Turn take it to the masses

As far as weird gigs go, O2 In The Park isn’t the weirdest in the world but it certainly has its moments. For a start, the whole thing rattles along at an almost indecent pace, meaning that you can set off from one end of the field to the cheery tones of Bellefire giving ‘All I Want Is You’ a good kicking and, by the time you reach the other side, things have taken a complete left turn in the shape of the dark, stylish musings of singer songwriter Pina. But that’s just the sort of day it is. Nothing is designed to outstay its welcome (nobody plays more than three tracks) and, given that the majority of acts are performing to note-perfect backing tracks, the effect is somewhat akin to listening to the world’s biggest radio.

The atmosphere backstage is equally odd. No matter how many musicians you meet, there’s still a slightly strange feeling to be had when a high profile pop star walks past, even if it is a member of A1 trying to find his dressing room or Six in their matching beige all-in-ones. Yet there is something more than your average pop road show going on here. The early afternoon’s line up finds Sundrive, Melaton and Blink amongst the 5th Avenues and Reels of the world. As the day wears on, more and more familiar yet slightly bemused faces start to appear. Juliet Turner, The Devlins, David Kitt, Mundy, Picturehouse – in its own bizarre way, this is turning into a rather unique celebration of the raids on the mainstream made by a whole host of Irish acts recently.

A few years ago, the thought of Turn appearing at something like this would have provoked raised eyebrows all round, not least from the band themselves. Sitting here today, however, they still seem fairly astonished by the whole thing.

When they were first asked to play they resisted, before ringing up Mundy to see what he thought. After an, ‘I will if you will’ style conversation, both acts ended up on the bill. Now they’re actually here, it’s all a bit surreal. Not that Ollie Cole is too fazed by it.

“I think it’s great, I think it’s funny,” he says. “It’s bound to be interesting. I can’t see anything bad about doing this gig, it’s like a hundred thousand people – the biggest gig we’ve ever done. If it gets more kids into proper bands and stops them listening to rubbish then, that’s a good thing.”

bon jovi were deadly

What events like this reflect is the growing access to a wider audience that is being afforded here to some of the more interesting homegrown bands and artists. Ollie nods in agreement. “Everybody’s supporting us. We’re getting loads of radio play, loads of press coverage”.

Bassist Gavin points out, however, that these acts haven’t exactly come from nowhere. “The bands who are doing well are doing it themselves when you look at it – the Frames, Mundy, us – and that’s only possible in Ireland”.

“The result of doing it yourselves is that you earn people’s respect”, continues Ollie. “In a bigger country you wouldn’t be able to put out your own records and organise your own tours.”

Having watched many of their contemporaries make their way to platinum status in Ireland, the mood in the Turn camp is unsurprisingly buoyant. “I’m definitely feeling very positive about the band right now”, enthuses Ollie. “Our attitude is better than it’s ever been, we know what we’re doing musically. People want to see real bands again. You can turn on 2FM and hear The Hives or The Strokes in the middle of the day. That’s a real indicator”.

All of which may just make them the perfect band for this sort of event. “Because I think it’s hilarious we’ll be brilliant out there,” Ollie reasons. “If we were playing on the same stage as some of our heroes in front of that many people I’d be shitting it. As it is, I’m going to walk out there and just go mad.”

With the band singing live but miming the music, Gavin too is relishing the prospect. “I’m the one who goes mental when we play live,” he says, “but that means I sometimes play the wrong notes. Today, I’ll be playing perfectly AND jumping around the stage.”

“When I was a kid”, continues Ollie, “I didn’t know any better. I thought Europe or Bon Jovi were deadly because I was in Kells and that’s all I’d seen. I remember when I was sick one day I saw the Pixies on The Chart Show and it just blew my mind. We could

go out there and make a real impact. There are so many kids who don’t know any better because of all they see on the television or hear on the radio. Whoever walks on that stage today, to that audience they’re going to be famous”.

As if to prove a point, the threesome are soon surrounded by a mass of little people, all waving pieces of paper to get signed. They probably have no idea who Turn are but, well, they’re getting their photo taken so they must be stars.

This time next year, however, you can bet that a lot more people will know about Turn. Not that Ollie is getting too carried away. “We’ve been there so many times in our lives. We’ve had record deals, lost record deals, we’ve done it all. That’s why I love the band so much at the moment. We don’t have expectations any more and that’s a good thing. Even the music’s coming from a truer place. We’re no more excited about this than the gig we did last night to 120 people in Dundalk. That was spectacular.”

Drummer Ian sums up their new ethic. “You tend to relax and think, ‘well we’ve got a deal now’. This time round we still will be doing those small gigs and organising things ourselves. Bands tend to take a back seat and go ‘we’re grand, we’ve got our advance’. We won’t make that mistake this time.”

samantha mumba has it all…

An hour or so later and Turn’s plan to take it to the masses is tested. The thing about an event like this is that it isn’t really about the music, more a question of star quality. With a mere five or ten minutes on stage, it rapidly becomes clear just who has got that unique factor and who hasn’t.

Lulu has it. Darius (yes, that Darius) is starting to get it. Dear old Ronan has it, prompting massed screams even though he seems to be turning into Paul Brady before our eyes. Samantha Mumba has it all – to see her in the flesh is to appreciate that she really is a megastar in the making. Six, on the other hand, don’t have it at all.

As good as their word, Turn are fantastic. Introduced by two grinning DJs as ‘a great rock ‘n’ band’, they look great and sound… OK, just like the record but that’s the whole point.

Ollie forgoes his guitar for the majority of their two numbers in favour of a manic attack on his mic stand. Most importantly, ‘Another Year Over’ (betraying those Pixies’ influences) and ‘Summer Song’ are both cracking pop tunes, which fit today’s bill perfectly. They’re off as soon as they’re on; their departure is met with an approving, high-pitched roar and massed waving foam fingers.

After that, it gets a bit too weird. David Kitt is the only act to play completely live so far and, while his fragile, solo version of ‘Song From Hope St’ may be a winner in different circumstances, this is not to be his day. Especially as he’s followed by hapless Irish boy band D-Side, who manage to remember their names and the address of their web site and little else. They go down a storm – which is somewhat worrying. hotpress decides to make its excuses and leave, heading out on the ridiculously long walk back to the car. With the evening turning to a beautiful golden hue, the sound of Mundy performing ‘July’ reaches out across the park. It’s a beautiful noise. And it’s been a beautiful day: a touch peculiar maybe, but definitely beautiful.