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Amidst all the drum-banging, guitar-tuning and seminar-attending, there were many moments of real magic at this year’s Music Ireland expo at the RDS. One, however, stood out.

It came on Sunday afternoon, as the end of the weekend came into sight. Philomena Lynott was taking a short break from signing autographs for fans (not just fans of Philip, mind, but of the great lady herself), and wandered towards the Red Room.
In fact it’s fairer to say that Philomena was taking a break from chatting to fans as if they were all old friends, because that’s what she spent most of the exhibition doing. In the Red Room, the Air Guitar Workshop was reaching its sweaty but invisible climax. Zac Munro and Gabi Matzeu were teaching their audience how to properly wield their imaginary axes, with the final demonstration soundtracked by Thin Lizzy.
Philomena wandered in at the back, mostly unnoticed by those too busy perfecting their crotch-thrusts, slides and AC/DC style duck walks to the sounds of her son’s music.
She only stayed for a minute or two, but when she left she had a big smile on her face. “It’s great. People love Philip’s music. They really do,” she said, beaming. And then it was back to talk to more fans and sign more books.
Luckily for this indolent hack, the warmth of that vignette sums up Music Ireland 2006 in one anecdote. It was an event that brought together those who had seen it all before, those who had done it all before, those who were doing it right now – and those who want to do it more than anything else you or they could possibly imagine.
The first thing that grabbed most people ,when they walked in the doors was the numerous instruments hosted at the Roland, Walton and AMP Distribution stalls. One five year old took up a particularly impressive residency on a tiny drum kit at AMP’s stand on Sunday afternoon. A small crowd gathered around to watch this miniature dynamo. He wasn’t Keith Moon (yet), but he was at least at Meg White’s standard. And look how far she’s got!
Headphones meant that little sound emanated from Roland’s imposing masses of keyboards – but that didn’t stop numerous pianists giving it socks. Also holding nothing back was the samba band, who did a breathtakingly vigorous lap of the exhibition hall on Saturday afternoon. They came without any warning and left everyone with smiles on their faces.
Except for one or two male members of the band, that is, who were clearly trying their hardest not to stare too intently at the, eh, exotically dressed and visually appealing dancers that preceded them around the venue.
If those lads wanted to cool down, a good place to start was the Red Room, which played host to a number of panel discussions and seminars over the two days. First up was “We’ve Got A Live One Here”, in which Choice Award winner Julie Feeney, Peter Aiken of Aiken Promotions and MCD’s Sue Iredale offered their opinions on the Irish live scene, and how new bands can best hope to make an impact on it.
Frequently, question and answer sessions can play host to all sorts of awkward silences, but there were no shortage of arms being fired in the air when things were opened up to the floor. The tough questions weren’t dodged either, even against a backdrop of the sounds – occasionally cacophonous – emerging from the nearby stands and workshops. There was, as they say, never a dull moment.
Later on Saturday, a discussion on the Irish music media saw 2FM’s Rick O’Shea and publicist Emma Harney answering questions alongside Hot Press’ very own Shilpa Ganatra, with Today FM’s Alison Curtis chairing the debate. Saturday’s seminars finished with Jerry Fish, Sinéad O’Connor, Pugwash and Pete Holidai of the Radiators shining some penetrating light on the songwriting process. A heavily pregnant Sinead was in great form, belying the fact that her fourth child was at tht moment due in just three weeks. She talked revealingly about the way in which the song writes itself – and emphasised how important it is for her that the creative process happens naturally. “If it doesn’t come, it wasn’t meant to come,” she explained.
Sunday’s discussions included talks on two opposing ways of releasing music commercially: the first on how to make it independently; the later on how to land a major record or publishing deal, with leading A&R lights Thomas Black (of You’re A Star legend) and Steve Lindsey in the hot seats. Each discussion seemed to end with a hundred demos being thrust into the hands of panellists, so at least there’s no need to worry about Ireland’s next generation of bands being shy!
The workshops continued to attract big numbers all weekend, as did the live stage. On Saturday morning, I missed The Blizzards, who kicked proceedings off in style, but there were top performances from the Cork outfit, Eve of Mind, whose Doors-ian brand of rock’n’roll abandon more than justified their slot on the bill; the hugely impressive Royseven, who ended their set with singer Paul Dunne rolling around the stage a la Iggy Pop; Tara Blaise, who took those who were unfamiliar with her work by surprise, turning in a brilliant vocal performance and The Chapters – who exhibited the look of a band who are at the beginning of a potentially brilliant roll.
Sunday was also choc-full of great sets from The Immediate, Boss Volenti and Director, with the audience making their way to the stage past a walkway of doors painted by the likes of The Thrills, Sinead O’Connor, The Immediate, Republic of Loose, Brian Palm of The Mary Stokes Band (for Hot Press) and The Blizzards. The bands also took the chance to check each other out – Director’s Michael Moloney was at the back for The Immediate’s show, with the boys from The Immediate returning the favour later in the afternoon.
Over at the Rock Clinic, new bands were getting in-depth feedback from music industry experts, and most of them took a lot away from it. Fergal Moloney is the lead singer of Dublin band The Dirty 9s, who received some coaching from the experts. “We got very sound advice,” he said afterwards. “We have a much clearer picture of where we need to go and what we need to do to get there.”
A lot of people – musicians and fans alike – left the RDS nurturing a similar line of thought. Some chose the equipment they wanted to purchase. Others were inspired to take up an instrument for the first time. And those already active in the business they call show set the bar just a little bit higher for themselves.
If Music Ireland ‘06 is any measure of Ireland’s future music potential, things look to be in good hands right now. Much like those belonging to the drumming toddler, who was still perched at the kit as everyone else left the RDS. More power to his elbow!