By Fergal Murphy, Nessa Jennings & Grace Charley
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Prince, or is that symbol? No, it’s Prince again now and he is back with a new album. There’s plenty to like about this mix of pumping rock and old school soul. The tight ten tracker opens and closes with social commentaries (‘planet earth’ and ‘resolution’) both of which showcase Prince’s dexterity on the guitar as he effortlessly rolls with intriguing tempo twists and turns. Maria King’s delicious vocals set off the rollicking funky ode to model ‘Chelsea Rodgers’. Then Prince shifts gears to mellow on the smooth flowing ‘Somewhere here on earth’ and ‘Mr Goodnight’. With long-time colleagues such as Sheila E, Maceo Parker and Wendy and Lisa in tow you can hear how much fun Prince is still having and why he shouldn’t be counted out as he approaches the thirtieth anniversary of his first chart hit!
Music Ireland ‘07 (in association with Hot Press Magazine) is due to take place in the Main Hall RDS, Dublin on October 5th, 6th and 7th. This is a three-day long feast of live music, exhibitions, seminars, workshops and master-classes. It will be a must-see event for anyone passionate about music. All the latest instruments, technology, electronics, music equipment, recording and production equipment, accessories, etc will be on show. The event also presents the ‘Rock Clinic’– a forum offering bands the chance to consult the experts about how to get ahead in the industry. The show will attract established and up-and-coming musicians from across Ireland, and also regular music fans. This is Ireland’s biggest annual music extravaganza. Friday, 5th October is for schools and this will be a careers day. The day will be dedicated to providing the best lectures, seminars and one-on-one advice for students with an interest in a career within the music, entertainment and arts industries. For further information please visit www.musicireland.ie
I finally got to cash in on the last of my Christmas presents– a ticket to see IL DIVO in the Point. And boy were they worth the wait. Free from the distraction of fireworks and scantily-clad backing dancers, the classical quartet gave a performance that was both raw and spine-tingling. It’s very rare when I get the feeling that, God– or something close– is in the room. On this occasion, He was there. Talent is an amazing thing and when shared, it can leave you speechless. You suddenly forget about the road works that kept you hijacked on the Quays– you don’t care if you get squashed by the ‘crowd control’ on the way home. For two blissful hours, my world was still to the arrangements of ‘Somehow Somewhere’, ‘Unbreak My Heart’, and ‘My Way’. The last concert I felt this silly about was ELVIS (Elvis singing on big screen but original band members and backing singers playing on stage).
Dublin’s newest public space, Grand Canal Square, was transformed into a stunning outdoor venue for a contemporary music festival, which took place over three days from Friday 13 to Sunday 15 July. Over 13,000 requests were made for free tickets which were allocated at random to music fans around the country. DJ Food and DK shared the decks on Friday night, as the rain cleared briefly, to start off the festival. It was a beautiful scene as people gathered in the open square, paved with red stones and grey pathways, with large red light-sticks for outdoor decorations, lending to the modern feel of the event, sponsored by Dublin Docklands Development Authority. There was green strip lighting and seating around alternate grass squares and beds filled with wild flowers. The sun went down behind the fabulous stage, as the Cinematic Orchestra made their Irish debut. This six-piece London-based outfit were very impressive, employing strong musical structures and scintillating jazz solos. The crowd loved the atmospheric landscapes created by the band, suitable to the darkening blotting paper clouds which were bringing down a misty rain, at the end of the first night. A four-piece unit, including a male and female singer on catchy tunes, with some daft words, reminded me of the B52s. Clever, repetitive melodies and driving riffs, well-played make this band one to watch out for. Later, Konono no.1 (from Kinshasa), came to bring us relentless rhythm (and no blues), from Africa. Their continuous set (with no breaks in the music) was extremely danceable. I was defenceless against the urge to shake everything about! The band, founded over 25 years ago, contains three likembes (traditional instrument, sometimes called a ‘thumb piano’). There’s also a rhythm section which uses traditional, as well as makeshift percussion (pans, pots and car parts). Their repertoire draws largely on Bazombo trance, and is also experimental, containing merciless grooves. Excellent. On Sunday, Stratocasters, Telecasters, Les Pauls and Sunbursts, played through the usual amps: Peavey, Marshall, Vox, Fender, Roland. On stage, there were more guitars and amps than you could shake a conductor’s baton at. With music stands and chairs enough for the 30-plus performers, the stage looked like the front room of Walton’s. By the time we were ready for the Analog guitarfest, with around over 700 people in the audience, there was about 1 guitar for every 20 people! Hallucination City. Glenn Branca came to Dublin where he recruited the guitarists to perform this piece, called his 13th symphony for 100 electric guitars, first performed at the base of the World Trade Centre in New York City in 2001. Glenn Branca is an experimental composer who, starting with Symphony No.3 (‘Gloria’) in 1983, began to systematically compose for the harmonic series, which he considered to be the structure underlying not only all music but most human endeavours. We had to brace ourselves when Glenn came on stage to conduct all those electric guitars. And the music came in a frightening, deafening series of waves, building and assailing with the menacing sound of approaching thunder, conjuring up images of deserted big city streets of impending doom. Think gothic, think loud; piano falling down the side of Everest, and a jumbo jet warming up its engine. A ghostly tangle of harmonics, and stupendous rolling tom tom patterns help crank up the mayhem to a fever pitch. This is surely holding your breath under water as entertainment. The organisers promised us an unforgettable performance as the culmination of the event, and it was, as well as an extraordinary feat of organisation. There was also food and wine to be enjoyed at the newly-opened Ely HQ at Hanover Quay, while Vertigo Bar at the Quality Hotel served up pre-show drinks and entertainment.
There is an upsurge in the amount of ‘ageing rockers’ touring nowadays, stars who by all rights should have retired a long time ago and should be sitting at home with their pipe and slippers counting their royalty cheques. So far this summer we have seen performances from the likes of The Who, Aerosmith and Rod Stewart with the granddaddy of them all the Rolling Stones still to come! Although the Stones may be criticised for touring just for the money I for one can’t wait till they play Slane this August. While there is the big factor of the money (the sales of their back catalogue and gate receipts generated by a tour) there is no question that reputation and demand keep these guys going. Mick Jagger and Keith Richard’s song writing partnership has changed popular music forever with their most creative period being in 60s and 70s up to ‘Exile on Main St’. The Stones have had a chameleon-like ability to adapt to changing times, going from their typical bar room rock to country to disco funk-like sounds. So how are they nowadays? From what I’ve seen Jagger looks older than he is but still manages to strut around on stage like he’s 25. He still has a youthful energy and gets into the music, dancing all around the stage and catwalk that protrudes into the crowd, still trying to come off like a sex symbol. Keith Richards, well… his guitar hangs almost to his knees, cigarette hanging from his mouth. He looks to be an old 80, but he’s still cool even at 60-plus. And man can he still play guitar as he half stumbles and bends his body on stage like he’s still on whatever concoction of illegal pharmaceuticals he used to be on! I think there is a need for these ‘ageing rockers’ to tour because the music is so timeless it gives a chance for the old fans to get reacquainted with the music and young fans such as myself an opportunity to see them before they go to the great gig in the sky!! Above: The Rolling Stones still get plenty of satisfaction– and dough– from their tours. |
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PRINCE: PLANET EARTH
HOT EVENTS FOR THE RDS 
IL DIV-INO
ANALOG MUSIC FESTIVAL
AGING ROCKERS: