PlayRewind

Slane. Please Please Please

Oasis are playing Slane next year. It’s a save and predictable choice as the Brit gits have just released a new album which by most accounts is not bad and they have a huge back catalogue of hits go get the crowd going. Many fans will turn up to hear their favourites trotted out live. This fact alone keeps Oasis playing stadiums. Tickets will easy enough to shift to this one.

But am I the only one to see this as an opportunity lost? I can think of another long standing band who has just released a new album of material which is meant to be ok. This other band also has a huge box of hits to wheel out at concerts which would set any pulse racing and at any venue alight. Their vault of vintage work rivals any of the greats of rock. Tickets would fly out of ticket-master’s greedy little hands in a matter of minutes if this band were to be booked for the castle. So for the love of God would someone get AC/DC for Slane!?!

Oxegen.View from the blurry perspective.

As I couldn't go the fields last weekend I sent my undercover reporter whom I shall refer to as O. Keating.
No thats a bit obvious, I'll call her Orlaith K. anyway the following are thoughts snatched straight from her oft wandering mind. Enjoy.......................

The last time I went to Oxegen David Bowie cancelled, it rained a lot and teenagers keep trying to look in my tent convinced their friend was in there. Never again I said. Then this year's line was released and I had a change of heart. Still it was with low expectations I set off for Punchestown on Friday. Excitement started to build queuing for a bus on Parnell Sq, thanks to the heaps of free stuff on offer from various radio stations ranging from practical ponchos to torches that shine the X files sign, things were looking up! The busmen lovely, the traffic light and the journey swift I arrived on site within an hour of leaving Dublin city centre.

Oxegen Guide

Right there are a lot of “How to survive Oxegen” guides out there. I must admit this worries me. What type of person needs to be told how to not die in a field full of people over the space of a weekend?  Do we really need these people cluttering precious festival space or for that matter do we want ’em polluting the gene pool?  With that in mind let me present the Playrewind Festival “Survival” Guide. Obey it to the letter for an unforgettable festival.

Travel.
Everyone and their granny will be leaving early or car pooling because the suckers listen to the AA.
This means you can leave at the last minute and have traffic free roads all the way Punchestown.  Bringing the car is a must as you couldn’t possibly fit the barbeque and all those glass bottles in the poxy bus now could you?

More Oxegen news

Feeder, Kooks and Manic Street Preachers have joined the ranks of acts to play the annual mud bath.
They will be joined by Groove Armada, My Morning Jacket, MGMT, Reverend and the Makers, Black Kids and Delays.British Sea Power and The Ting Tings.
UNKLE,Justice, David Guetta, Calvin Harris and Kosheen all join the dance line up. Saw UNKLE last year at the picnic and trust me they will rock your world.
You can still get tickets, all camping are gone but day passes are still around. Im not going but its a cracking line up even if I won't be there.(Im on about UNKLE, Rage, The  PRODIGY not the manics and Kooks by the way.)

A touch of Vertigo

Vertigo Smyth is a shinny lad with glasses, and when I saw him, he was in need of a touch from the barber’s razor. Now being a blinding bean poll myself I’m not normally one for name calling but it’s almost inconceivable that the sound he creates came from such scant a frame. I was at Java Coffee shop last Wednesday for the Galway launch of “Future Happiness” EP. It was shaping up to be a pleasant affair, I got coffee and pie and saw a two young fellas warm up the gathering bodies with a blend of witty and energised songs followed by soft trance inducing (but that could have been the pie) ballads. Like I said pleasant.
When Vertigo finally got around to tuning up this guitar, banjo and ukulele I thought I knew where the night was going. It was going to be one of those soft strumming sessions laced with craic that happen in the back of pubs, coffee shops, any grassy area, house party or street corner near a supply of Buckfast that seem to pop up around Galway all the time. That would have been pleasant. But nobody soft strums a banjo and with a voice as clear and powerful as Vertigo’s pleasant was left at the door.

IM BACKING DRY COUNTY BUT BOOKIES BACK DELORENTOS FOR CHOICE

The Choice award is in its 3rd year and was set up to heap praise and cash (€10,000) on the lucky Irish artist who’s album impressed its panel of critics. It does not go on sales, focusing instead on the music so it says. I can't imagine what they think the rest of us focus on before buying an album but then again looking at the charts most weeks one could be forgiven for wondering! Anyway the reason I am (sorta) talking about the Choice Awards is because the crop deemed worthy of a crack at the prize have just been announced. The short List is as follows;
Adrian Crowley "Long Distance Swimmer" (Tin Angel)
http://www.myspace.com/adriancrowley
Cathy Davey "Tales Of Silversleeve" (EMI)
http://www.myspace.com/cathydavey
Delorentos "In Love With Detail" (Cottage)
http://www.delorentos.net
Dry County "Unexpected Falls" (Lazybird)
http://www.myspace.com/drycounty05
The Flaws "Achieving Vagueness" (Arrivals)
http://www.theflaws.com
David Geraghty "Kill Your Darlings" (Decal)
http://www.davidgeraghty.com
Kila "Gambler's Ballet" (Kila Records)
http://www.kila.ie
Roisin Murphy "Overpowered" (EMI)
http://roisin.paperheads.co.uk/
Stanley Super 800 "Louder & Clearer" (Sofa)
http://www.stanleysuper800.com
Super Extra Bonus Party "Super Extra Bonus Party" (Alphabet Set)
http://www.superextrabonusparty.com/

The Thrills and Paddy Casey are noticeable by their absence.

RockChic: Photo teaser

As David posted below, the National Museum of Ireland is hosting ‘RockChic - The Life and Times of the Electric Guitar 1931-2006’ until January 21. Entry to the museum at Collins Barracks in Dublin is free, and it’s serviced by the aptly named Museum Luas stop on the Red line. As non-flash photography is allowed, for those of you who haven’t visited, here’s a photo preview…

Red Rocks

The Canadian rock band Arcade Fire have donated their song “Lies” to Bono for his Aids charity campaign Project RED. The Killers' new Christmas single "A Great Big Sled" will be available on iTunes on Tuesday, December 5, with 100% of the proceeds going to the Global Fund in support of RED. The Project is not a charity but a business model, the profits from certain branded items (clothes, shoes, songs) give the profit to fund AIDS work in Africa. The idea is to use consumerism and not generosity as the backbone of an social initiative. As Bono is behind it big name bands are lining up to help. For more on this practical approach to combat AIDS start seeing RED