Irish acts shine at All Together Now in Waterford
All Together Now saw Irish acts stand side by side with those from elsewhere, often outshining them, and drawing the crowds.
This week I’ll look back at some of the highlights, plus I’ll also speak about some tasty gigs down at Lee Rowing Club.
As mentioned last time out, the festival circuit has changed a lot post-covid. Many bigger festivals are now no longer with us, but All Together Now looks like it’s going to be around for a while yet. The fifth All Together Now was blessed with much better weather than last year, when a freak storm helped ruin things on Friday evening. This year there were predictable showers on Friday and Sunday, but Saturday was largely filled with sunshine and the festival itself was much better at coping when it did rain.
It was a very spacious festival with lots of great options stage-wise in what remained a relatively contained area, with everything being fairly walkable. That said, if you are not able-bodied, All Together Now, like most Irish festivals, could still prove to be a fairly intimidating ordeal. The festival relies on a fairly decent mid-range level of acts rather than huge headliners, and with Róisín Murphy pulling out at the last minute, the bigger names such as the Prodigy, Jorja Smith, and the National took over.
The whole big-name thing does help sell festivals, but I’ve long been of the view that the best stuff at festivals happens off the beaten track, and All Together Now’s line-up was full of potential new music discoveries.
The DJ, electronic, and live line-up was fairly decent, and though I found some of the late-night progressive house stuff fairly pedestrian in the Arcadia, for the most part I felt there was a good balance of top quality Irish and international acts playing. A few personal highlights included Cork house and disco legend John Daly, Saoirse, Carlow’s Eddie Reynolds, aka TR-One, and SkyRager (Psychemagik), but there were many many more throughout the weekend.
My favourite stage was the Ping Pong Disco, which ran to about 4am each day, and which combined cabaret, comedy, music, and some of the most flamboyant outfits that you’ll find anywhere. The sound and lighting were great too, and this was echoed on most stages throughout the weekend.
Away from these music stages, there was a decent spread of alternative areas offering everything from wellness and yoga and other alternatives that are now at most festivals post-Electric Picnic era.
At ATN, there is a genuine feeling that these aren’t just an afterthought and the area down by the main house on the estate is a lively option for those who want to engage in these other options. The festival itself remains unique and less commercial than Electric Picnic, with very few stages leaking sounds elsewhere and fewer brands competing for attention. Obviously, such brands are present and essential for any music event on this scale, but at ATN the commercialisation is more subtle and less in-your-face.
One of the most noticeable things about the last few years has been how Irish acts are now drawing many of the best crowds at such festivals. A whole host of Irish artists are now attracting big followings and at ATN it was very apparent that they are standing side by side and often outshining acts from elsewhere. This is great for the scene here, and many will capitalise on this festival buzz when releasing new music or promoting their own shows throughout the rest of the year. ATN24 was a big success, and next up on the national calendar it’s time for the Electric Picnic next week. But if you fancy something closer to home, Magic Nights by the Lee could be the answer.
The brainchild of local promoters the Good Room, Magic Nights by the Lee has been running for the last few years in various different locations. Fitzgerald’s Park, Ballincollig, Ballinlough, The Glen, and other parks have hosted some big shows, but this August the Magic Nights by the Lee take place in the Lee Rowing Club, right on the riverside by The Marina. It’s a spectacular location for a series of gigs which range from live shows to clubbier ones, and the line-up is a strong representation of domestic Irish talent that includes Shane Johnson, The 4 of Us, Smithereens, Donal Dineen, and many more.
