Paddy & Stella Glasgow Attend Opening Of Julien Frier’s ‘Rhythm And Hues’ Exhibition In Derry
North Coast artist Julien Friers and father of Rory and Ewen Friers [And So I Watch You From Afar and Axis Of respectively] has done a series of portraits of musical icons from across Ireland.
The exhibition was launched in Derry’s London Street Gallery on September 27th
The exhibition includes 16 portraits of famous faces which include amongst others: Henry McCullough, Bronagh Gallagher, Dave Fanning, Gay McIntyre, and of course, Paddy Glasgow.
After thirteen years and countless performances from the best in homegrown musical talent, we bid farewell to our annual home at Eagle’s Rock at the weekend in truly unforgettable fashion. Amongst many other acts on the bill, headliners And So I Watch You From Afar, The Japanese Popstars and The Answer delivered storming performances, the latter act wrapping up our annual showcase’s final year on the main stage late on Saturday night.
Arguably our most exhilarating showcase to date – expanding to a two-day event for the first time in Glasgowbury history – the event marked our ‘Small but Massive’ transition into new territories after over a decade providing an unparalleled platform for up-and-coming and established artists throughout the country. Earlier this month it was announced that we are set to relocate to an expanded creative hub in Draperstown’s Cornstore, where the continued promotion of homegrown talent and expansion of new educational and creative enterprises will thrive.
With festival organiser Paddy Glasgow asking festival-goers “to look out for a Small but Massive stage near you” on the main stage following the Answer’s set on Saturday night, the future of Glasgowbury is very much in the process of redeveloping, rather than ending. New challenges lie ahead as well as a wider and more varied programme of arts and community development that will continue to provide year-long tuition programmes and performance opportunities. We will strive to foster local talent while developing new audiences for the arts.
To the innumerable cast of volunteers, crew, artists and all the festival-goers involved in positively ensuring that the festival’s final send off will live long in the memory, we would like to express our deepest gratitude and thanks. The next stage in Glasgowbury’s forward-thinking regeneration has only just begun.
Six of the acts playing the final ever Glasgowbury festival this weekend have teamed up for three unique collaborations as part of the Nerve Centre’s Resonate project.
Taking place throughout 2013, Resonate is an ambitious recording initiative which hopes to capture the musical talent, energy and spirit of Derry during its tenure as City of Culture by providing a range of recording opportunities, such as locally based professional facilities and roving, mobile ‘pop-up’ recording studios.
Check out the three – excellent – tracks and photos from the sessions below. Who knows? Festival-goers might just hear one or two of thee collaborations performed live up the mountain!
Festival set for final send-off at Eagle’s Rock, Draperstown
On the eve of the thirteenth Glasgowbury festival, the organisers behind Northern Ireland’s premiere celebration of homegrown musical talent have announced that this year’s showcase will be the final full-scale event at its home at Eagle’s Rock, Draperstown. Having started back in 2000, the festival and charitable social enterprise has spearheaded Northern Ireland’s live music culture whilst working closely with various local groups and enterprises to bring the arts to the heart of rural communities. Progressing to the next stage of its forward-thinking development, the organisation aims to conquer exciting new territories and develop new audiences.
With “Small but Massive” very much at the heart of the mid-Ulster organisation’s mantra, the announcement marks Glasgowbury’s relocation to an expanded creative hub in Draperstown’s Cornstore, where the continued promotion of local talent and expansion of new educational and creative enterprises will thrive. Building on the not-for-profit team’s varied community arts and development programme, opening up new opportunities in the creative industries is at the very core of Glasgowbury’s future. The story of the group’s success is not ending: it’s very much beginning.
With And So I Watch You From Afar, TheJapanese Popstars and The Answer headlining at the festival’s swansong at Eagle’s Rock across the weekend of 19-20th July, plans are already afoot to break new ground and create innovative platforms to showcase our local artists to new domestic and international audiences. Glasgowbury has created a sustainable event delivery model which has transferred successfully to other communities. Now located to its own creative hub, Glasgowbury will deliver a wider more varied programme of arts and community development continuing to provide tuition programmes and performance opportunities. Glasgowbury will foster local talent while developing new audiences for the arts.
Having played a crucial role in the promotion and development of Irish music for over decade, consistently re-affirming its reputation as a pioneering organisation that welcomes and cultivates artists, volunteers, and participants of all ages and backgrounds; the latest chapter of Glasgowbury is only just beginning. Watch out for a Small But MASSIVE stage near you!
Proving to be one of the most memorable, comprehensively crowd-pleasing highlights of last year’s festival, Northern Irish electronic duo The Japanese Popstars return to Glasgowbury this year as one of the most highly-anticipated acts on the bill. Despite being down a member in Declan McLaughlin, Gary Curran and Gareth Donoghue headline the Small but Massive Stage on Friday night a genre-defining, world-renown act very much at the top of their game. What does second trip up the mountain hold in store this year?
Marking the band’s first live foray in playing brand new material, there is clearly an added impetus to their performance up the mountain this summer. “It’s an exciting time for us,” says Donaghue, who hails from Dungannon, Co. Tyrone. “We are releasing a new album during the summer called Disconnect:Reconnect and we have not been doing any live shows in order to get that finished, so this is going to be the first time playing lots of our material. So we are excited and nervous.”
Having won a small legion of fans of all ages and dispositions at last year’s festival, the profile of the Japanese Popstars has shown no signs of dissipating over the eight years since their inception in 2006. What are their memories of last year? “It was a lot of fun,” reveals Gareth. “As Gary is from Derry and I am originally from Dungannon it’s kind of a home town gig for us both. Lots of our friends came along and we partied hard. The response from the crowd was immense. We arrived on site a couple of hours before the show so we went exploring the site and thought it was really good,” continues Donoghue. “The scenery is spectacular and the whole festival had a very friendly feel.”
With their new album – their third – poised for release on July 15 via Bedrock records, the Japanese Popstars will be hitting the road across the likes of Asia and America to support the release, building upon a fanbase that’s seem lauded in every corner of the globe. Not before their headline set at Glasgowbury, of course, where the band’s preview of new material is sure to stand out on a bill bursting with homegrown talent, both establishing and upcoming. In their view, what ensures that Glasgowbury stands out in a field of its own when it comes to an annual showcase of local talent? “I guess the setting is pretty spectacular. That and the fact that it’s bringing together dance music, rock, pop and comedy. It gives young bands the chance to be heard which is the biggest struggle these days with so much free music, so I guess that’s the most important thing.”
With fellow headliners And So I Watch You From Afar on the top of the duo’s must-see acts at this year’s festival – “any time I have seen them they are blown me away” – what would the duo say by way of advice or advice to anyone who might be interested in checking their set at this year’s festival? “Prepare to sweat.”
Please read for details about: tickets, travel, accommodation, location, stage times, vendor info, and more.
There are six stages at this year’s festival (Small But Massive Main Stage, G Sessions, Spurs Of Rock, Eagle’s Rock, G Spot, Generator Stage) with a variety of music and entertainment spread across each.
The ‘Derry Day’ is on Friday at the usual festival site, IT IS NOT IN DERRY. This is to celebrate the city’s title as City of Culture and consists of Derry acts from the city and county.
Glasgowbury have teamed up with CultureTECH this year to create a Tech Tent for the first time. This will have gaming stations another tech goodies.
We are delighted to say that ‘creating the magic’ this year will be BM Promotions & Street Wise Samba band. They will be doing performances from 7-9pm [Fri] & 12-4pm [Sat].
There will also be magic shows, circus skills workshops, arts & crafts, face painting, body shrimping, balloon modelling, samba drumming performance & workshops throughout the weekend.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds will be on Eagle’s Rock to showcase the work of the charity along with some family activities.
Tickets have been capped at last year’s price [Day Ticket £35 / Camping £45], but we’ve added an extra day. So… you’re getting an extra day of entertainment FOR FREE!
Children under 12 GO FREE!
Children under 16 will need a ticket, but must be accompanied by a paying adult.
All children must be supervised by an adult at all times.
A designated family campsite and quiet area is located on site. Please make security aware of your requirements on entry and they will show you to the correct area.
The camping area will only be available to Festival-goers who have purchased the Camping ticket. This will be STRICTLY enforced over the weekend, and absolutely NO EXCEPTIONS will be made.
Anyone found to be in the camp sites without the proper camping armband, will be removed from the site.
Box office / camping WILL NOT be available on Thursday night.
Box office opens on Friday at 1pm, closing at 10pm SHARP – NO ADMITTANCE AFTER THIS TIME.
Box office re-opens Saturday at 10am, closing at 6pm.
There will be no re-entry allowed to the festival site after 10.30pm on Friday & Saturday night.
The long stay car park will be closed from 11pm. Security at the car park will accompany you to your car after this time should you produce relevant ID. Festival-goers are not permitted to sleep in cars at the car park.
Campers must vacate the campsite by 12 noon on Sunday 21st July.
J&K Coaches are our travel provider, they will be doing a shuttle bus from the box office / car park to the festival site. A wristband will get you unlimited travel to these sites throughout the weekend for £2
J&K Coaches will also be doing bespoke pick ups from all over the country. Interested? Book your place by contacting J&K via (028) 867 37776/07783176060 or info@jandkcoaches.com.
J&K Coaches are the sole organisers on this, we do not organise the transport.
If you do decide to take a car, we have secure 24-hr parking at the site at a cost of £5 per car.
Bringing a campervan? Just contact us at: info@glasgowbury.com to arrange a pitch.
Unfortunately due to space restrictions we cannot accommodate caravans at the festival site
We would recommend that anyone wishing to attend with a caravan should book a spot at the nearby Shepherd’s Rest where they have full amenities including access to power requirements.
A bar area will serve up Harp Lager and Guinness while a Red Bull cocktail area will offer refreshing alternatives. A number of food stalls and traders will be on site for your nourishment and enjoyment. And don’t forget to get your hands on some limited edition Glasgowbury merchandise!
Beer prices have been capped at £3.50! Sure you wouldn’t get that in the Big Smoke?!
Caterers will offer a range of foods including Gluten-free, Vegetarian, & Vegan options.
No glass bottles or barbecue stoves will be allowed on site.
No Chinese Lanterns will be allowed anywhere in the site vicinity.
The placards will make their triumphant return!
Bin bags will be supplied to all campers. Please respect the campsite and your patch by keeping your area tidy and using the clean up facilities provided and recycling where possible.
Please note that strobe lighting will be in use throughout the day across the stages. Please show care and attention where appropriate.
Please respect the environment and use the refuse and recycling facilities within the festival and campsite grounds.
Be sure to clean your hands prior to preparing food and drink – our super furry animals may have left some present droppings behind them.
The mountain has very changeable weather and can get very cold at night, be sure to bring your sun cream if it’s sunny, coat & appropriate footwear if it rains, insect repellant if there are, well, insects! And definitely bring warm clothing for the evening
Don’t drink and drive.
Glasgowbury accepts no responsibility for loss or damage to individuals or personal property.
Enjoy your Glasgowbury experience, your here for a good time but it’s still a long enough time! If your going to indulge in ‘The Devil’s Nectar’, make sure you do it in moderation and help those around you if they need it.
With just over two weeks left to this year’s two-day event, Dermot ‘Mod’ McBride has unveiled his half-hour documentary looking at the thirteen year history of Glasgowbury festival titled A Culture of SmallButMassive.
Filmed as part of his University final project, the documentary looks at the history, legacy and important of the festival by getting the thoughts of members from the likes of LaFaro, Fighting With Wire and And So I Watch You From Afar, as well individuals involved in BBC Radio Ulster, Oh Yeah Centre, Derry’s Nerve Centre and Smalltown America Records.
Watch the video below.
For info about tickets for this year’s festival, go here.
Two of the most forward-thinking and thoroughly exciting female Northern Irish singer-songwriters of a generation, Alana Henderson and Katharine Philippa both make their debut performance at this year’s Glasgowbury festival. Having encountered a considerable, ever-increasing amount of praise for their equally enchanting, it is no exaggeration to say that both artists are bound for very big things indeed. Easily two of the most unequivocally “must see” acts in this year’s line-up, we talk to the girls individually about their plans for the summer and all things Glasgowbury…
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This is the first year you’ve played Glasgowbury. Are you excited about playing? What’s the gameplan?
Alana Henderson: Totally. I actually thought I wasn’t playing up until very recently. An email from the festival had gotten trapped in someones outbox so my invite came late. But luckily enough i’m all about delayed gratification so I’m now extra pleased at the prospect!
Katharine Philippa: I think, like all things, I feel many emotions that intertwine and lock together; ‘excitement’ is one player! I have no particular gameplan – other than to play, with my usual desire to be honest to myself and the music.
Alana: The gameplan is to play with more of a band behind me, as opposed to my usual solo set-up, going with the slightly bigger vibe that Glasgowbury has, i think i should step things up a gear! I’ve already managed to persuade a really great violinist called Chris Heron to join me. He plays some great stuff with a loop station, so maybe we’ll even incorporate that into my set a bit. Definitely some percussion. A bigger sound basically.
What has been your experience with Glasgowbury as a festival-goer?
Katharine: This will actually be my first time as fully fledged Glasgowburian! I have played one of the G-Sessions and on my journey there traveled through some beautiful scenes of NI; so I’m looking forward to playing in Draperstown outside, rather than inside.
Alana: I have never been before, though I’ve heard great things!
In your view, how important are the likes of homegrown festivals like Glasgowbury to Northern Irish music generally?
Alana: So important. The fact that we have a strong enough music scene to warrant a festival like Glasgowbury is testament to the quality of musicians here in Northern Ireland and that’s really heartening. There is often a bit of a defeatist attitude that Northern Ireland’s music scene is ‘too small’ for a band to ‘make it’, which i think is completely not true. Glasgowbury is a serious, professionally run festival providing a platform for musicians at the start of their careers as well as bigger names.
Katharine: Northern Irish festivals to Northern Irish musicians are like veins for blood. ie. very necessary!
Alana: Personally I feel really proud to play at a local festival that has such a great reputation far and wide and that I know has grown from grassroots level based on a bunch of hard working individuals with belief in the value of what we have here, lots of great local bands and great local fan who are willing to support homegrown music.
What do you think makes Glasgowbury unique, if anything? Any particular highlights in mind?
Katharine: Each experience is unique, I guess. Glasgowbury, under the guise of ‘festival’ is unique by having its own mountainside location and its own conjuring atmosphere. Every festival is unique; yet every festival replicates a mingling of people, music and experience…
What other acts at this year’s festival are you looking forward see?
Alana: It’s so hard to narrow it down. Little Bear, Ryan Vail, Rams’ Pocket Radio, Runaway Go, Silhouette… and bands I haven’t heard yet. I look forward to being surprised!
Katharine: I’m just looking forward to just hearing good music – whoever that comes from. I’ll come from lots of acts I’ve already seen live, I’m sure; but I’m looking forward to catching Miss Alana Henderson and her cello for the first time.
Aside from the festival, what are the plans for you over the summer?
Katharine: My current interest lies in creating power from minimal human numbers; it’s not about me – it’s about the music. My band is currently myself, Korg, Zoom and Box. Occasionally, Loop and/or and other humans are brought in, but really it’s just that initial quartet. I am, and have been, squirreling away translating some new material, which I will hopefully release before entering into my final year, studying Music at Queen’s. Lots of growth, mistakes, learning and living planned for the summer months, too; lots of shapes.
Alana: I’m playing a few other festivals and I’m just back from playing in Hamburg and playing a few dates supporting Duke Special which was very exciting. I’m doing some traditional music stuff too as well as my own music, so the summer is a really busy time. It’s all music-related though: no holidays, just playing away like crazy and enjoying every minute of it!
Four years on from their triumphant headline performance at Glasgowbury ’09, North Coast quartet And So I Watch You From Afar are widely held as one of the most forward-thinking rock bands in the world today.Returning as one of our three headliners up the mountain this year – alongside Downpatrick rockers The Answer and electronic duo The Japanese Popstars – they have seen considerable changes in terms of sound, line-up and popularity in their meteoric rise since their formation back in 2005. We catch up with the band’s founding guitarist Rory Friers to get his thoughts on eight years of ASIWYFA and all things Glasgowbury-related.
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Your new album, All Hail Bright Futures, is evidently the distillation of many, many hours practicing, touring and songwriting. What do you think contributes to the energy so marked in the recording?
I think we were just in a good place in terms of how the three of us were working together, there was an absolute collective forward motion to make something new and progressive, which in turn made for a really open forum of ideas and sounds, the soul of the album really developed in the studio,the songs were skeletal fragmented pieces of music that we sort of crafted and decorated in there, it was like we’d arrived with a weeks worth of shopping and then had make this incredible banquet but there was no recipe book, it was a great feeling to be so engrossed an immersed in making music with out worrying about anything else really, thats such a big part of the band when we get into that time of making songs, I love it and it served as a sort of catharsis for any stresses going on outside of the recording process.
In terms of how you have progressed over the last couple of years – both musically and interpersonally – which moments stand out as being significant to how everything’s panned out?
I think there was a gradual shift into becoming a bit more fearless in terms of stepping into uncharted territory musically for the band, that was of absolute significance in terms of not worrying what people would think of our music and not having to fit into a certain peg hole, that was a great shackle to loose, it meant a great sense of openness toward making music. The result of that made the dynamic of the band even more intense and together, it’s like when you make the transition into being able to fart in front of your girl friend, haha. We’ve reached a whole new level of comfort in our relationship with each other.
You’ve travelled the world gigging, winning man fans over in the process. How important is it to tour with a local support?
A local support band is always cool, we usually bring one band we love out with us and one local band to open which we pick ourselves from the local promoters suggestions, it’s important to us that we are into all the bands playing on our bill, it needs to feel like there’s cohesion to a night. Having a new band to watch every day is nice, sometimes you find something you love, sometimes you find new friends, but you always find relief in seeing that’s there’s lots of people just like us living this weird music obsessed life just all over the world, its cool, it makes the world seem a bit more together
You have, of course, performed Glasgowbury before. It you could distil your memories of playing there to a handful of sights and sounds, what would they be?
Headlining the main stage will always be a real moment in time that will stick with me forever, the significance for us of playing in front of that many people and during the peak of that wonderfully rich time for local music, there was a sort of fever pitch to it. In my mind’s eye the crowd stretched to beyond Draperstown. As Graham Smith would say it was a tattoo worthy moment.
What’s the feeling in the camp about returning as one of our three headliners this year?
It’s a total privilege to get to come back and play again, when your away and you know that the festival is happening up the mountain it always makes us feel really home sick, I’m just so glad it worked out this year, and it makes for an interesting weekend of festivals, Benicassim in Barcelona the night before and Truck and Dour the next two days, so we’ll be tired boys by the end of that weekend. But it might be a blessing in disguise leaving after we play as it tends to get a little messy when we’re camping over as I’m sure it does for everyone.
In your view, how important is Glasgowbury to Northern Irish music generally, right across the year?
It’s huge. It’s a proper festival that bands have a real chance of playing, its an attainable thing that we looked to and thought “we could actually play this”, it was an aspiration of ours from day one and for all our friends who played in bands. Glasgowbury is one of those things that makes you stick your chest out that little bit more and make you proud of your home.
As festival-goers rather than performers, which personal Glasgowbury highlights stand out in mind?
Fighting With Wire in 2007 was just amazing, it was the first year we’d been and the vibe was insane. Fighting With Wire were unstoppable and everyone new every word, it was so good. Also seeing my little bro (Ewan, Axis Of) play the main stage for the first time was incredible, they killed it, I got all big brother and teary.
Despite what you have recorded, you are very much a band who are at the peak of their collective powers when playing live. Does any gigs stand out over the last few years?
There’s been so many, a lot of shows blend into this one huge ball of memories and flickers of places and people, but some shows stand out as significant or special every now and again, we recently sold out a few big shows in the UK a couple of months in advance for the first time, it was the first time we played to a bigger crowd than we would at home,that was a crazy feeling to feel that we had accomplished that.
But some of my favourite shows have been when we play some ones house party after a show, one that stands out was when we played this old shack in Kansas after asking on college radio if anyone wanted us to play there house. We got there, helped move all the furniture into the garden and at 9pm the house was full,people were standing up the stairs, behind the amps, crowd surfing, it was so much fun, though my guitar hit into the roof fan at one point and gave me and all the people underneath me a really hectic electric shock, but all in all it was such a collective vibe, everyone pitched in and made this amazing thing out of nothing.
Which acts – established or otherwise – are you excited about catching at this year’s festival?
Unfortunately we’re only gonna be on site for a really short time but I’m super excited to see Jetplane Landing again and hopefully hear some of the new album live, I love that band so much. Anyone staying the weekend has to catch Ryan Vail, he has an incredible sound.
Finally, Glasgowbury aside, what are the plans for the band over the next months?
We actually do our first shows in Africa this week which is really exciting and then we get into festival season which is great as we were recording last summer so we didn’t get to play any last time, we play some really cool independent festivals over UK and Europe as well as some of the bigger ones like Benicassim, Dour, Reading and Leeds etc, it’s looking like a fun summer. After that we do some more European dates in sept until heading to the states for a couple of months on a co headline your along side TTNG with support from the amazing Mylets.
We’re gonna stay on in LA for a while I think and do some writing at our labels new recording studio they built out in the dessert,that’s going to be cool. It’s going to be a good year I think. We really struggled for the passed 18 to 24 months trying to stabilise the band again, we had a lot of bumps in the road and bad luck, it took a lot of determination and work to keep pushing it all forward and we had to ask for some help from others too, so this year feels like a bit of a pay off in some ways, after all that stress we get to go out and enjoy this time.
