Stevie G: A music scene wishlist for 2025

It’s a new year, so I’m going to try to look forward and help manifest some stuff I’d like to happen in the local music scene. Obviously this will include some blind optimism — but if you can’t dream, what can you do? Here are some of my wishes for 2025.

Big shows

Cork had some big shows last year in Virgin Media Park and the Marquee, plus we also had some gigs in the City Hall and of course the Cork Opera House. A city of Cork’s size needs such shows and the knock-on effects for other gigs in smaller bars and venues is always welcome too. Both MCD and Aiken Promotions are committed to further shows in Virgin Media Park and the Marquee this summer while local promoters The Good Room are welcoming Kneecap to the City Hall for two shows in February. Kamasi Washington plays the Cork Jazz Festival launch in the Opera House in April, and I’m sure there will be lots more where that came from in October too. The more the better.

Permanent venue

I’m not gonna bore my readers with talk of the infamous Events Centre, but a bit of certainly on it would be great. If it’s never gonna happen please tell us now rather than stringing us along. Cork needs a permanent venue capable of hosting Marquee-type acts 12 months a year, and the farcical nature of the saga has been going on far too long now. Is it too much to ask for clarity on it all?

Community

The importance of community can be seen at every level of the music scene. Bands sharing practice rooms and resources, record shops providing a hub for the scene, DJs and producers helping and supporting each other; there are multiple examples. I recently attended the launch of Éist radio station, which will attempt to offer the music community another means of amplification. The EMC is a dance community helping bring producers and DJs together, while there are numerous examples of co-operation across various art forms that are helping artists in 2025.

Clubs, bars, and other venues

It’s not all about the big shows. Our grassroots venues need support and offer opportunities for every big local act long before they get established. Cyprus Avenue, the Liquid Lounge, The Kino, An Spailpín Fánach, and many other mid-sized venues are supplemented by a fairly impressive array of bars, and many of them are open to trying stuff and giving new people a chance to shine. We need to support each other’s shows more though.

History and heritage

To look forward we can often look back. I think we should honour our own rich heritage more in Cork and use it as a way of inspiring new generations and recognising older ones. Other cities celebrate their past much better than we do, and I think we should use it as a way of attracting tourists too.

Recordings and releases

There are lots of us sitting on studio work that needs to be released. Self doubt often comes into play, and people also get bogged down with the expense of releasing music. But even uploading stuff for free can be liberating. Hopefully more of Cork’s many talented bands, artists, and producers will get their music out there in 2025.

Business infrastructure

One of the big differences between Cork and other cities is our lack of music infrastructure. There are a lot more managers, bookers, and other industry people in Dublin than here, and we are often a little bit behind when it comes to the business side of music. It’s probably harder, then, to make it here than in a bigger city.

Progress will hopefully be made in this area too.

Youth Culture

Youth culture is at the heart of everything, in my opinion, and it’s an area that I specialise in. Sadly, resources and funding remains very poor at nearly all levels of youth work in Cork, and while we are quick to acknowledge success stories such as the Kabin, we should be accelerating investment in our youth work by 1,000%.

The Kabin, among others, have shown what the possibilities are. It’s imperative that we have more funding for youth work and more permanent spaces where we can operate.

Spaces as a whole are lacking across age groups, but thankfully many young enterprising promoters and artists are using non-traditional music spaces too, in order to make progress.