still no internet

yes i know... pain in the ass!

french festival in ALT was good

les plastiscines make good rock music, 2 minutes a song, set of 14 songs in 45mn. but the fact that they are a girls band don't help to their credibility on stage. they are really nice girls though.

i was hugely impressed by birdy nam nam

adorable lads, great technicians, and talented artists. you have to go and see them live, they are better than daft punk, no kidding. (daft punk have a great show but they are not actually playing live so once you've seen them, there's no point going back to see them again) birdy nam nam are playing and mixing live. and the tunes are really good. 

 

 

now i'm going to Solidays in Paris on thursday, then back to Dublin on monday to prepare Oxegen where i'll be working on the New Band Stage.

rock on festival season!!! 

the reason why

i don't have internet at home yet

so that's why i haven't tell you how was the future days festival, how was iggy pop and how is my new place

but i'll promise you'll have all the details as soon as i have internet

now to work with miles davis' drummer for a jazz gig

and then liars who were supporting radiohead on their USA tour.

 

i'm back

and really busy so here it goes

 

-manu chao was great, 3 hours and 15mn, same old fiesta vibe, but i don't like Bercy at all, you can't see a thing

-the Future Days festival is happening this weekend in ALT and Vicar Street:

   -if you're into experimental electro, go to see Matmos live, there are... surprising.

   -Low were really good tonight, nice quiet lo-fi rock

   -Hot Chip djs tomorrow night-saturday- in ALT

   -five bands playing on sunday in ALT

-loads of visual, projector and screen talk this weekend, it's going to look nice tomorrow in ALT.

-i have the nice idea to move out at the same time than the festival in ALT, duh!!!

-i can't wait for Iggy Pop on monday (and the Prince gig -monday as well- was cancelled, the reason? humm you want the official reason -unforeseen circumstances-, the non official reason -problems with the licence-, the reason some people think it's true even if no one can confirm it -the tour cancelled thing and MCD going ahead with selling tix- or the true reason that the technicians know? ;-) 

 

have a nice -quiet i hope- weekend everyone.

 

p.s reminder for myself: i need to sleep properly, eat properly, relax and stop running/spending hours on the phone trying to sort things out/talking to artists, djs, promoters, band managers, venue managers, technicians. i should go somewhere secluded for a day. alone. no phone. no email. just peace.

 

 

 

por la carretera

and so many way to commute!

i'm leaving tomorrow morning (so early!) to go to Paris to see Manu Chao on wednesday night.

but also i'm going to see my father tomorrow.

here is the plan:

taxi to the airport, flying to beauvais, shuttle bus to paris, subway to the train station, train to moulins

then relax a bit and see my father (and my mother as well of course :-)

train back to paris on wednesday,

manu chao's gig (apparently they played for 3 hours and 45mn in Brest... )

back to dublin early on thursday morning (then there's a gig in ALT so i have to work at 4 o'clock)

 

talk to you on thursday. or friday...

it was... special

they make you feel special. as if they knew you were there, singing along, listening, and enjoying the songs. they are on the other side, on stage, but you can feel they know you're there, you, the individual among the thousands of other fans. they look at you, thank you, smile at you, and play for you.

they make you feel special.

 

that's how i felt like when i was watching Radiohead on saturday with thousands of persons of every generations, fans since the beginning knowing all the obscure tracks that were played and fans from not so long disappointed by the fact no hits were played.

songs from in rainbows, kid a or ok computer. but no karma police, just, creep, no surprises etc. and it was still incredibly enjoyable to hear all those songs they had carefully chosen for their biggest fans who achieved to get tickets for the sold out saturday gig (a different set was made on friday -the extra date which was not sold out- with some more popular songs).

2 hours and 20 minutes of intense happinness. from dancing songs like 15 steps or national anthem where you go crazy imitating thom yorke dancing; to magic moment of silence and communion with songs like videotape or exit music.

concerning the production, the sound was crystal clear (like 2 years ago in Marlay park), like being in a studio but no, you are outside, in a field, next to a castle, by the seaside with a lot of wind blowing.

and the lights... well i was talking to friends before the gig about radiohead being really aware of the energy they waste on tour and their carbon footprint emission. i was therefore thinking the best way to do a lighting show but still saving energy will be to use LED lights as they are really low voltage. and that's exactly what they did. the design was surprising of course, but still really cool and good to look at, despite the sun that was present until almost 10 o'clock! and then thankfully went to hide behind the trees.

i will go back to see them live. again, and again, and again.

 

all pictures found on flickr.com

nice new song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0gZ0E-A3NE

 more details in a few hours/minutes.

dancing night

tonight in ALT Those Dancing Days are playing.

http://www.myspace.com/thosedancingdays

from sweden, girls band, pop and electro, really nice to listen to.

i'll talk to you later about their live performance. 

DPT

last saturday, Dirty Pretty Things at The Academy

not a huge crowd but the enjoyment was great! everyone there was into the band, singing along on the old tracks, discovering with surprise the new tracks which sounded really good, different, more sensitive and honest.

i can't wait to buy the new album.

this band rocks, and the drummer is one of the nicest guys on the earth!

 

fiction

stories are the essence of the No Is For Wimps' new issue.

and a bit of exercise too.

http://noisforwimps.blogspot.com 

another production week in the gate

The Weir
by Conor McPherson

Opens Tuesday 10th June
Low Price Previews from Thursday 5th June

“A spellbinder that transfixes you”
The Guardian

“I have rarely been so convinced that I have just seen a modern classic”
Daily Telegraph

The Weir, by acclaimed playwright Conor McPherson, premiered at the Gate in 1998 to critical and successful acclaim. This atmospheric tour de force, set in present day rural Ireland, finds Valerie, on arriving at a small country bar, spellbound by an evening of ghostly stories from the local bachelors. Their tales, both funny and chilling, are a mesmerising mixture of rumour and local legend. However, much to their surprise, she has her own story to tell…

Starring
Denis Conway · David Ganly · Mark Lambert · Seán McGinley · Genevieve O'Reilly

Director Garry Hynes
Designer Francis O'Connor
Lighting Designer Davy Cunningham

 

 

http://www.gate-theatre.ie/