Macroom is all set to rock again with big music fest

Macroom has had a long connection with open air concerts, with Ireland’s first ever open air rock festival being held there in June 1977 with a legendary headline performance by Rory Gallagher at the inaugural Mountain Dew festival. Fast forward 46 years and once again Macroom is mixing open air rock with a new space; Macroom Music Fest is the first event to take advantage of the freedom from traffic that the bypass, which opened in 2022, has given the town, with a stage right in the town square.

The all-Irish line-up starts with a set by Ballincollig’s Sarah Hickey, who recently released a new song and music video ‘Doesn’t Fit’ which will be on her eagerly anticipated debut album, also featuring her other singles ‘Looking For Trouble’, ‘Free’, and ‘Hollow’.

The rest of the line-up is made up of three of the most popular acts in the country: Mundy, The Riptide Movement, and Cork’s beloved The Frank and Walters.

Paul Linehan, the lead singer and bass player of The Frank and Walters, is already looking forward to the seeing the rest of the concert’s performers.

“We know the people that are playing, we’ve played with Mundy over the years and The Riptide Movement more recently. We all get on well and I’ve a lot of respect for them, they are good songwriters and musicians.”

In terms of The Frank and Walters playing Macroom, Paul remarks that while they didn’t play there at the very start of their career, they’ve had a longstanding relationship with the town.

“When we started, there weren’t many places to play a gig… there’s not many now but there was even less back then, we played our first ever gig in Clonakilty and then Kinsale but I don’t remember us playing Macroom at the very start, but we have played there over the years.

“It’s a lovely place and there’s sound people down there. We played the Castle there a few years ago and that was great. This festival is looking good, it’s really well organised, it’s got all the bases covered for what people would want.”

Being able to judge a well-run festival requires plenty of experience, which Paul has picked up over the years, but he still finds it hard to get used to how long the band have been playing.

“Time just goes so quickly, and it seems to go faster every year. If you asked me how long The Frank and Walters have been going, I’d probably say it was 15 years or so!”

While he might be underestimating how long the band have been playing by some margin (they played their first gig in 1989) he doesn’t forget what drives the band.

“The main thing is that we love playing and creating music. Songwriting is something that’s always been important to me and I get so much from it. I love writing, and I love playing gigs… I wouldn’t say I love touring as that brings a few things with it, but I love playing gigs.”

The band’s live shows are renowned and as Paul explains their mindset you can see it’s no accident they are so successful.

“We put together a set list in a dynamic way to make it more interesting for us and the audience; we start slow and then build up, and then go down and then build up again. We deliberately don’t hit the audience hard and fast but rather draw them in and sort of meet them at the level they are at.

“When you are at a festival or concert, if you are suddenly blasted out of it, it feels like you are being pushed away or something whereas we sort of want to invite people to come on a trip with us.”

While so many classic songs such as ‘After All’, ‘Fashion Crisis Hits New York’, and ‘This Is Not A Song’ have long been in the hearts of music lovers in Ireland, Paul has noticed a change in his songwriting in recent years.

“I’ve got some pop songs, really good pop songs that could be radio hits but I won’t use them for The Frank and Walters as I want to say something that’s meaningful. Some pop songs mightn’t have as much depth as you’d like; if I’m gonna release anything, I want it to be worth doing.

“It’s not just about melody for me anymore, it’s about lyrics too and the style of the song. I learned that from our song ‘Stages’, I knew that it had good lyrics but I couldn’t believe how much it resonated with people and that made me think about my songwriting differently. Before I was more about melody, which is still important, but I’m focusing on lyrics a lot more now.”

The new songs he has written will take more time to be heard.

“We have the songs written for the next album, it’s just a matter of recording them really. The pandemic definitely slowed us down with working on them. I suppose I’ve come to an age now where the band have experimented over the years and we learned a lot from that, I feel like we don’t need to experiment much any more; like, we’re always open to new things and sounds, but our band’s sound is clear now.

“For me, the songwriting is key for us, it’s the song. Sometimes if you are messing around with things too much, and experiment with it, you can lose the spirit of what it’s all about. For me, a band should expand a song when they are playing it and bring different musical arrangements to it. You have to be careful to not spoil things.”

Buzz for Macroom Music Trail

The Macroom Music Fest isn’t just about having one big concert in the town, as Killian Lynch, the festival’s organiser explained: “Macroom has a large community feel about it. It is great to see a real buzz with our Music Trail, we have the opportunity to showcase it to its full potential.” 

The series of concerts on Friday, June 23, features five acts who are well known throughout the county in as many venues. The Music Trail features The Two Drops in Murrays bar, Jack Healy will perform in JC Murphys bar, Darren Nash is playing in TP Cotters bar, Kaboosh in Granvilles bar with Jamie and Jono performing in the Castle Hotel. All are free entry and supported, organised in association with the Local Business Association, and The Lee Valley Enterprise Board as well as community volunteers.

• Macroom Music Fest runs this weekend, with a town-wide music trail. The Frank and Walters, Mundy, and The Riptide Movement will play the town square on Saturday, and a family day takes place in the Castle Grounds on Sunday. For tickets and details, go to www.macroommusicfest.ie.