Inside Track Column: Blizzard Warning

This issue’s forecast... a cold front moving in from the west guarantees a storming night of top tunes from The Blizzards in Whelan’s on September 11. The Mullingar act have been the subject of much attention of late. Following some top-notch performances in Eamon Doran’s and The Stables they were approached by Marcus Russell of Ignition Management who has taken the band under his wing. Ignition clientele include Oasis, Mercury Rev and The Finn Brothers. So the outlook is bright indeed...stay tuned for further updates and don’t forget to get down to Whelan’s on the 11th to see what the fuss is about…
Another date for your diary is October 27. Aoife Barry from Cork Campus Radio is organising an Elliott Smith tribute on that date in the Lobby. Acts confirmed so far include; Myles from Juno Falls, Ian Whitty, Paul O’Reilly, Kilter (or members of), Dave Nelligan, Barry Haugh and Stephen Ryan (Windings)…
According to Aoife, “The night will be an introduction to Elliott’s music as well as a tribute to the musician who died so suddenly and sadly in October last year.” The gig also coincides with the release of From A Basement On The Hill, the album Smith was recording at the time of his death. Any profits will go to the Elliott Smith Memorial Fund, details of which can be found on sweetadeline.net. Tickets will be l8 on the night...
In other Cork news, Fred are releasing their new album in October and Tino Ras (formerly Anto) is releasing a new EP Hellas in Sept on the Placid recordings label…
Limerick’s Golf (Liam and Mark ex-Tooth and Lorcan ex-The Kyboshi) are nearly finished recording their debut LP which should be out by the end of the year…will keep you posted. In late September the band hit the road for some dates in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. You can welcome them back from their travels when they finish off this spate of gigs with a homecoming show in Dolan’s on October 3…
To the north next, Antrim alternative rockers The Lingus have just released a new EP ‘This Can’t Be It’ which is available now through their website www.thelingus.tk. The EP contains three tracks recorded at Manor Park studios in August 2004 and was produced by Neal Calderwood…
In other release news, Belfast-born singer-songwriter, Patrick McKeown’s latest offering, an EP entitled ‘Passing By’, is available to buy from Cdbaby.com or through Paddy’s website www.patrickmckeown.com…
Finally, one to watch out for is the second long player from ONOFF. Out on September 24 The Last Laugh will be supported by a nationwide tour...check hotpress.com for details...
And for your listening and viewing pleasure...the new issue of Plastic Donkey (beloved independent DVD video zine) is out this now and includes live footage, music videos, interviews and reviews with contributions from: Steerage, The Last Sound, Herv, Kill Me Tomorrow, Young People, Scream Club, Les Savy Fav and Hawnay Troof...
Each issue comes with a free five-track Steerage EP and a magical holographic sticker. The format is DVD-R as before (so it works on PS2) and is €5 (including free postage and free mystery 7” if mail-ordered).
www.plasticdonkey.com for more info.