Tag Archives: Guinness 250

Competition: Tickets to see David Gray, Lisa Hannigan and more at Arthur’s Day

  By darraghdoyle | September 10, 2009 - 2:26 pm | Competitions, Featured Post, Music, The Culch
17 Comments

I’m delighted to be able to bring you this exclusive competition, thanks to Guinness. So, Arthur’s Day is September 24… (but I may have told you that already) Here’s the blog post featuring the full line-up for each venue Here’s the chat with Simon from The Chapters, one of the bands who’ll be playing Here’s the chat with Mik Pyro from Republic of Loose about their plans for the day Here’s the chat with Bresy and Lynchy from The Blizzards about their gig on the day Here’s the post announcing the ticket sales Here’s the post about Arthurs day and its launch So, we’re giving tickets to one lucky Culch.ie reader to one of the best - sold out - gigs of the entire celebration. You could win two tickets to Whelan’s of Wexford Street, Dublin 2 to raise a Guinness to Arthur at 17:59 that evening and see the … There’s more →

Finding out about Republic of Loose with Mik Pyro

  By darraghdoyle | August 15, 2009 - 3:34 pm | Events, Featured Post, Music, The Culch
4 Comments

Mention Republic of Loose to most people in Ireland and like them or not, they’ve heard of them. A seven to fifteen member strong band, they’ve taken the music that they like - a lot of American soul, funk, blues, rap and hip hop and blended it into a fairly unique sounding style that gets the heart racing, feet moving and head bopping along. Since their first album - This is the tomb of the Juice - in 2004, right through Aaagh! in 2006 and last year’s Vol IV Johnny Pyro and the Dance of Evil, they have consistently proven themselves to be one of Ireland’s most versatile, random and hard working bands. I sat down with lead singer Mik Pyro to chat about the origins of the band, their musical style, supporting U2 at Croke Park, their next album, touring Ireland and their upcoming gig for Arthur’s Day on … There’s more →

Finding out about The Chapters and their Arthurs Day plans

  By darraghdoyle | August 13, 2009 - 12:39 pm | Events, Music
5 Comments

One of the many great acts for Arthur’s Day, coming on Thursday, September 24 as part of the Guinness 250 celebrations is up and coming Dublin band The Chapters. The Chapters are a five piece band comprising of singer Ross McNally, guitar player Simon Eustace, keyboard player Turlough Gunawardhana, drummer Ciaran Fortune and Offaly base player Michael Murphy. Among the many people they’ve played support for are Neil Young, Chuck Berry, the Coronas and Cathy Davey. I first saw them at the launch of Arthur’s Day and was really impressed by the melodic sounds, the enthusiasm of the group and their understanding of what it takes to get a crowd going. They also played the recent Horse Show Hustle for Brainwave, Castlepalooza and Oxegen 2009 as well as a rake of other gigs. Certainly a band I want to know more about. Their debut album, Perfect Stranger is out now … There’s more →

Interview with The Blizzards

  By darraghdoyle | July 19, 2009 - 8:33 pm | Events, Music
2 Comments

I had the distinct pleasure of chatting with Bresy (Niall Breslin) and Lynchy (Aidan Lynch) from The Blizzards at the Guinness 250 Launch during the week. Here’s what they had to say for themselves - notable mentions: their new 80s power ballad album idea, the great Irish song to sing - Angel of Finglas anyone? - and why they’re playing the Guinness 250 celebrations: You’ll find The Blizzards on MySpace here and on twitter over here. Big thanks to Ruth for organising and Anto for camera work

The incredible lineup for the Guinness 250 celebrations

  By darraghdoyle | July 15, 2009 - 8:06 pm | Events, Featured Post, Music, The Culch
11 Comments

I’m taking Friday 25 September off work. Definitely. This afternoon we were at the launch of the Guinness 250 Arthur’s Day Celebrations. We watched The Chapters and Noah and the Whale perform. Here’s Noah and the Whale performing Rocks and Daggers: What’s Arthur’s Day? Well, on Thursday September 24 2009 at 17:59 Dublin time, there’ll be a toast to Arthur Guinness to mark 250 years since the signing of the 9,000 year lease on the James’s Gate Brewery and to kick off the beginning of the Arthur’s Day global events. In Dublin there’ll be live music events in over 30 venues across Dublin “from intimate gigs in 28 Dublin pubs to the Tripod, Vicar St, Wehlan’s and The Academy and a big concert in James’s Gate itself.” The problem is - where do you go? The confirmed line-up so far of performers is (*deep breath*): Tom Jones, David Gray, Estelle, … There’s more →