The Message

There were times when the mountain seemed too high to climb. Ireland is in economic turmoil. It is very tough now for businesses that were thriving three or four years ago. For so many out there, survival is the name of the game.

Against that backdrop, putting together an event like The Music Show takes on an added element of volatility. People are more fragile. Those in charge of businesses don’t know what unpredictable turn of events they’ll have to deal with from one week to the next. In the context, there is a temptation to batten down the hatches, do nothing and hope that you might just hold onto what you’ve got.
But if everyone bowed to that logic the race to the bottom would be a short one. If everyone bowed to that logic, the downward spiral would accelerate, and even more businesses would crash and burn and jobs disappear with them. If everyone bowed to that logic, we’d be left with a cultural and economic desert. And so we determined that we’d see it through and make it work. Better, if at all possible, to be part of the solution than a victim of the problem. Any day...
The Music Show is a hydra-headed beast. It needs a floor full of exhibitors, with great and impressive wares to show to an increasingly discerning public. It needs instrumental masterclasses and displays of musicianship and craft to attract high end pros and starter musicians alike. It needs seminars, panels and workshops of a high calibre that really matter to people, with international quality speakers and thinkers letting those attending in on trade secrets and offering a mix of sage advice and the fresh insights of newly-minted experience.
It needs controversy, revelation and insight. It needs to get to the heart of the issues and debates and technological developments that affect musicians, bands and the music community generally. And it needs entertainment value – enough wit as well as wisdom to make it worthwhile for people to buzz from one event to another, tasting and trying and learning and contributing along the way.
And of course it needs a great live stage line-up, to represent all, or at least most of, the creatively potent strands in Irish music at a particular moment in time. The programming has to be strong enough to appeal to musicians and bands – and popular enough to draw the crowds. In all sorts of ways it is a tight-rope walk.
Making all of that happen at a time of deep economic recession was a monstrous challenge, but we decided that it would be better to step out there and do it, even if we knew that there would be moments when we might feel like the lead character in Colum McCann’s Let The Great World Spin, waltzing woozily between the Twin Towers with no chance of turning back. Whatever you do, don’t look down was the motto. And for pity’s sake, keep going once you start!

The final few days saw the inevitable crises, eruptions of one kind or another that had to be dealt with. There were defections and additions. Some of the last pieces of the gargantuan jigsaw were hammered into place. There were hair-raising moments, things that should have materialised but didn’t, bad calls by third parties which made life more difficult. But the momentum was good. We knew that ticket sales in advance were up. And we knew also that all of the essential elements were strong.
Saturday morning in the Organisers’ Office there was a minute of pause. The construction had gone well. Around the building some of the late exhibitors were arriving. The final mundane hoovering of the floor was proceeding apace. Everyone braced themselves. Take a deep breath. The doors open in 30 minutes. After that it’ll be all hands to the pumps until the last bodies leave on Sunday evening. Is everyone ready? Let’s go...
The keys were turned, the first couple of thousand bodies flooded in and we were up and running. What followed was an adrenaline-filled weekend of brilliant music, good business, high excitement, fine playing, political jostling, lots of noise, countless moments of reflection, beauty and grandeur – and a lot more besides. Read all about it inside!
What most struck me as the weekend progressed, however, was the energy that currently courses through Irish music, and the extent to which that is allied to an awareness of quality. We had a record number of exhibitors. The crowds were bigger than ever before, almost breaching the 13,000 mark over the two days. But the quality of the attendees was also better than ever. These were people who know their music, who live and breathe and work and play it. And who aspire to musical greatness...
The Music Show is unique. There is an especial joy in watching young musicians sidle up to an instrument and start plucking out a melody or nailing down a rhythm. You observe and realise – dammit, he’s good. She’s good. They’re good. The RDS was full of them – young tyros and older heads alike, making a fine noise.
The exhibitors’ floor was humming with activity from early on and it stayed that way throughout the weekend with barely a let-up. Looking down at the impressive X-Music stand, with AC/DC drummer Chris Slade giving a 15 minute drum demo, there was a huge sense of excitement in the air. It isn’t often that you get that close to a legend. And the weekend at The Music Show was full of those opportunities, with some of the renowned geniuses of Irish music sharing their experience and their insights on the panels, and then wandering the floors checking out the stands, trading licks in the Fender Players’ Lounge or meeting the legendary guitar maker George Lowden.
The buzz as the weekend unfolded was never less than brilliant.

There is only so much that anyone can do and see of course – and when you are involved in stitching it all together, that is even more acutely so. But there were dozens of wonderful moments all the same, some of them pinch-yourself outstanding.
The inter-action and enthusiasm around the WholeWorldBand exhibit and the genuine pleasure on the faces of inventors Kevin Godley and Andy Wood as they watched it take shape; picking up one of Chris Larkin’s wonderful guitars and playing a tune to a couple of his Venezuelan assistants; seeing the winners of the Lift Off @ The Music Show competition Shadow Play coming into their own on the big stage; listening to Caroline Downey, John Giddings, Louis Walsh and Tom Kenny batting back and forth about some of the biggest names in the business as if the top tier is where we all belong, naturally; catching The Cast of Cheers in full, dramatic musical flight; listening to Donal Lunny reflecting on the glory days of Planxty and The Bothy Band; meeting the great guitarist Jimmy Smith again after a gap of what seems like years and probably is; remembering Dublin in the 1960s with the legendary original Lizzy guitar-meister Eric Bell; listening to seminal hip hopper Arthur Baker talk about the growth of dance culture; hearing Glen Hansard rail with such passionate intensity against the deleterious effects of the internet on the Activism In Music panel; hugging Wallis Bird; bumping into Cáit O’Riordan and realising that she was gigging again with Jerry Fish; catching a blistering chunk of And So I Watch You From Afar; tuning in to Steve Levine and Ben Hillier getting into the real nitty gritty of production; dancing – as one must – to the extraordinary Sharon Shannon; and experiencing the joyous rush of Lisa Hannigan in full flow, completely in command of her craft now and burning with the creative sure-footedness of an artist whose time has come.
Up in what we dubbed The Red Room, there were two other outstanding events. Those fortunate enough to get a place at the ‘A Great Song Is Still The Answer’ panel were treated to a brilliant exposition on the craft. Brian Kennedy’s acapella rendition of ‘You Raise Me Up’; Brendan Graham’s humorous and insightful meditation, Effin Songs; Eimear Quinn’s beautiful reading of Brendan’s ‘Cruachan na bPáiste’; the force of nature that is Eddi Reader launching into song to make a point; Brian Kennedy’s persuasive eloquence; and Thomas Walshe’s wit and insight – it all added up to a fascinating and marvellously revealing panel on what songwriting at its best is all about.
And then there was the speech by President Michael D.Higgins.
That the President agreed to talk at The Music Show is in itself a powerful endorsement of the importance of Irish music, and of what our musicians contribute not just to the life of the country and its people, but to the recognition of Ireland around the world as a place where art, creativity and the imagination are encouraged to grow and to flourish.
To mark the occasion, we wanted to do something different that would reflect the diverse strands of The Music Show – and so we invited the Finglas rapper Temper-Mental Miss Elayneous to perform for the President. She carried it off brilliantly, mixing street poetry with a bit of lilting and some demon bodhrán playing in a finely judged three minute piece. The room erupted when she finished, as we had hoped it would.
The President spoke warmly and inspiringly about the vital role of music and ended to rapturous applause. More than a few tears were shed. It was my privilege to present him with a photograph of Rory Gallagher and Philip Lynott on stage together and he held it aloft in a gesture that captured the collective solidarity and emotion of the occasion. It was truly a very special moment for everyone who was there.
Afterwards, people enthused about how moving it was to hear the Head of State speak so eloquently about music and the arts – and the kind of inclusive republic to which the arts at their finest help to bring us much closer. Many of the speakers and panellists from outside Ireland expressed themselves passionately about how lucky we are to have him. And they are right.
Later on, when the doors were closed and the get-out was being wound down, the dominant feeling – as always – was one of relief. Everything went smoothly. The crowds were big. The event worked. People went home tired – but happy. Whew!
Most of all, however, looking back now, there is a lasting feeling that it was a weekend during which Irish music did itself – and Irish musicians did themselves – proud. As indeed did everyone involved. And so our thanks to you all: to the exhibitors, the sponsors, the workers, the bands, the musicians, the panellists, the moderators, the volunteers, the sound and lighting and staging and recording crews, the staff of Hot Press, RTE, the Rubberbandits...
You done good. We’re proud of you.