Live Report: ‘History at The Making - The Concert’ at the 3Arena – Van Morrison, Imelda May and more kick off Hot Press’s 50th anniversary celebrations

While trends and fads come and go, the communal pull of great music and genuine creativity have always transcended genre and generation – something that Hot Press not only recognised early on, but has continued to champion for the guts of 50 remarkable years.

It’s that spirit – embraced within the magazine’s pages and far beyond – that’s ultimately led us to a night like ‘History In The Making: The Concert’, an event that (true to its title) brought some of Ireland’s most profound, decades-spanning talents under one roof, for one momentous night, to kick off Hot Press's oncoming 50th anniversary celebrations.

The significance of the occasion is certainly not lost on the crowd, as they brave the unrelenting rain of the past week, and make their way up Dublin’s quays to 3Arena for the night’s 7pm start-time, eager not to miss a moment of action from the stacked line-up. Some have travelled from afar, while others are already sporting their ‘History In The Making: The Concert’ t-shirts, fresh from the merch stand – emblazoned with a list of performers that fans of Irish music could typically only dream up.

And a dream is certainly what it feels like as Clannad take to the stage, and instantly transport the venue to a timeless realm of their own design – with the ever-innovative Co. Donegal group opening proceedings with a deeply moving rendition of their Ivor Novello-winning ‘Theme from Harry’s Game’ – a big UK hit for the band back in 1983.

History In The Making on February 6th, 2026. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

Clearly wasting no time in introducing the heavy-hitters, the former President of Ireland (and, of course, former Hot Press columnist) Michael D. Higgins is on hand to set the tone of the night early on – speaking to the audience with as much impassioned energy and inspiration as ever, before launching into a powerful performance, alongside Myles O’Reilly, of ‘My Mother Married My Father In Mount Melleray in 1937’, a highlight from his 2025 spoken-word album, Against All Certainty – which reached No.3 in the Irish charts.

In addition to Hot Press’s own Stuart Clark on MC duties – guiding us through the action-packed show without missing a beat – a host of familiar faces also make special guest appearances to introduce the various acts, including Newstalk's brand new signing, Claire Byrne, who welcomes Irish Women In Harmony to the stage.

Led by RuthAnne – and featuring the likes of Erica Cody and Aimée in their midst – the supergroup treat us an exceptionally well-oiled set, including a special tribute to the late Christy Dignam and, of course, the band he fronted for so long, Aslan, with a medley of ‘Crazy World’ and ‘This Is’.

A surprise collaboration with Gavin James (“The only man who will ever challenge a woman’s falsetto,” according to Erica Cody) provokes a massive reaction from the crowd, as they honour another Dublin music legend, Sinéad O’Connor with ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’.

History In The Making on February 6th, 2026. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

Gavin returns to the stage on his own soon after, for a stunning rendition of ‘Always’ at the piano – a track that has clocked up over 200 million Spotify streams since its release in 2018 and here sets the arena ablaze with phone lights held high.

Following some very special spoken word poetry from Laura Murphy – her wonderful 'Is Mise Brid' embraces the spirit of Imbolc and our pre-Christian past – soul and precision meet as Van Morrison takes to the stage. The legendary performer wastes no time in getting down to business, as he and his extraordinarily tight band lunch into the marvellous ‘Into The Mystic’, from his 1970 classic Moondance.

Irresistible rhyming aside, there’s clearly a reason they call him Van The Man. Commanding the stage with the ice cool energy that only an artist who's been honing his chops for decades could possess, he has the entire venue heaving as he pours it all into his Them classic 'Gloria'.

The Master Musician of the entire scene on the island of Ireland, Van has seen it all and then some. Indeed, you can argue that he was the very first to pave the way – and set a phenomenally high bar – for the illustrious and extensive roster of artists who are playing at this gig-for-the-ages at 3Arena.

Doubtless too, his music was an influence on the young Niall Stokes & Mairin Sheehy as they prepared to publish that now iconic first edition of Hot Press - compete with symbolic cover of Ireland's ultimate guitar hero, and people's favourite, Rory Gallagher, brewing his frenetic brand of rock and roll above a junta of pop and political figures.

That and other emblematic Hot Press covers flicker across the mammoth stage screen following Van's departure, featuring the supreme and essential – Rory, Sinead, Shane, Christy, Geldof, U2 – under which the hotly tipped Bray quartet, and current Hot Press cover stars, Florence Road, unleash their infectious brand of grunge pop. Deliver they do, almost nonchalantly – it’s to the manor born stuff and why not? The breakbeat dance of Hannah Kelly’s drums weaving with Aibhe Barry’s understated bass is wonderful, while Emma Bandon’s guitar is a humming Ferrari. Magic it is to watch her traverse several genres in just a three-song set, throwing softballs for wicked frontwoman Lily Aron – in scintillating form on the night – to knock out of the arena. Watch this space.

Off they triumphantly strut; on Emmet Kirwan walks to impart an excellently crafted dramatic spoken-word excerpt from his era-defining play and film Dublin Oldschool. It's a powerful performance and when he snaps it to a close, the crowd erupts.

That era was rave and the world-beating Dublin electronic maestros Belters Only continue the dance focus of the party in superb style. For their first track they are joined by drill rapper Reggie for the premiere of a track due for release in April. That's followed by their gazillion streaming ‘Make Me Feel Good’ – and the packed audience are already dancing in the tiers.

Today FM's Alison Curtis introduces Denise Chaila who takes us all on an unexpected journey. With a completely new line-up in place, she performs ‘Pieces’ - a quintessential song in the current Irish canon - with harpist, choral singers and acoustic guitarist splayed around her. They marvellously segue into ‘Black is the Colour’, confirming that this is a fresh and invigorating musical adventure for the Limerick rapper.

History In The Making on February 6th, 2026. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

Picture This continue the acoustic style, marching on, clad in black, four guitars and a bass spread across the front of stage. They open with a winning 'Go Gently'; ‘Jane’ slips into ‘A Rainy Night in Soho’, Ryan Henessey holding this mammoth room at the end of the Liffey, in the palm of his – well, 'Take My Hand'. It is a quietly brilliant set.

A special shout-out must go out to the 3Arena stage crew - across fourteen acts and a glut of comedians and introducers – they beaver away with phenomenal precision, manoeuvring entire band kits on and off the stage. Now, as they work, Tony Cantwell more than keeps us honest with hilarious stories rotating around Chris DeBurgh, The Happy Pear and overgrown twelve-year-olds.

The crew’s work completed, on comes Damien Dempsey and, man, he and his band are simply mighty. “God Bless Hot Press,” proclaims Damo and into ‘Negative Vibes’ he dives, shaking Presley-style when he sings that line “Cos, Lord, when the devil gets into my head, I'm so blue” – ah, it’s just unreal.

Setting up ‘Sing All Our Cares Away’, he tells us that singing is akin to giving your soul a cuddle: people sway together in an act of communal positivity, as he sings, and the audience bellow it back to him. He calls out to the people of Venezuela, Greenland, Minneapolis, Gaza and the West Bank, encouraging the members of the audience to canvas their local politician and in what is something of a Hot Press manifesto states, “You’re no better than me, I’m not better than you. One Race. Human.” And into ‘Colony’ we march – the scat of it immense, the purity of it powerful, the originality of it irresistible.

Comedian Emma Doran is a riot, even belting out a few bars of ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ before she introduces The Frames as the greatest indie band in the world – and who can argue with that? I certainly can’t.

Indeed, throughout their magnificent short set, I rue not getting my hands on a ticket for their current sell-out tour of intimate venues. The iconic ‘Revelate’ sounds fresh as daisy, the haunted creep of ‘Fitzcarraldo’ still sonically surprises and lyrically remains sublime. It gets you to thinking how much of ourselves emanate from these great Irish bands. Simultaneously, it makes you immensely proud of breing part of Hot Press, to which Glen Hansard pays fine tribute – stating that the magazine always championed Irish bands, knew we were brilliant, against a dated tide of the too-often negative British perception of what we were capable of. Well, we beat the bejaysus out of that prejudice and Hot Press ably documented the succession. When Glen yells “I shall eclipse you!” – you realise what he is getting at.

History In The Making on February 6th, 2026. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

And just when you think that we must be in for a respite, Imelda May troops out with a band that look like they’ve just wandered out of the Riot House on the 1970s Sunset Strip and douses us in a mutinous rendition of ‘Just One Kiss’ – brilliant. Next, foot planted on monitor, thumping bodhrán in hand, Imelda and her wild bunch of gunslingers roll out the pounding ‘Johnny Got A Boom Boom’ - it’s quite the birthday gift, a performance full of sass and fabulous singing in equal measure!

Tommy Tiernan is the final comic in a run of hilarious turns that's kept the gig motoring on between musical acts, and he delivers a typically brilliant riff on mental health and modern seriousness, adding that if the Irish don’t go a bit mad, they’ll go mad.

And that’s exactly what the crowd do. This is Tommy in the zone, drawing the audience through psychologically scary moments before the laughter is as uproarious as it is inevitable.

It says plenty about the occasion that Noel and Mike Hogan of The Cranberries and Dermot Kennedy come together for a new updated iteration of a collaboration they unveiled for just one show, at Electric Picnic 2025.

What's fascinating is that a male voice brings something completely different to these huge songs, making comparisons with the originals irrelevant. Taking to the mic, Dermot Kennedy is entirely himself. He’s got a distinct voice, and brings his own energy to the music, which works phenomenally well. The desperate yearning of ‘Linger’ sparks an emotional singsong and ‘Dreams’ shimmers, but it's the unmistakable, distorted chug of ‘Zombie’ that sends the place feral with cathartic, collective head-banging. Mid-set, there is a version of Dermot's own powerful 'Funeral' marking another high in a night of sustained brilliance.

Then it's time for a few words from the man without this night would never have happened. Self-described as the fucking lunatic who thought it was a good idea to start a rock 'n' roll magazine in Ireland towards the end of the 1970s, he was told by a leading RTÉ light almost 50 years ago that his new music magazine wouldn't last more than six issues.

History In The Making on February 6th, 2026. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

In fairness, Hot Press founder and editor Niall Stokes has published a multiple of 600 magazines since then. He emerges to reflect on a wonderful evening, and on everything he and Mairin Sheehy have spent the past half-century building. After being honoured by a rapturous applause of gratitude from the audience, he introduces the final act of the evening, an outfit who also happen to have recently celebrated their 50th anniversary.

As a big birthday cake appears on screen with rodents spilling out of it, it's clear there's only one way this can go. Like Hot Press, The Boomtown Rats arrived as a positive counter-cultural force when Ireland was, in Bob Geldof’s words, “an island of total nothing.” He has plenty to say on stage too. Geldof is a force of nature, prowling, genuflecting, and whipping the crowd into a frenzy as that immortal sax line from ‘Rat Trap’ rips through the room.

A final salvo in a night heavy with tribute, Geldof summons the spirit of Phil Lynott from the heavens for a blistering ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’. Imelda May joins for a swaggering duet and, yes, that is Adam Clayton of U2 throwing shapes on the bass. It's full rock ’n’ roll celebration mode when ‘The Boomtown Rats’ closes the night, complete with a dubstep breakdown that finds Geldof on his knees.

And that's that. Yes, it's, um, slightly past the 3Arena’s usual curfew, but what's an hour or two out of 50 years? This 'History in the Making' gig was a triumphant victory lap for the brilliant Irish talents that have graced its covers. What's most exciting is that the celebrations are only getting started...

History In The Making on February 6th, 2026. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com