Our first port of call on day three of Vinyl was The Great Hall where John Kelly was chatting to Cork resident and legendary singer-songwriter Donovan. The cordial exchange was wide-ranging and Donovan spoke enthusiastically about his love of early jazz clubs, the influence of Woodie Guthrie and gave a thrilling account of witnessing Dylan going electric at the NewPort Folk Festival. Next to The Baroque Chapel where Bella Union head honcho Simon Raymonde was in conversation with Ben Wardle. He candidly recounted the break-up of the Cocteau Twins, discussed the formation of the label, signing an unknown John Grant and discovering Fleet Foxes just as he was about to throw in the towel!
And so to one of the highlights of the festival Bob Geldof in conversation with Pete Paphides. In a wide-ranging chat Geldof analysed the Rats place in Ireland of the miid 70s, spoke about the transformative effect of hearing Bob Marley’s ‘Catch A Fire’ and Dr. Feelgood’s ‘Down By The Jetty’, his first Late Late Show performance being denounced by his local parish priest from the altar, sabotaging US success by insulting radio programmers and much much more.
He also revealed the influence of Oliver’s Army on ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ and Green Shirt on ‘Diamond Smiles’ - apparently this has been brought to Mr Costello’s attention and he has not yet filed suit! Discussion of the latter track brought the conversation to Paula Yates and Peaches at which point Geldof became obviously emotional. A very special exchange indeed.
Next in the main venue was Cillian Murphy and Flood. Murphy, an obvious music fan was in his element as Flood dissected his work on Depeche Mode’s ‘Personal Jesus’ (and delivered a scarily accurate Martin Gore impression), analysed U2’s working process and waxed lyrical about the Smashing Pumpkins.
And so to the event many had been waiting for, the famously reclusive Kevin Shields in conversation with uber fan Eamon Sweeney whose encyclopedic MBV knowledge instantly put Kevin at ease. High points included Shields chatting about his love of The Beatles, recounting the times he nearly spilt a bowl of soup over Paul McCartney and fixed Brian Wilson’s back plus being encouraged to take ecstasy by a very enthusiastic Alan McGee.
Here’s to next year!