May 10th 2013, The Gardiner Street Gospel Choir launched their 2nd album Lift Your Voice. Word on the grapevine is it’s an absolute corker, but fair being fair, I’ll review that just as soon as I give it a full and proper listen to. 

In the meantime, Friday May 24th sees them officially launch album no. 2 as they play The O’Reilly Theatre Dublin 1. Tickets for the gig are priced just €15 and a fine evenings entertainment mildly resting to one side, the bi-product of a cracking night out is that proceeds raised will be split between two fantabulous charities namely Headway and Temple Street Children’s Hospital.

Can’t catch ‘em May 24th ? Not to fret, as the choir will be opening The Soul Picnic at The Dublin City Soul Festival on the May 26th @ 12pm.

Never heard The GSGC before and maybe wondering if they are any use ? Their CV reads pretty impressive with performances in The Olympia Theatre, The Helix, The National Concert Hall and The Gaiety and appearances on RTE, TV3 and too many radio stations to mention.

• Tickets are €15 available online at entertainment.ie/tickets
• New Album ‘Lift Your Voice’ available via iTunes, Spotify, Rdio, CD Baby or weekly gospel mass
• More info: GardinerStreetGospelChoir.com

And just in case ye don’t believe any of the national broadcasters, here’s The GSGC making a little dough on the side… click a choon on the playlist roll to see ‘em doing the real soul music thing. More than worthwhile. Legends

This is basically a stream of consciousness seen as I saw it this morning. It doesn’t contain spoilers.

Star Trek: Into Darkness is the follow up to J.J. Abram’s 2009 film which introduced a time travelling element, skilfully avoiding pissing off the fanbase and setting a clean slate. As the name suggests, things get a bit darker in this one with Benedict Cumberbatch’s John Harrison the baddie that is out to get Star Fleet. Cumberbatch’s performance is gripping and he provides a menacing presence whenever he shares a scene. Chris Pine’s Kirk is the man in pursuit of Harrison and Pine gets the opportunity to really add some meat to the character’s bones this time around. Speaking of “Bones” McCoy, I really liked Karl Urban’s portrayal of the Doc in the first movie and he gets some brilliant lines this time around too.

The rest of the Enterprise crew are given proper arcs and each of the main members plays pivotal roles at times throughout. The action is on a par with anything you’ll have seen before and the CG is flawless. It actually feels like the characters are in the scene instead of being digitally placed (which inevitably they were at times). Are there plot holes? Yes but then again, there have been in the majority of summer blockbusters I’ve seen in the past few years. The thing here is that they don’t grate at all as the film goes at some pace. The only problem I had with it? It’s slightly too long but I could comfortably sit through it again and will. It’s unsure whether Abram’s will return for a third film as he journeys to a galaxy far, far away to film Star Wars: Episode VII in 2015. If he doesn’t, he’s set the Star Trek world in good stead for the future.

Without question, The Harleys have to be one of the finest outfits I have ever seen. And it was last night just pure adrenalin spine tingling old school hard rock that you just cannot help but wanna drink a bottle of Jack Daniels to and throw a telly out of some random hotel window. Or something like that…. that I loved every second of.

Even the brutal bit of audio I recorded makes me wanna close my eyes and bounce some imaginary random object off a wall; and in that context it sounds genius; though its only brutal by the default fact that the place was jammers as grown men and women rolled the clock back and literally let it all out of their system.

I saw them play The Slaughtered Lamb in Swords who, credit where it is due deserve applause for there never let the side down decent live rock music gigs over the years… and that in mind these guys are right up there with some of the finest I have ever seen.

Back to The Harleys… and if you love your Whitesnake, a rock solid front man, an eclectic ambidextrous lead guitar player, The Strokes, ACDC one fine drummer, a tatoo’d bass player and a high voltage version of 99 Red Baloons, then you will love these guys. Highly recommended and quite simply put, not to be missed genius.

More info:

• The Harleys Facebook page
• The Harleys website

Bruce Willis’s latest visit to John McClane’s insane life is A Good Day to Die Hard. Presumably they couldn’t fit Sam Jackson or Justin Long into the budget, so this time McClane is joined by his son, poorly acted by Jai Courtney.

There is no plot. No really, I looked and couldn’t find one. I did however find plenty of explosions and car chases and explosions and fire and jumping through CG windows and explosions. There was also a shed load of awful dialogue. If McClane said “I’m on vacation” one more time, I was going to hurl my overpriced Maltesers at the oversized IMAX screen.

Life of Pi belongs in IMAX, The Dark Knight Rises belongs in IMAX, Prometheus, The Hobbit, Ghost Protocol, they all belong in IMAX. Die Hard 5 does not. Apart from some impressive explosions (there are many explosions in this film!), there is nothing in the movie that takes advantage of the giant screen format. There are very few panning shots across great land masses, there are no breathtaking moments that must be seen in IMAX, there is nothing that makes this movie worth the additional €5. That said, there is very little in this movie that’s worth the admission price at all.

I’ve always been a die hard Die Hard fan (sorry!). The first film is one of the greatest action movies ever made, the third proved that McClane is THE greatest action hero and 2007′s Die Hard 4.0 showed what the greatest action hero can do when a huge special effects budget is combined with a decent script and some true innovation. This latest hack job isn’t even in keeping with the irreverent spirit of the other Die Hard movies. Gone is the humour, gone is the iconic bad guy (I’ve already forgotten who the bad guys were in this film), gone are the wise-cracking quips and stunning stand-offs. I just wish director John Moore had asked any fanboy to look over the script before shooting. I guarantee any third rate student of film would have produced something better.

Purely for the sake of giving you some information, Die Hard 5 is set in Russia where McClane goes “on vacation” to Moscow to help his wayward son out of a spot of bother. There are lots of loud noises and flaming cars, trucks, helicopters and buildings. There are a few headspinningly pointless twists and then the McClane boys save the day.

Look, if you like mindless action, sub-par acting and a tank load of explosions, you’ll probably enjoy this film – it’s straight out of the Michael Bay play book. But if you like your Die Hard movies, wait for the next installment.

Bruce Willis says the sixth will be the last. Frankly, I feel he should have stopped in 2007. However, if they are going to call a halt to the franchise, why not bring back director John McTiernan and end the whole thing with a bang…… and perhaps a decent plot.

Here’s a glimpse at the current outing. Although, I’m not sure I’d even bother watching the trailer if I were you:

Wait for it…. Joe le Taxi. Just Genius.

Johnny Depp. Johnny Fallon.

The latter is a singer song writer from the heart of Dublin.

For contact info for bookings etc… email johnnyfallonmusic@gmail.com or call
+353872597160

Peace!

As part of the launch of Microsoft 365, Microsoft are talking about how technology in general helps people to save time and spend it with their families, relaxing or doing other worthwhile things. Not too sure about the marathons, housework or the social calendar for that matter.

Of note also…. Surface Windows RT will be available from 14^th February in Ireland as well as in twelve other European countries. With that Microsoft has more than doubled the number of countries in which Surface RT is sold and it can be purchased from Feb 14, 2013 in the Microsoft Store online www.microsoftstore.ie  Surface Windows RT will also be available in the coming weeks through retail in Ireland.

Simon Maher (2nd from right) with northern rockers “Therapy?”

Maher – who describes himself as a fan of “music, food and a nice sit” and who was one of the founding fathers of Phantom 105.2 – is now heading up a brand new radio venture, 8Radio.com which comes with the motto ‘Playing the music we like’. This, Simon says, underscores their programming policy.

8Radio.com

Simon is the station’s managing director, and he says it’s “aimed at capturing listeners who have been lost by traditional radio to streaming music services as well as Internet radio stations via smartphones and Internet radio players. At 8Radio.com we believe we will find a niche among music lovers and those who may not currently consume much, if any, traditional FM radio.”

The station is running a test stream at the moment on their web site, but launches proper in March 2013, through a variety of platforms including live Internet streaming, Smartphone Applications, and a temporary FM license. From March 30th 8Radio.com will be broadcast live in Dublin, Cork and Limerick and will run every Saturday and Sunday until July 7th.

8Radio.com is currently seeking volunteer presenters and backroom staff. All the details are available at the web site and the closing date is February 16th.

This via Broadsheet, who note:

And then you might like a nice cup of tea.
The genuinely gripping High Hopes by Kodaline.
Mike Donnelly writes:

A New Kodaline video by the same writer/director as All I Want. Starring Liam Cunningham & Niamh Large.

Directed by Stevie Russell; Edited by Tony Kearns; Cinematography by Piers McGrail; Produced by Michael Donnelly

It was just too great a video not to reblog…. 

Like that ? Try this one: All I want.

Superstar Trademen are a Dublin based rock/ indie band made up of Connor Quinn, Brian Donnelly and Paul Moran. With gigs already under their belt in venues such as Whelans, the Academy, The Tara Rocks Festival and support to none other than Damian Dempsey, they are I think its fair to say [quite obviously] making fine tracks in the Irish music scene.

Keep Writing by Superstar Tradesmen 

That said, new Irish music is the title and that pretty much leaves the next bit over to you. In the go forth and listen department and highly recommended is the bands soundcloud page where you’ll find the likes of my favourite track Keep Writing and others like One Night Stand.

More than that, the big Q has always been would I spend my hard earned dollars on their first album [?]: you’re damn right I would.

Wanna find out more:

• Superstar Tradesmen on facebook
• Superstar Tradesmen on soundcloud

One Night Stand (pt 1) by Superstar Tradesmen

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of the very lovely people that are Wicker Bones here at Culch Towers. And with all this talk of The Gathering and being Irish and having just watched The Quiet Man over Christmas and me tura lura laaaaaaay and that Specsavers advert were he shears his sheep dog…. well, I was feeling a wee bit melancholy.

Fair enough, just the first sentence is true. But I do have a grá for new, real Irish music and it did make me smile when I got this email in through my letter box.

Hi Peter,

Just sending you a quick mail about a video we shot with Mark Doyle of The Ceol Train. In it we are playing “The Employee” which will be featured on our upcoming debut album due to be recorded early 2013. It was recorded live upstairs in The Pint on Eden Quay.  

The words are from a poem of the same name by Irish poet Rudi Holzapfel and set to music by our own Dylan Curran.

We will be playing this along with some other new songs upstairs in The Merchant’s Arch on Thursday the 24th as part of the Temple Bar Trad Fest.

Hope ya like it and Happy New Year!

I did more than like lads. And it’s a happy-er new year because of your music. 

More info:

• Wicker Bones on Facebook

• WickerBones.com

   

As you may have read before, we’re fans of Irish internet sitcom ‘Vultures PI’, and the lads rounded out the final season with “The Dicks Who Came In From The Cold” last week.

This series has dealt with the lads and their mundane lifestyles after retirement but are they about to be pulled back together to fight crime once again? This episode sees Janine Drew finally going through with her promise to quit college. After watching Janine’s detective documentary, crime novelist Kate Marple hires the ambitious young sleuth to help her write an expose of rumoured crime boss Johnny Curragh (guy you shouldn’t mess with). In the meantime, former dicks McGrain, Vultour and Tennyson have been brought together for a Christmas reunion by an unknown party. Everything comes to a head in this festive finale which should answer the question posed by the first episode of the new series ‘Where have all the good dicks gone?’

Not up to speed yet? Catch up via Youtube or iTunes.

Well done to Mycrofilms, John Morton and all the crew involved in producing Vultures over the years.

Meet Patrick Ward, Windows Business Group Lead for Microsoft Ireland.

Disclaimer of the blog world and etc’s come first and on that note my meet last week did not come via Culch.ie. Also Windows/ PCWorld gifted me a brand spanking new fandango Samsung All-in-one PC. And yes it is very lovely. Also very highly recommended. That aside and out of the way, if you wanna know about Windows8 – what better man to talk to than this fellow.

Maybe of interest, I first trialed Windows8 well before its launch, with a demo first from Patrick and I was then left to my own devices on a Samsung Slate for a period of about 4 days. The Slate is pictured above top.

Not much more required to type. Apart from a big thank you to PC World Jervis Street for the loan of the back of their premises and Patrick who, of note, speaks very highly of Irelands Apps within Windows 8. Gentleman.

1. Crystal Harris – All I Want For Christmas Is Hugh (Original by Mariah Carey)
Or to give it its full title “All I Want For Christmas Is Hugh…Hefner’s Fortune”. It’s easy to make fun of the 86 year old’s planned marriage to someone 60 (SIXTY) years his junior….which is probably why so many media outlets have done just that. The old “So Debbie Magee, what first attracted you to millionaire Paul Daniels?” chestnut certainly springs to mind. Each new fiancée must feel like a slot on a roulette wheel, hoping Hef pops his clogs just after they tie the knot. All that being said, I would certainly have no objection to Crystal frolicking about in the snow ala Mariah. In something befitting a Playboy Bunny, of course.

2. Liam and Noel Gallagher – Little Drummer Boy (Bing Crosby & David Bowie)

Liam performed some Oasis songs – with Beady Eye mind you – at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympics, much to the amusement of his big bro (“Best Oasis tribute in Stratford” was the barb). But Christmas is a time for reconciliation isn’t it? So what better way for the two sparring siblings to patch up their differences than with a re-enactment of the 1977 stilted-chat-laden cheese-fest that was Bing & Bowie. It’s fair to say the pre-song conversation would be a little less seasonal than the two aforementioned greats managed in the cringe-inducing video, but it’d be a damn sight more entertaining. And who wouldn’t want to see Liam in a sky-blue Slazenger cardi…

3. Lisa Murphy – He’s Gone (The Pretenders)

Ok, so he’s not gone 2,000 miles, but poor Lisa must be feeling pretty bad after her split from ‘celebrity’ solicitor Gerald Kean. She recently told a weekend newspaper that she is ‘sad but doing ok’. They say there’s nothing more cathartic, we’re told, than getting all your feelings out through song, so maybe Lisa should attempt to hijack the Christmas number one slot with an impassioned plea for Ger to ‘be back by Christmas time’….

4. Seán Quinn – Stop The Cavalry (Jona Lewie)

Jona who? This is the one with the chorus ‘Wish I Was At Home for Christmas’. You can figure out the rest.

5. Pat McQuaid & Tyler Hamilton (or any anti-doping spokesperson) – Fairytale of New York (Pogues/Kirsty McColl)

One final entry for the sports fans among us. McQuaid’s less than heroic stance against the war on doping in cycling has long been a cause for concern and bemusement. But his reputation as a walking PR disaster scaled new highs (or lows) when he branded Tyler Hamilton & Floyd Landis ‘scumbags’ in the wake of their revelations about systematic doping in the sport McQuaid oversees. He would surely be ideally suited to deliver the line ‘you scumbag, you maggot….’ in the undisputed king of Christmas songs.

Any other suggestions? Let us hear ‘em…

I

Dublin’s New Year Festival is even bigger this year and now that I’m living in city centre, there will be no better place than Dublin’s city centre streets to celebrate the arrival of 2013. Even Lonely Planet has named Dublin as one of the Top 5 places in the world to spend New Year, so you don’t want to miss it!

Nightfall will be heralded by a stunning Procession of Light, with fabulous floats, illuminated torch bearers, ferocious fire breathers, towering stilt walkers and enthralling dancers, parading through the city streets ‘broad and narrow’. This is a people’s procession, which anyone can register to be part of. It will be followed by sensational fireworks over Georgian Dublin, massive projections lighting up Dublin’s most beautiful architecture and an outdoor Countdown Concert at the iconic College Green Dublin, with internationally renowned Irish artists, promising an electric atmosphere.

For more information on the festival programme, to register to be part of the Procession of Light, to buy Countdown Concert tickets or to check out hotel and restaurant offers specially created for the NYE Dublin festival, visit www.nyedublin.ie or www.facebook.com/nyedublin.

Competition

To be in with a chance to win 5 pairs of tickets to the NYE Countdown Concert, answer the following question:

What day does New Year’s Eve fall on this year?

a)      Monday
b)      Tuesday
c)      Wednesday

Email your answers to nye@culch.ie along with your name and contact number.

Terms and conditions:
Prize is non-transferable. 1 pair of tickets per winner. The winners will be announced on Tuesday December 18th, so it’ll be a lovely Christmas present for you.

Being a lover of musicals, I’ve tried to get tickets whenever I’m in London but it’s always sold out, which is a testament to its success and popularity. So when the tour comes to the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre you can expect to find me begging, borrowing or stealing (albeit unlikely) a ticket from whatever source I can manage. If worst comes to worst, I might even buy one.

In October I was lucky enough to attend the launch event in advance of the promised spectacle which will be gracing our shores for two months in 2013, April to June.

On entering the Project Theatre in Temple Bar, myself and the other lucky attendees were greeted by themed canapés including African beef and, get this, Ostrich! Nom. We were then assembled in the upstairs theatre where we waited eagerly for a presentation by the not-so-household name of Tom Schumacher, none other than the Executive Producer of the animated classic, a man who has been involved with every aspect of translating the movie to the stage, and without whom, we probably wouldn’t have the Disney film so many love, and we definitely wouldn’t have the stage musical. (Thus, he really should be better known)

When we were seated facing a stage on which there was nothing more than a table with an array of masks, the lights dimmed. Singers launched into ‘Circle of Life’, (I was instantly entranced), the female actor playing Rafiki held us rapt until the end of the number, when Tom entered, apologising as he had just arrived from New York, not that any of us would have guessed.

In the hour long presentation, interspersed with other songs by the costumed actors, including ‘Can you Feel the Love Tonight?’, ‘He Lives in You’, and one of the many songs written for the stage version, ‘Shadowland’ – sung by Nala and Rafiki – Tom explained the development of the musical, from his first doubts, to the assembly of the production team (in particular Julie Taymor, the director and costume designer of the original Broadway run), and gave us insight into how the shape of everything came together.

Anyone who has heard of The Lion King’s stage production has heard about the costumes and puppets, and the uniqueness of depicting the animals on stage. Actors play everything from animals to plants and flowers and even the grass of the Savannah. The set is minimal with the performers taking on more than most shows require. Julie Taymor didn’t want to attempt to make people be the lion, or gazelle, but rather wanted to keep both the human and animal obvious in a single unit, which adds to the magic. Some characters wear headpieces or masks, while others roll a mechanical device which depicts antelope leaping, but the magic stays the same whether the costume is big or small. I mention this to reference just how unique this show truly is, not for adapting a film to stage, but in the method of execution. There are very few other musical developers that would attempt this, and less would succeed.

Allowing the division between actor and character is a necessary part of getting the most from this show, which is something that I personally may have an issue with. As someone who is hard of hearing, my coping mechanism is lip reading, and I noticed during the presentation that while I loved the costumes and head-pieces, combining that with the actor as a seamless whole was particularly difficult during the showcase. I was attempting to watch the actors’ lips move even though they are only secondary to the character. However, I imagine that watching straight through from start to finish would allow for more time to adjust my mind to stop separating the parts and view them as a whole. So it’s not going to stop me going and enjoying.

In the presentation, we were given insight to many things we wouldn’t have known about the stage version of ‘The Lion King’, such as the deceptively simple method of showing the stampede (spoiler) where Mufasa is killed. I won’t ruin it, but despite how advanced it seems, the means to carry it out were in place in the 16th century, according to Mr. Schumacher. Additionally, something I never would have known is the use of five different African languages in the dialogue between characters (though – excluding the translations to seven languages – the show was written for English speakers) which just adds to the authenticity of the African plains on stage.

In addition to Elton John and Tim Rice’s instantly recognisable tracks from the film, additional music can be heard throughout the production, which Mr. Schumacher credited mainly to South African artist Lebo M, ‘the voice of The Lion King’. So even if you know the movie back to front, inside out and word for word, there’ll be something new in the musical, especially as it’s not a direct adaptation of the cinematic version. Apparently Julie Taymor had never even seen the film before she was asked to direct which allowed her a broader scope of interpretation for the change in production type.

It’s difficult to put down in words how much I’m looking forward to next April (or May, or June – whenever I get to see this show) but it’s definitely something that is already in my diary, and I’d urge you to try get a night in the theatre too. This is one not to be missed, and, as tickets are now on sale there are no excuses!

Anto:
I’d been in two minds about attending SOF last year. I didn’t know a lot about it and I wasn’t really up for a weekend of camping. In hindsight, I’m so glad I went and I’d been looking forward to the second year for months. This year was a bigger crowd with an additional night but the same atmosphere of friendliness between strangers prevailed. I saw so many amazing acts over the course of the weekend and have purchased albums from some since. Particular highlights for me were: John Blek and the Rats, The Hot Sprockets, Little Xs for Eyes, Tucan and Busoscionn’s Trad Side of the Moon. We also spent a lot of time in the Hall of Heroes which is sort of the like the party tent for the entire weekend. They run activities like karaoke, a sports day, a table quiz and, new for this year, Blind Date (utterly hilarious). It’s a certainty that I’ll be at Spirit of Folk 2013. Here’s my weekend in pictures:

Darren

After a year of being horrifically broke, I didn’t think I’d get near a festival this year. I even had free tickets to Electric Picnic, but couldn’t make it. So, with a new job sorted, I felt I could treat myself to a weekend of music, beer, food and a bit of craic with my mates.

Elly and I arrived down on the Saturday afternoon and my first surprise was the scale. It was far smaller, far less crowded than the mayhem of EP or Oxegen. The atmosphere was unbelievably chilled. As a BYOB festival, there were no giant branded billboards or queues for bars that only serve one drink. People roamed freely with their cans and plastic cups, hipflasks and bottles.

The sense of community is like nothing I had ever expected from a music festival. By the end of the weekend, we new everyone to see and had made some great friends. I revisited my samba days and spent two hours drumming my heart out in the African drumming tent on Saturday evening. It was the most therapeutic thing I’ve ever done.

And that’s just it, that’s what this festival is, that’s what makes it so special – Spirit of Folk is therapy. It’s a breakaway from the real world, from mayhem, from branding and the fame game, from posers and hipsters. It was one of my standout moments from 2012 and I can’t wait for next year.

Elly

I was a festival virgin before Spirit of Folk. I honestly didn’t know what to expect, and my only ideas of what to bring and wear were based on my friends trips to other major Irish festivals. So I packed my LED bunny ears and many warm clothes and off I went. When I arrived, I feared that the bunny ears were a mistake, as most people were dressed very normally, or as hippies…

There was nothing to worry about, though, as it didn’t matter what anyone was wearing – this was the most open and welcoming group of people that you will ever find. The festival is best described as a bunch of hippies in a field, grooving to some amazing tunes and taking part in loads of different activities. From falconry demonstrations to story telling, hula-hooping to drum circles, this festival delivers a wide range of activities and aims to include everyone.

Party animals can dance and drink until the wee hours in the Hall of Heroes, and those with families (yes, it’s family friendly too) can avail of the camper van park to ensure a quiet nights sleep. The choice of music is eclectic, and there’s something to suit nearly every taste. All in all, I don’t think there’s a better festival to lose your virginity to!

Peter

If Spirit of Folk were a lady, I’d find it hard, very hard to pin point the one reason why it is that I fell so in love with her. There are of course stand out moments and memories, but encapsulated into one reason, it is nigh on impossible to narrow it down.

We had all said after year 1 that we had a knowledge that #SoFF12 could only get bigger. Our fear [ is that the right word ?] was what it would become. Would it lose that magic that it had in year 1…. It did get bigger. But now, now I simply love you more than I did last year.

Like Antonio, highlights for me also included new to me act John Blek and the Rats, Bunoscionn and the ever enegetic Hot Sprockets. The upgrading of The Green Soul and the Whelan’s Well Area was just genius.

The Spirit – that something, that bit that makes me want to never leave, that, is in the people you meet…. the people who stood by your side, who laughed, cried and sang as the sun went down on Dunderry Park. Roll on 2013. Like last year, you simply could not come soon enough and I will miss you dearly until that time.