EUROSONIC 2015

When the inaugural Eurosonic Noorderslag music festival was held in the northern Dutch city of Groningen 29 years ago, it featured a line-up of 20 bands from Holland and Belgium and lasted just one night. Times have changed. From those modest beginnings, Eurosonic has steadily evolved to the point where it can now incontrovertibly be described as Europe’s premier music business event. 

The stats say it all. This year’s ESNL was held from January 14-17 and attracted a staggering 41,200 music fans from 42 different countries. The official programme listed 345 European acts playing in 50 venues. Meanwhile, the bustling conference centre at De Oosterpoort attracted 3,900 music industry professionals – including 336 journalists, 34 radio stations and more than 500 international festival promoters.
As ever, the opening night of Eurosonic 2015 boasted two major gong-giving ceremonies – the European Border Breaker Awards (EBBAs) and Festival Awards Europe. Now in its twelfth year and televised all over the world, EBBA 2015 was once again presented by legendary musician and TV presenter Jools Holland. 
With the 10 winners selected on the basis of analysis by Nielsen Music and votes from EBU radio stations, the EBBAs are for European artists who’ve had success in crossing borders with their first international releases. Previous Irish incumbents have included The Thrills, Damien Rice, Dolores O’Riordan, The Script and James Vincent McMorrow. 
It probably won’t come as any great surprise to learn that this year it was Hozier’s turn to collect a gong. Although he wasn’t there to thank Mum, Dad, God and Ireland in person, the Bray bluesman’s victory was still a source of particular satisfaction to Eurosonic founder Peter Schmidt. 
“He was at Eurosonic in 2014 and very few people had heard of him," he enthuses. "Now this year he wins an EBBA. That’s just wonderful to see. It was the same with an Estonian band called Ewert & The Two Dragons a couple of years ago. Nobody had heard of them until they came here to Eurosonic. Then they won an EBBA and are now playing major festivals all over Europe.” 
During the daytime, the buzzing conference centre hosted numerous discussions, debates and presentations about various innovations in the music sector. However, the real Eurosonic action happens in the afternoons and evenings when the streets come alive to the sound of music as scores of bands compete for attention. The opportunities for a well-organised, properly motivated band to do serious business on a modest budget are almost limitless. 
“Eurosonic is the most important event an Irish band can get to in the world,” proffers veteran RTÉ producer Ian Wilson. Having broadcast live on 2fm from no less than twelve Eurosonics – ably aided by Dan Hegarty for the last six of them - Wilson knows what he’s talking about.
“The reason is very simple – it’s doable for an Irish band,” he explains. “You can come over here without spending too much money and you can expect to get a result. If you’re any way talented at all, you’ll get noticed because the event is so highly curated, if relatively small. This is a tenth the size of, say, SXSW in Texas.”
With so many different acts playing so many venues, it’s a combination of being spoiled for choice and frustrated at the inevitable overlaps. 
This year’s Eurosonic attracted a number of up and coming Irish bands looking to heighten their profile and make inroads into the lucrative European market. The Riptide Movement, SOAK, All The Luck In The World, Raglans, DJ Kormac, Orla Gartland, All Tvvins, Sisters and Gavin James were just some of the homegrown turns performing. 
A good proportion were Eurosonic debutantes, and all made the most of their time in Groningen. The Riptide Movement played a live session for Dutch radio station 3FM in a soundproofed prefab at the back of De Oosterport before heading up to the main square to perform a stormer of a show in Huize Mas, which DJ Kormac had packed the previous night. 
Right next door, Sisters did it for themselves in Der AA Theatre, while Derry teenager SOAK stuffed the upstairs venue in the Grand Theatre. The chatter afterwards - particularly from festival bookers - suggests very big things await Ms. Monds-Watson overseas.  
New Capitol Records signing Gavin James played an afternoon show in the Plato record store before wowing a full house in The Forum. The flame-haired singer-songwriter had professed in the run-up to being nervous, but there was no trace of it when he hit the stage. 
On the international front, Icelandic dream poppers Low Roar, velveteen voiced Londoner Flo Morrissey, Nico-esque Norwegian-Mexican Carmen Villain - more of whom very soon! - and English kick out the jam merchants Bad Breeding were the highlights of a frenetic round of speed-gigging. 
It’s a mark of just how large Eurosonic has become that the unofficial festival is now almost as big. Many acts double-job, playing both official and unofficial shows. Bram Nigten of Dutch hard rockers WOLVON went straight from their Eurosonic show to O Ceallaigh’s Irish Pub where he was organising The Sound Of Young Holland showcase. 
“Like all Dutch bands, the local Groningen musicians work hard at getting an official spot,” he explains. “The ones that don’t make the cut still play plenty of shows, though. There has been an enormous growth of unofficial side-events. This year, there are almost 15 different free festivals happening, which makes the free programme almost as big as the official one.”
Despite the city being relatively small and centralised, there’s still an awful lot of walking around involved for the dedicated music lover - one fan showed Hot Press an app that revealed he’d walked 15k in one day. Braver souls use bicycles. They’re everywhere. Groningen in January must be Bono’s idea of hell. 
Next year’s event will run from January 13-16. However, although 2016 marks the thirtieth Eurosonic Noorderslag, Peter Schmidt insists that they won’t be celebrating the anniversary with an all-star line-up. 
“Eurosonic Noorderslag is not about big acts,” he declares. “We are about new and discoverable acts so we’re not gonna put on a large thing. We feel this is the right size. It’s important to have the right setting for the right bands, and to have a good meeting place for the professionals and the media, and good opportunities to work and create as much success as possible for the performing artists here. That’s our main goal.”