The Dublin Community Blog

Sending Letters to the Sea were already introduced in Brandon’s recent post; but I’d like to use the opportunity to feature the two ladies and four gentlemen in this month’s Discovered in Dublin. After a successfull release-show in St. Columba’s Church in Swords last week (were some of the material for the debut album were recorded), Dublinblog spoke to main main and initiator Mark Garry about future plans for the project and the reason to merge visual art and music in this band/collaboration.

Read the rest of this entry »

I have to confess that I completely nicked this off the good people over at culch.ie, but this is so incredibly good it has to be reposted. Visual artist Eoghan Kidney’s video for Underworld vs Mark Knight and D.Ramirez, played “on” Liberty Hall. Could someone please convince Dublin Tourism to make this the official video representing our city?

Some days, you just need to unwind in a place where all the stress and hectic of this oh-so-modern life does not really matter. And what better place to do that then in the cinema. And I’m not talking 20-screen-multiplex here. More the old, dusty ones, where the smell of 30 years selling popcorn will never be completely gone. And this is why I’m singing the praise of the Screen. After its latest refurbishment and re-installment of the famous neon-lights the Screen cinema has now initiated a new season of classical movies, “Ministry of Musicals”. These films will be screened weekly on Tuesday evenings from 17th November starting with Singing in the Rain.

Programme Manager, Anna Taylor commented, “We are delighted with the changeover to digital, it has given us the chance  to be even more creative with our film programming. We are embracing the future, honoring the past and we hope to keep our audiences happy for years to come”. While talking about  the Screen’s future intentions, Anna revealed that they intend to show classic films regularly in the cinema. She went on to say that the entire basis of film appreciation is looking back at the roots of modern cinema and that she hopes that showing classic movies will complement the Screen’s repertoire of new films.

My personal favourite of the classics is the -ahem- classic Wizard of Oz from 1939:

So, if you are looking for some escapism in these dire times, and especially as the weather will probably not improve for the next 5 months, why not pay a visit to a time-honoured Dublin cinema institution.

And to keep updated on future plans and more classic screenings, you can follow the Screen on Twitter or become a fan on their Facebook-profile. Hell, they even have their won Wikipedia-entry.

- Or an ode to Dublin

So, here I am now in a dirty old town that I reached while the Celtic Tiger was already preparing to go into his final hibernation. And fell in love with it, though I could not tell you when exactly it happened and why. Maybe because of the fact that things are not perfect here (busses never on time, railway-bridges collapsing, city development postponed – but then who needs perfection anyway?), maybe because the Irish are such welcoming people (in spite of the knackers who tried to rob me twice and threatened me with physical violence even more often), or maybe because (again, in spite of the recession) Dublin still is a city filled with loads of interesting people from all over the world. And mixed with the very own ways of the Irish, it’s like the whole of Europe meeting in a pub on a Friday evening. You never know if you’ll be drunk at 10 and go home or stay all night listening to a band from Senegal and conversing until the wee hours with a random acquaintance. Who might well be Quentin Tarantino.

Read the rest of this entry »

As Roseanne stated in her comment last week, the weekend definitively has not enough days. And I would even go so far as to say that this year the October has not enough days. After last weeks HWCH-Festival, and the 10th Darklight-Festival before it, tomorrow marks the beginning of another staple of the Dublin event calendar: this years Dublin Electronic Arts Festival.

DEAF returns with our most extensive programme to date, including films, gallery installations, workshops, live gigs and club events. We ask you to glance through the programme at the more than 150 events on offer, confident that you’ll find something in there for you

Again I am astonished by the broad palette of events: not purely electronica-based standards such as DJ-Sets and club performances (though there are aplenty), but also exhibitions, installations and screenings.

Dublinblog was able to talk to Festival Director Eamonn Doyle about the highs and lows in running such a festival. Having started in 2002 as a spinoff of Eamonn’s D1-label and meant to be a platform for Irish electronic acts, the festival has developed into a showcase of Irish and international artists, and is most definitively going beyond the limits of the word “electronic” in its title. Though lacking a big commercial sponsor, the line-up this year is one of the biggest and most diverse ever; and handing over certain parts of the planning and booking to local promoters has helped to increase the choices of shows and events.

Some of Emaonn’s favourite picks this year include:

- The opening night of the festival featuring the young Austrian artist Soap & Skin.
- David Rodigan at the Sugar Club, described by Eamonn as the “elderly, school teacher-type godfather of (UK) Reggae and Dancehall”.
- The only D1-feature at the festival, the Naphta album launch.
- “New Spaces for Music” – a series of live performances staged in unusual spaces around Dublin, including shops, empty offices, a van, an apartment and a train station.

By all means go and you’ll be able to find something extraordinary for yourself to see, and please support the artists and the festival itself.

My personal picks this year include California’s finest Isis; Relay, a sound project initiated and curated by John Lambert (aka Chequerboard); Goldie’s History of Metalheadz set and last but not least the Egyptian/Middle Eastern documentary short films at the Odessa Club.

Isis – Not In Rivers But In Drops from Kostas Tsikrikes on Vimeo.

And if you are still looking for something to do at the weekend we recommend the 2009 edition of the Hard Working Class Heroes Festival. But to be honest, you must have been deaf & blind if you did not hear anything about it yet – mega mega mega.

(image via)

Hard Working Class Heroes is 7 years old this year. 7 years building what is now a staple in the Irish music calendar. A festival of newness, 100 bands, 6 venues, 3 nights.

In one weekend, in six venues you can see the 100 best new acts in Ireland. We know they’re the best because we have 35 experts from Ireland and around the globe helping us to pick them. Not only are they good but they are very different from each other and come from all over the country. Diamonds who have played previous HWCH include Heathers, The Lost Brothers, Jape, Adrian Crowley, Duke Special, Fight Like Apes, The Coronas and a lot lot more.

I am not even trying to give an overview of what’s happening where and when, please see for yourselves. The acts I am going to see however include Dublinblog darlings The Spook of the 13th Lock, C!ties – which have recently opened for the incredible And So I Watch You From Afar, Fionn Regan and of course the lovely Ham Sandwich . And there’s also a street performance initiative called “HWCH and the city”, featuring acts who are performing at the festival playing on the streets, record stores and bookshops all over Dublin city centre, so don’t forget to mark your calendars.

The gigs will all take place during the day, so if you’re lucky you’ll be able to see some of the bands playing plugged at night doing an accoustic-stunt in daylight hours. To know who’s playing where you’ll need to follow the festival on Twitter.

See you around.

The Norsemen are upon us again! As last year, the Dublin Viking Festival is taking place next weekend.

The Dublin Viking Festival takes place on Dublin’s Wood Quay and Temple Bar from Friday the 16th October until Sunday 18th October 2009.The Vikings were the first settlers at Dublin and old reminants of their settlement have been found at Wood Quay in Dublin City Centre on the site of Dublin City Council’s civic offices.

Dublin City Council invites you to come down and explore our Viking Heritage from 12 noon – 6pm October 16th, 17th & 18th for a family fun packed weekend.

I’ve been there last year, and have to confess that it is a bit dull for a veteran roleplayer like me; plus the post-modern surroundings of the civic offices are not really helping in recreating the image of the Viking world. On the other hand it was great fun for the kids, and it seems the festival is generally more aiming at family entertainment than drinking mead from the skulls of slain enemies. And if there’s the same re-enactment group as last year, you’ll get at least an overview of how to form a propper Viking shield wall:

After the namesake closed it’s Munich’ gates last weekend, it’s time for Dublin to have its share of German delicacies. Especially German beer. And this is possible at the Paulaner Oktoberfest at the IFSC, which is back from tomorrow on.

Last year the Paulaner Oktoberfest took Dublin by surprise! Over 70,000 people visited this unique free Bavarian event. Make sure you don’t miss it this year. It starts on Thursday the 8th and runs until the 18th of October in George’s Dock in the IFSC.
Experience traditional German fun, food and entertainment with over 30 German barmaids dressed in traditional Dirndl’s!

And this is not all of German-themed entertainment in town this weekend. Our friends over at the Porterhouse are launching their own version of the Oktoberfest tomorrow as well. And for this occasion they have the delicious Früh Kölsch from my hometown Cologne on tap – not very Bavarian, but nevertheless very tasty.

Disclaimer: Dublinblog is not responsible for any adverse health effects you may experience after having a couple of steins. Please enjoy your German beer responsibly.

Almost October, but still time to squeeze in the September-”issue” of Discovered in Dublin. And this time we are featuring a young lady whose hypnotic sounds are quite fitting for the upcoming autumn season – and who likes knitting. Abigail Smith is a singer/songwriter hailing from Dublin, has played the Electric Picnic in 2008 and has recently released her debut album  “Night Time Walking”. And she’s also the sister of Dublinblog’s very own Roseanne.

Without further ado, here’s what Abigail has to say:

Read the rest of this entry »