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Kodaline are set to headline the second major Government-funded outdoor test gig of the summer, Hot Press has learned. The gig will now take place not in the Phoenix Park, as originally announced, but in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, where the Irish Museum of Modern Art is located.

The bill, for what promises to be a fine day’s music, also features current Hot Press cover star Denise Chaila - who is widely understood to be on the verge of a major international breakthrough. Denise is featured on the cover of Hot Press alongside President Michael D. Higgins.

Other headliner-status artists on board include the billion-streaming Gavin James, whose plans for a major push in 2020 were scuppered by lockdown. Also on the bill is the emerging Cork star Lyra, who recently featured as the lead singer in the animated version of Riverdance, and who is hotly tipped for future mega success. With trad legend Sharon Shannon – the subject of a lockdown Late Late Show special – and recent Hot Press cover stars Wyvern Lingo also set to feature, musically it will be a heavily female-centric occasion.

Wyvern Lingo released their second album Awake You Lie at the start of the year – and it was widely praised, including a rave review in Hot Press. They were also among the stars participating in Rave On Van Morrison, the celebration of the singer’s work, organised on the occasion of his 75th birthday, performing a powerful version of the classic, ‘Domino’.

Reports at the weekend that The Coronas were also set to feature in the pilot are not correct. The full line-up for the event is:

Kodaline
Gavin James
Lyra
Denise Chaila
Sharon Shannon
Wyvern Lingo

The show will be hosted by The 2 Johnnies, who are responsible for what’s been described as Ireland’s fastest growing podcast.

Kodaline released their fourth album One Day at a Time in 2020. A De Luxe version of the album, with four new tracks, is scheduled for release in November 2021, and the band also recently announced an acoustic tour – “our first ever fully stripped down, acoustic tour,” the band say – which will see them play a total of nine Irish dates, including in Derry and Castlebar, before finishing with two nights at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin.

The Royal Hospital gig is being programmed and produced by MCD.

The gig is set to take place on the same day as the annual Dublin Gay Pride celebrations. The word on the grapevine within the gay community is that an informal Picnic in the Park is planned for that day in Phoenix Park, at which the rainbow colours will feature prominently,

More details of the Royal Hospital gig and how to access tickets will be announced shortly.