Garden's party

Anyone who’s ever taken part in a 20 a-side kick-about in the place, or laid around when the sun’s come out hiding teenage carryouts from the plainclothes, or even sat on a bench, after a long night, waiting for the cafes to open on Stranmillis, won’t need me to sell them the joys of the Botanic Gardens in Belfast. In a city where even the cemeteries get fouled up by turf wars, it’s remained, as best it could, the sole example of a shared municipal space. And a great, weirdly Victorian, old world space at that – with technicolour flowerbeds, a tropical greenhouse, the Ulster Museum and an exotically dilapidated bandstand all within a finely pollinated five-minute walk.

A few years ago someone had the good sense to realise that Botanic Gardens would provide the perfect venue for big, outdoor gigs and, for two or three summers, the mid-ranking likes of Catatonia, The Cardigans, Ocean Colour Scene and Finlay Quaye were invited along to perform at pleasantly low-key, but highly successful bite size festivals. It also did itself proud playing host to a terrific joint header by Bob Dylan and Van Morrison – with Bob at his mercurially consumptive best.

The most memorable occasion to take place in the grounds, though, was the visit of U2 in August 1997. True, a U2 concert is hardly an event that encourages restrained analytical distance, but this writer was shocked at how genuinely moving an experience that show turned out to be. Yes, the band themselves were great (a karaoke take on ‘Suspicious Minds’ dedicated to Paisley and Adams; pointed versions of ‘Please’ and ‘Staring At The Sun’; a heart-melting ‘One’), but Bono has admitted that they felt like newlyweds at their wedding reception. At some point in the evening they could tell the guests wanted the band to clear off, just so they could start partying amongst themselves.

It’s worth pointing out that, unless there were inter-governmental initiatives to be damned, mass civic gatherings were, at that time, unheard of in the city. The angry mob had never been shy taking to the streets in numbers, but the great, placid masses preferred to have their fun indoors. So, it was a shock when, at one point in the night, as I was standing on a slope at the far end of the Gardens from where I had a perfect view of the entire crowd, it struck me that I’d simply never seen so many people gathered together in Belfast.

The old Fugazi fan in me may well have wanted to escape to some two-up, two-down post-rock dungeon, but looking around and seeing how the elderly dears on Stranmillis had opened up their back gardens for people to get a free view, or how traffic had stopped on the Ormeau Embankment, with the owners dancing on the roofs of their cars, the temptation was to think that this was not so much a pop concert, as a collective rejection of public agoraphobia. It was like the first time Belfast had ever copped-off at a disco.

Blame the fresh air, but that night lots of people seemed drunk on optimism. And Botanic Gardens seemed like the best place in town.

Of course, this couldn’t last. At a UB40 concert in the park a few years later, there was a murder attempt on Johnny Adair. While the NIO, desperate to normalise the Stormont ‘brand’, decided to encourage the hosting of big name (and North Down targeted) concerts in its grounds. Add in the addition of the useful but personality-free Odyssey Arena, and the continued development of the much-loved Waterfront Hall, and it’s clear to see why – with so many other, more practical, alternatives available – Botanic Gardens has gone so long without any musical action.

The announcement, though, that a double bill of great shows is coming to the park this September is good news all-round. The Vital 02 festival takes place over two nights and offers a top-notch collection of acts. The first night on September 7 sees Fatboy Slim, Stereo MCs and Phil Kieran providing the beats, while 24 hours later Primal Scream, Badly Drawn Boy, Snow Patrol and Idlewild will be taking to the stage.

There may not be any epiphanies this time, but at least we’ll be in the best place in Belfast for a party.