Godskitchen has confirmed that the planned Global Gathering Ireland, which had been scheduled for August 21, will not now be taking place. The organisers were unable to secure planning permission for the outdoor event. The mooted venue, Stradbally in County Laois, is, however, being tipped for an open-air rock concert instead. Apparently persuading councillors to run a ‘rave’ in the run-up to the local elections was a big no-no, but talking them into a ‘proper gig’ was not that difficult. Who said the times they were a changing?…
Incidentally, a couple of recent outdoor parties on a beach in north County Dublin have proved that there’s life in the old rave dog yet. We won’t mention the location in case there are any members of An Garda Siochana reading, but suffice to say global warming can’t be all that bad a concept if it enables over 1,500 techno loons to dance until dawn on a Dublin beach in April or May. Seriously, the ravers even cleaned up after themselves and recycled their rubbish. Pity all the drunken fools who socialise in Dublin city of an evening couldn’t follow suit – have you seen O’Connell Street at six in the morning lately?…
Dublin DJs Gavin Paisley and Keith Mac are two of the forces behind a new retro rave website, www.dublinclassics.com. The site is a tribute to the first era of Dublin clubbing, ’90-’95, and features definitive charts from the then resident DJs at clubs like the Olympic, Asylum and Sides, a brief history and audio samples from one hundred classic anthems from the period. From my own discussions with the pair, it’s clear that a definitive history of the era needs to be written before the already frazzled memories of those involved become impaired any further. The best way to tell the tale is undoubtedly through as many eyes as possible, as Johnny Moy’s take on what went down in those early years will vary greatly from Mister Spring’s, for example. Contact me through hotpress if you are interested in contributing…
Dublin drum ’n’ bass DJ Beta 2, resident at Bassbin at The Metropolitan, has signed a single to Goldie’s label Metalheadz for release later this year. Also on a breakbeat tip, Raff and Alan Pullen have just produced their best ever work, a mesmerising nine-minute drum ’n’ bass workout called ‘King Kong’, which samples the original movie and marks a new departure for the hard dance duo… Incidentally, Pullen and Rafferty are co-producers of ‘Psycho’, the new Dalto release, which surfaced this month as a one-sided single on BHS. Dalto’s ‘Swarm’ has now been signed up by Jay Pidgeon’s Crash Test Recordings… London label Bulletproof has signed yet another single from Dublin producer Karl Davis. ‘Fourth Dimension’, made in collaboration with fellow Dubliner John Kerrigan, is out in August. It’s the fourth Davis single signed by Bulletproof…
Two of the North’s best DJs, Fergie and Phil Kieran play The Radisson in Galway on June 18. Tickets are on sale now… Summer guests at Dublin Thursday club Eye Candy, which runs at Traffic, include deep house don Kerri Chandler, Copyright (Defected), Brian Tappart (Soulfuric), Seamus Haji (Big Love), Mark Knight (Ministry) and Joey Musaphia (Refunkt)… Snowboy plays Ri-Ra in Dublin on June 24… Billy Scurry and Barry Redsetta play The Forum in Waterford on June 19
Much-hyped young band Mainline will play live at The Sugar Club in Dublin this Sunday (June 6), with three top Irish DJs – David Holmes, Johnny Moy and Arveene – also on the bill. It’s Holmer’s last appearance DJing in Ireland until the end of the year, and there will be an after-party at 4 Dame Lane. Mainline, incidentally, have been in the studio for the last couple of weeks putting down some of their bitter sweet symphonies with one of Ireland’s most prolific and talented producers, Leo Pearson (who has co-produced Elvis Costello and remixed U2). At least one major label is keen to sign them up – watch this space…
And finally, a reminder of the many other big parties which are running this Bank Holiday weekend. Tomorrow (Friday 4), Redbox in Dublin presents Old Skool 2, with Liam Dollard and yours truly among the DJs appearing. On Saturday (5), at Nitelinks in Mohill, County Leitrim, Agnelli & Nelson appear, while in Blue in Longford town, Al Gibbs and yours truly will be teaming up… On Sunday (6), German DJ Chris Liebing plays a marathon five-hour set at Technologic at TBMC in Dublin, Sasha plays Redbox, while downstairs at Crawdaddy one of hip-hop’s most exciting new producers RJD2 makes his Irish debut to promote his second album on the hot Definitive Jux label, Since We Last Spoke. Also on the 6, Temple Theatre Reunion 2, at Il Mondo in Ranelagh, features classics sets from Jay Pidgeon, Slipmatt and yours truly, while at The Hub, Belgian DJ Cosy Mozzy joins flamboyant Irish DJ Tonie Walsh… THE BEAT GOES ON!