mai on vocals, Daithí’s electronic loopery reaches new heights of drama.
Later, Adebisi Shank play to most heaving crowd of the weekend and, with a frenzied mix of expert string-plucking and all-out showmanship, the show proves that the Castlepalooza clique have immaculate taste.
‘90s hip hop luminaries Naughty By Nature pull out all the stops for their headline slot, firing out hit after hit (who cares if only two of them are theirs?) with unparalleled energy. It’s a shame that, by the time they wrap things up, they’re inexplicably spinning Coldplay tunes and paying tribute to Amy Winehouse with, erm… an Adele sample. Luckily, French production whiz Onra is there to close out the weekend with some seriously fly beats.
From start to finish, Castlepalooza is one of the few Irish festivals that gives its (slightly tipsy) children precisely what they want – in this case, hospitality, entertainment and escape. Until next time...