Putting a Cork in it

Residents of the Peoples' Republic are bracing themselves for the music feast of the year, Live At Marquee. But there is plenty happening on the domestic circuit to keep Corkonians going until the end of the month. The ever-popular Cork Blues Festival hits town on the Bank Holiday weekend, Republic of Loose visit the Savoy on June 8 and Boss Volenti rock An Brog on June 14. One gig to definitely check out is a date by local luminaries Painting By Numbers, recently selected as Hot Press' Pick Of The Fortnight, in the Cruisín Lán, Cork on June 16. Support on the night comes from from Dublin’s Savino and local rockers My Evil X.
Painting By Numbers have been compared to R.E.M., The Posies, Sugar, Throwing Muses, and The Unbelievable Truth. Their second EP is due out in the summer and plans are in place for a nationwide tour to promote its release. Their eponymously titled debut is currently available from Plugd Records, Washington St, Cork and from the band’s website
www.paintingbynumbers.net
Dublin/Louth/Meath Rock quartet Savino have just released their debut single “Country Miles” as a download www.myspace.com/savinoireland. The single is taken from the band’s new EP Metaphors which is also available from their website.
Following up on their Budrising appearances and recording with Pierce Turner earlier in the year, Limerick’s The Fewer, The Better embark on a nationwide tour (June 9 to 12) in support of Chris Barron (lead singer The Spin Doctors – see Quickie in this issue). Check HotPress.com for tour dates. Following the tour the guys return to the studio to record with special guest Clare Product, guitarist and vocalist with London punk sensation Antiproduct.
The northern gig circuit got a helping hand from the web recently when the innovative new TourCal website was launched. Aimed at bands and promoters, the site facilitates online booking of live events. As well as listing gigs, TourCal also lets you check when dates are available to book and send a booking request to the venue. A beta version of the site is now up at http://tourcal.co.uk/beta. The first venues to register on the site were Lavery’s bar and The Pavilion in Belfast. More venue details and additional features such as advanced searching will be added to the beta site soon. If you’re interested in registering your venue with TourCal, or you’d like to find out more about the site, please email [email protected].
The Bangor music scene has also gotten a virtual injection of life. www.theholemusicscene.co.uk is a web home for the music community of the town and will provide a forum for event promotion, news and information.
Northern rockers Canizares have created a new online abode for themselves at www.canizares.co.uk. Check it out for live footage, live songs, recorded material and upcoming gigs.
The Immediate have just announced a headline show in Whelans, Dublin on Thursday June 1. They will also be playing some support slots on Delorentos on their current Irish tour before heading over to the UK play as special guests with The Young Knives. They will also be playing Live At The Marquee with The Frames. Their next single, ‘Stop And Remember', will be released in July in advance of the debut long-player.
Large Mound have been keeping very quiet of late but will make a welcome return to the live circuit in The Tap, Dublin on June 4. Lots of new material is promised on the night!