my sister in Egypt

pictures of scubadivers always make me laugh... because they always look really surprised to have someone taking their pictures but it's just because they are struggling to get a good pose under the water lol

 

well she looks happy anyway :-) 

Modena City Ramblers

a famous Italian band playing in the Village, i did their lights, crowd was in huge majority italian and they had apparently a lot of fun jumping around, dancing, singing. even at the end of the gig outside when hundreds of them were singin Bella Ciao acapella in front of the venue :-)

reminds me of these manu chao/ fermin muguruza/ ojos de brujo kinda of gigs where no one (artists, public, technicians) wants the music to stop, ever. and give everyone a big smile on the face for hours.

http://www.myspace.com/modenacityramblers

to my readers

yes this blog will still be about culture, music, theatre, arts and my life in Ireland

but it is also gonna become more personal.

i can feel it, i'm gonna need to talk. and when i am overwhelmed by emotions and feelings, i write more than i talk. so with what is happening to my father, expect to be reading more about my feelings. you might not like it but that is what i need to do. express myself.

and when i can feel tears coming into my eyes, i can't talk. but i still need words. so i am going to write them down. here.

x 

this might sound trivial but

take care of yourself if you're depressed

 

 

- go to the hairdresser

- dye my hair

-sunbathing

-whitening teeth

-shopping 

-girls talk about guys/ beauty tips/ food 

-listening to bands i was listening to when i was 13 (i.e greenday or noir desir :-) 

 

that's what i did/ or i'm going to do this week as i have a few days off

i guess it's just to help me thinking about something else... as i'm not working a lot this week, i need to be busy doing something. 

 

so MGMT live

i wrote that a few weeks ago:

MGMT
Based in Brooklyn, New York, MGMT (previously named The Management) are a two-piece band formed in 2002. We can label their music as psychedelic pop. Indeed it is pop thanks to the catchy lyrics and melodies. But they also distinguish themselves as 'surf jungle country': 'surf' because of the psychedelic riffs of their guitars and keyboards, 'jungle' because of their upbeat electronic sounds, and 'country' because of the distinctive high pitched and nasal vocals which remind us of Kings Of Leon’s frontman. Signed in 2006 for a four-album contract, MGMT is a band to keep up with. Live, they are certainly different and even more interesting as they become a five-piece band. Go on and have a listen to this unexpected mix of influences, genres and eras.

 

http://noisforwimps.blogspot.com/2008/03/pop-talented-and-trendy-plus-bonus.html

 

 

and i discovered them live last week, it was as i wrote before: surf with the nice melodies/ jungle with upbeat electro/ country with their american accents and refined lyrics. and they really well master the mix of these genres.

they are young but surely have a nice energy going on stage, they only played for half an hour though but it was quality and makes me want to see them again (they would be perfect for andrews lane theatre, ok it is small for them, but the club/ rock atmosphere of this venue would be perfect for MGMT i think)

 

we had fun

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

all pics by Louise Coffey 

the opposite

-i went to CSS, MGMT and The Futureheads last night, great gig, good new album for CSS with more guitars and rock than dancy stuff

then we went to party in Whelans with Conor, Lola, Eleanor and Adriano from CSS, we had a good night even if we ended up in Sin (=worst bar ever but free in and open really late). Adriano is a really nice guy, we talked about Brazil, his city (Sao Paulo), London and the Londoners, and gays.  he was flying to New York this morning, i don't know how he did that after what we all drank last night.

 

-yesterday i learned that my father has a lung cancer, well the doctor didn't say the word cancer because they don't have the final results so they are not allowed to say it. but he already has the catheter for the chimio...

 

so weird to have two opposite feelings coexisting at the same time

let the sun shining

it's warm (25 degrees without the wind), it's sunny (such a blue sky), it's absolutely fabulous!

is it just the beginning of summer in Ireland or are we going to have just a nice month of may and crappy summer? this question is in everyone's mind.

 

summer=

-barbecue (first one of the year was in a house in Dundrum last night: peppers, mushrooms, potatoes, sausages, cauliflower etc);

-sunburn (well not for me for the moment but i'm starting to get some kinda of tan);

-wanting to move to the seaside (i'm moving out on the 23rd of june somewhere in betwen clontarf and malahide, in a three bedroom house with garden... or giant balcony);

-dancing to mad music (going to see CSS and MGMT tonight, yay!)

living and writing

no, i did not die of exhaustion. i am still alive.

 

and so is No Is For Wimps!

 

here is the new issue with stories, photography, poetry recipe and advice: http://noisforwimps.blogspot.com 

 

and here was the last article i wrote for them:  http://noisforwimps.blogspot.com/2008/04/musical-collabor...

woohoo...

i'm working. a lot. 45 hours in three days.

ballet. amnesty international gig. opera. rock gig. club.

i'm working in three different venues on friday.

17 hours straight on friday.

i am going to be tired. really tired.

don't try to contact me on saturday day. i will be in my bed. sleeping. i hope.

then work again on saturday night. and sunday day and night.

and then... i don't know.

 

x

new club in town

Hi All

From this Saturday night thru the summer and beyond we will be in Andrews lane theatre, Dublin 's freshest spot

Loads of good nights planned with national and international talent

May 3^rd launch party – Arveene, Tu Ki, Deadbots (DJ set) Jamie Skillz, Jon Averill and Chewy

May 10^th DURRR presents – Rory Phillips, The Lovely Jonjo, Hanna and Arveene

May 17^th Rory (Cassette Jam DJs/Ibiza rocks), Johnny Moy w/ Mark Logan on percussion, Philth

May 24^th Downtownsounds and Clampdown w/ Billy Scurry, David Kitt (DJ set), Downtownsounds

May 31^st Clampdown presents James Lavelle (UNKLE), Arveene, Johnny Moy and Jamie Skillz

CLAMPDOWN PRESS RELEASE…
20 years on and still the most exciting parties and events on the planet are being held in industrial spaces, concrete places, factories and warehouses. The attraction has never been more craved nor has been bettered. Big minimal spaces with no fuss or pointless tacky interior design, great sound systems, underground music and art colliding, this has been happening all over Europe from Berlin to Barcelona and Paris to Prague for decades. If you, the people, the music and the production is right the result is better than any nightclub experience you will ever have… no matter what. Celebrating its official 20^th birthday this year the warehouse party as we know it is still going strong and now its coming to Dublin .

From May 3^rd Clampdown and co. will take over Andrews lane Theatre every Saturday night bringing an eclectic mix of music, live acts, art and fun in an ever changing space. We will live sets from our thriving domestic electronic scene and some of the most interesting DJs gracing the decks. Dublin 's finest street artist Maser and crew will be giving the place a lick providing an interesting interior for this vast cavern. Different AV artists and visuals will be on show from week to week to keep it fresh and exciting. Music policy will be forward thinking but anything goes and an emphasis will be kept on the quality recordings from the last 2 decades of disco, punk, funk, house, techno, electro and hip hop alongside future classics and current gems. Full bar all night long and we will be rocking later than all other venues in Dublin city.

We will be playing

Disco, LCD Soundsystem, Carl Craig, Diplo, Liquid liquid, Junior Boys, Punk, Beyond the wizards sleeve, Shit Robot, Kitsune, Surkin, Nitemoves, Baile Funk, Brodinski, Talk talk, ESG, Transmat, PIL, A Certain Ratio, Herve, Giorgio Morodor, Cut Copy, Rub n Tug, DJ Tyrant and Disco Dad, Dancepig, Lil Louie , The Clash, Phuture 303, Rave, Hot Chip, Yello, Plastikman, Can, Holy Fuck, Marlena Shaw, Public Enemy, Model 500, Blondie, Happy Mondays, Chicago house, Can, Boogie down productions, Green velvet, Rock n Roll, Sinden and the count, Herbie Hancock, Erol Alkan , The Specials, Talking heads, UNKLE, ESG, Throbbing gristle, The The, Daft punk, The Cure, !!!, Turntable rocker, Joy Division The Rapture, Grandmaster flash and more..you dig?

A Clampdown presentation

 

www.myspace.com/weareclampdown

Sunday off!

for once, a sunday off, and the weather was fantastic so i went to the beach between Howth and Sutton with Anabela

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

then we went for a glass of wine in the Italian quarter where we met Alex and Leni.

then we followed them to play pool in The Palace (besides Whelans- i felt like i was in a pub in England, pool tables, beers and the Artic Monkeys on the radio) and have a few beers.

 

a really good Sunday! 

Why?

in Andrews Lane on Saturday

 

a really great gig

nice guys, good musicians, catchy melodies and rhythm,  fantastic sound, all the lights were working (we changed the dimmers :-),great crowd.

all the ingredients were there to make one of the gigs of the year, and according to some persons in the audience, it was.

according to me it was certainly a memorable concert as it was the first time i was doing lights for an international band. and i fell in love with their music, these nice melodies combine with catchy hip hop lyrics were really cool to work with.

www.myspace.com/whyanticon

 

Coldplay or CSS?

or both

download their new singles:

 

Coldplay, Violet Hill  http://www.coldplay.com/song.html 

 

CSS, Rat is Dead (Rage) http://css.retrofuzz.com 

M83

in Andrews Lane Theatre (A.L.T.) on friday 

i listened to it before going to the gig and it sounds like Air but a bit more catchy (i have to say i don't like Air and find it really boring)

when they arrived to soundcheck i was surprised to see they were all very young, but nice and quiet :-)

their live performance lacked of energy though, nice tunes but not enough effort to use their instruments and too much of backing tracks.

Anthony Gonzalez seemed really happy with the gig and the crowd at the end, saying it was great and thanking technicians.

www.myspace.com/m83

 

p.s i didn't do the lights as the guy i was supposed to cover for was there in fact, and i was kinda happy i wasn't doing the lights when we had a massive problem with the dimmers! 

high five!

borat in 30 seconds by bunnies

http://www.angryalien.com/aa/boratbuns.asp 

The Strokes

new album is on the way

 

english

http://www.nme.com/news/the-strokes/36131

 

francais

http://www.lesinrocks.com/index.php?id=60&tx_news[not...

fucking demux!

oh god, a bit of a nightmare in the new venue

everything fine the whole afternoon, went for dinner, came back and everything going crazy, during the show...

all the lights coming on at the same time without touching the desk

all the lights flashing all over the place without touching the desk

desk not recording what we want it to record...

ha, it's gonna be fun tomorrow :-/