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2006 in Irish music

This is a summary of the year 2006 in the Irish music industry.

Summary

January

February

March

  • American singer-songwriter, Josh Ritter, popular with Irish audiences, collapsed whilst performing on stage at An Grianán Theatre in Letterkenny on March 7. Fears that he would be unable to complete his Irish tour proved unfounded and Ritter returned to finish his Letterkenny show on September 4, playing a second gig there the following night. Later (Thursday September 6, 2007), whilst appearing on Rick O'Shea's show on 2fm, he commented: "If there's one thing I've learned it's to not eat Chinese food in Letterkenny."

May

  • On May 1, Snow Patrol's internationally anticipated fourth album Eyes Open was released. It spawned a number of hits including "Chasing Cars", which gained significant popularity in the United States after being featured on the popular medical drama Grey's Anatomy.
  • On Friday May 26, it was confirmed by Slane Castle and music promoters MCD that no concert would take place at the venue this year as a suitable act could not be found. It was the first time since the mid-1990s that it has not taken place in consecutive years, with Eminem having pulled out in 2005. Lord Henry Mountcharles had targeted American rock group Green Day as his preferred headline act, but the Californian band were not touring in 2006. He had this to say: "There was no big band that could do it. The acts are not available."

June

July

  • Oxegen 2006 got under way on the weekend of Saturday July 8 and Sunday July 9 and was memorable for hosting The Who's first Irish performance in 35 years, the Irish debut of Arctic Monkeys, James Brown's final Irish festival performance whilst alive and the Red Hot Chili Peppers fourth performance in Ireland in five summers.

August

September

October

November

  • On Friday November 3, a group of largely Irish musical artists release an album The Cake Sale for the charity Oxfam and the Ireland Make Trade Fair campaign. They were formed by Brian Crosby of Bell X1, and other contributing artists included Crosby's bandmates Paul Noonan and David Geraghty, Glen Hansard of The Frames, Damien Rice, Lisa Hannigan, Neil Hannon, Gemma Hayes and Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody.
  • Just three days later, on Monday November 6, the U2/Green Day duet "The Saints Are Coming" was released. A music video for the song, directed by Chris Milk, was released on video site YouTube on Friday October 27, 2006. The music video showed the two bands playing at the Abbey Road Studio and at the Louisiana Superdome (though the footage from the live performance at the Superdome was overdubbed with the studio version of the song), intermixed with news footage of the displacement of residents after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The second half of the video showed an alternate history in which George W. Bush redeployed troops and vehicles from Iraq to New Orleans to help victims of the hurricane, with the military personnel fulfilling the titular role of the "saints." The video had more than two million views on YouTube five days after its initial upload. The single received a Grammy nomination for "Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group".
  • On Friday November 17, U2's compilation album U218 Singles was released. The track listing had been announced on Friday November 3.

December

  • On Saturday December 9, U2 played the final date of their Vertigo Tour in Honolulu, Hawaii. After the show, U2 manager Paul McGuinness announced that the band were planning to release their new album by late 2007.
  • On Thursday December 21, Bell X1 announced that they would be playing Malahide Castle in Dublin on Saturday June 30, 2007, and then Live at the Marquee in Cork on Sunday July 1, 2007.
  • On Saturday 23 December, news broke that Bono was to receive an honorary British knighthood from Elizabeth II for his humanitarian work and contribution to music. He was eventually presented with the award by the British ambassador to Ireland on Thursday 29 March 2007.

Bands formed

Bands disbanded

Bands reformed

Albums & EPs

A total of 180 Irish albums were released in 2006.

Below is a list of notable albums & EPs released by Irish artists in Ireland in 2006.

Release date unknown

Singles

Below is a list of notable singles released by Irish artists in Ireland in 2006.

Release date unknown

Festivals

Oxegen 2006

Electric Picnic 2006

Hi:Fi Ireland

Heineken Green Energy

The 11th Heineken Green Energy Festival at Dublin Castle was headlined by Snow Patrol who played on April 29. Richard Hawley also played that day. The 2006 event also saw Ian Brown and Republic of Loose on April 30 whilst Kaiser Chiefs and Graham Coxon finished off the festival on May 1. With many other acts playing around the city during the weekend as part of the "gig trail/fringe" (i.e. the other music venues around the city), Dublin once again became an international music centre for the duration of the festival.

Garden Party 2006

Indie-pendence 06

Bud Rising

Bud Rising Spring, Bud Rising Summer and Bud Rising Winter took place in 2006 and as ever both were spread across a vast variety of venues.

Download Festival

  • Download Festival Ireland hosted a two-day event at the RDS Showgrounds in Dublin in 2006, headlined by metal acts Guns N' Roses and Metallica.

Live at the Marquee

Slane 2006

  • Slane 2006 was cancelled after a failure to find a suitable headline act. It was the first time since the mid-1990s that it has not taken place in consecutive years, with Eminem having pulled out in 2005. Lord Henry Mountcharles had targeted American rock group Green Day as his preferred headline act, but the Californian band were not touring in 2006. Lord Henry had this to say: "There was no big band that could do it. The acts are not available."

Music awards

2006 Meteor Awards

The 2006 Meteor Awards were held on February 2, 2006. Below are the winners:

Choice Music Prize

The Choice Music Prize for Irish Album of the Year 2005 was awarded at Vicar Street to Julie Feeney for her album 13 Songs on February 28, 2006.

See also

References

External links