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2008 in Irish music

This is a summary of the year 2008 in the Irish music industry.

Summary

January

February

March

  • On Monday March 3, Editors, The Hoosiers, Lightspeed Champion, Róisín Murphy, Battles, Richard Hawley, Kate Nash, Scouting for Girls, The Zutons, Newton Faulkner, Pendulum and Bowling for Soup were announced for Oxegen 2008.
  • On Wednesday March 5 at 8 a.m., tickets went on sale for Prince's performance at Croke Park on June 16, priced at €66.50.
  • On Thursday March 6, the first issue of State appeared on Irish shelves. By October it was being given away for free.
  • Also on Thursday March 6, Oxegen 2008 was officially launched with official confirmation of appearances by Amy Winehouse, The Pogues, The Charlatans and The Swell Season, featuring Oscar winners Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. A breakdown of the acts was also revealed for the first time. This was in preparation for Friday March 7, when tickets for the festival went on general sale at 8 a.m.
  • On Monday March 10 at 9 a.m., tickets for Neil Young's Malahide Castle show on Sunday June 29 and his performance at the Marquee in Cork on June 30, priced at €81.25 standing, went on sale.
  • On Wednesday March 12 at 9 a.m., tickets for Lou Reed's performance at the Marquee in Cork on Monday June 23 went on sale, priced between €54.80 and €65.70.
  • On March 12, a new website offered free festival tickets in exchange for sperm donations.
  • On Thursday March 13, there was "uproar" and "bewilderment" as it was revealed that R.E.M.'s new album Accelerate would be accepted as "Irish music" by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. As the album was recorded in Grouse Lodge Studios in County Westmeath it qualifies as "Irish". BCI chief executive Michael O'Keeffe confirmed this was to be the case. "It's supporting the Irish music industry," he said. Kylie Minogue, who recorded a number of tracks for her album Fever in Dublin's Windmill Lane Studios, including the title track and the hit single "Love at First Sight", would also be considered "Irish". Irish musicians openly condemned the position. Steve Wall said that it was "the first time I heard that". "It sounds ridiculous. Shame on them", was the view of Concerto For Constantine bassist, Gavin Fox, calling it "just another excuse for stations not to get behind Irish music". Kíla's Colm Ó Snodaigh referred to how "we used to have Def Leppard and Lisa Stansfield living here as tax exiles, does that mean they'd count as Irish too?" and stating that R.E.M. "certainly don't need the extra airplay". Julie Feeney called for "a bit of imagination and persistence from a DJ who's willing to take the jump and play Irish artists." Louis Walsh called it "crazy" and criticised Irish stations constantly playing United States acts such as Timbaland, Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, making the point that Snow Patrol's success came largely out of their music appearing on a US TV show and emphasising the difficulties faced by potential future U2s. Music directors at local radio stations Red FM (Cork) and Phantom 105.2 (Dublin) said that they would not include international artists who had recorded in Ireland as part of their required "Irish music" output.
  • On Friday March 14, the Apple iPhone was launched in Ireland, available on the O<sub>2</sub> network only. Churchtown student Philip Cosgrave (21), was the first person in the country to purchase the phone. The iPhone was made available in eight and 16GB models, but these were criticised for their price, retailing in Ireland for €399 and €499 respectively.
  • Also on Friday March 14, tickets for Leonard Cohen's June 14 and 15 dates at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham went on sale, priced from €88.50 to €115. The shows were Cohen's first Irish dates in twenty years. Tickets for a third date (June 13) went on sale on Wednesday March 26 at 9&nbsp;a.m.
  • On Sunday March 16 at approximately 01:15, the Dublin nightclub and music venue, The Village on Wexford Street caught fire. Over 800 people inside at the time were evacuated safely within seven minutes. The fire affected mainly the front of the premises and the damage to the building was not extensive. The fire was blamed on an electrical fault. Meanwhile, Bell X1's tour bus caught fire outside the hotel where they were staying in Medford, Massachusetts. Paul Noonan and David Geraghty were on board the vehicle at the time and raised the alarm after smelling smoke. Fire fighters were called to the scene shortly after 3.30&nbsp;a.m. and took 90&nbsp;minutes to put out the blaze, which started in the bus' ventilation/air-conditioning unit and caused an estimated $50,000 worth of damage. On Saint Patrick's Day they appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, a move that led to their Chicago show selling out.
  • On Wednesday March 26 at 6&nbsp;p.m., the line-up for Electric Picnic 2008 was announced.
  • On Thursday March 27, promoters MCD revealed to the Herald that The Killers would be playing Marlay Park in August, adding that tickets for the event would go on sale on April 4 at 8&nbsp;a.m.
  • On Friday March 28 at 9&nbsp;p.m., tickets for Electric Picnic 2008 went on sale. Weekend tickets – there were no individual day ones – cost €240 including camping, with the various sites opening at 9&nbsp;a.m. on Friday August 29. Camper van access cost €60.

April

May

  • Heineken Green Energy took place at Dublin Castle from Saturday May 3 until Monday May 5, marking the beginning of the festival season in Ireland. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds opened the 2008 event with a sold-out show on May 3, supported by David Graney; Radio Soulwax and 2manydjs headlined on Sunday May 4, with Riton DJ Set and Das Pop; The Kooks headlined on Monday May 5, supported by The Coronas. All support acts began at 6&nbsp;p.m. with headliners taking to the stage at 9&nbsp;p.m. Phantom FM transformed Thomas Reads on Parliament Street into the Heineken Green Energy Festival HQ for the weekend. Win tickets
  • On Wednesday May 7, it was announced that all tickets for Oxegen 2008 had sold out, as 40 new acts joined the bill. These included Manic Street Preachers, The Kooks, The Stranglers, Feeder, Echo & the Bunnymen, Bell X1, Groove Armada, Vampire Weekend, The Ting Tings, Black Kids, MGMT, The Coronas, Concerto For Constantine and Delorentos.
  • On Tuesday May 13, illness put paid to two gigs due to take place in Dublin that night. The Pigeon Detectives cancelled their Academy show after frontman Matt Bowman suffered a serious leg injury during the band's set at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Kent, after which he was brought to hospital where it was initially feared he might need emergency surgery. Their performance in Belfast's Mandela Hall on May 14 was also affected by the injury. However, on Friday May 16, it was announced that they would be appearing at Oxegen alongside The National, The Go! Team, The Enemy, Tricky and One Night Only. On June 3, The Pigeon Detectives announced rescheduled dates in Dublin's Academy on July 22 and Belfast's Mandela Hall on July 23. Meanwhile, Canadian group, Black Mountain also cancelled their gig in the Button Factory on the same night due to an unspecified illness. On May 14, Skinny Wolves Club gig was cancelled "due to a mess up with EX MODELS flights, leaving them stranded in London, unable to fly to Dublin for the gig." On May 19, Animal Collective cancelled their Tripod show due to missing a ferry, "the third no show in a week" as dramatically (and inaccurately) described by Hot Press. Arch-rivals State bit back with news that a new show, with support from Atlas Sound, had been put together on the same date at Whelan's, causing uproar amongst fans who had been let down by Hot Press and Phantom news bulletins.
  • On Friday May 16, another 2fm reschedule was announced, with Dave Fanning returning to his midnight slot (where he started) on Sundays, a new slot for Jenny Huston's The Annex 7&nbsp;p.m. on Sundays and the arrival of brand new dance programme, Electric Disco to be broadcast at 6&nbsp;p.m. on Saturday evenings and presented by 2fm's newest DJ, Jenny Green.
  • On Sunday May 18, Alison Curtis's 8&nbsp;p.m. The Last Splash indie show on Today FM celebrated its fifth year on the air. She aired the best bits of interviews from New Order, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, The Killers, Gossip and many more, as well as sessions that have been recorded for the show over the past 5 years. On June 13, it was announced that Curtis would be getting a new show, imaginatively titled The Show, airing from Mondays to Thursdays between 10&nbsp;p.m. and midnight. The Show – a "music based pop culture" programme – will act as a complement to Tom Dunne's Pet Sounds before it.
  • On Thursday May 22, Bruce Springsteen "rocked" the RDS Arena in Dublin in the first of three shows. He returned to rock the RDS again on Saturday May 24 and Sunday May 25. His setlist included "Promised Land", "Radio Nowhere", "Prove It All Night", "The River", "Thunder Road", "Badlands", "Because the Night", "Born to Run" and about 20 other classics. Explaining why the missus wasn't with him, Springsteen said: "Patti's at home. The cookies have been taken out of the oven. The Guinness is being poured. My favourite clothes are being sold on eBay. No, we've got three teenagers, one of whom is graduating." Photos
  • Soundtrack '08 took place in Tripod and Crawdaddy from Sunday May 25 until Monday June 2. Spiritualized, Public Enemy and Tapes 'n Tapes all performed over the week-long festival, whilst The Maccabees played their first ever headline Irish show on Thursday May 29 at the indoor festival, promoted by POD. Santigold and Mystery Jets were forced to cancel their Soundtrack shows. Mystery Jets cited "unforeseen circumstances" as the reason behind the cancellation of their show on Saturday May 31, whilst Santogold cancelled her AAA co-headliner scheduled for Sunday June 1 in the PoD Complex due to "illness". Mystery Jets rescheduled for August 16, with tickets for the original date still valid.
  • On Tuesday May 27 at 9&nbsp;a.m., tickets for Tom Waits's three Phoenix Park shows in July and August went on sale. Waits will perform at The RatCellar Marquee on July 30 – August 1, three of fifteen dates on the European leg of his Glitter and Doom Tour. Tickets were priced from €116.25 to €131.25, were limited to two per person and will be subject to scanning at the gate on the day. All tickets for the three dates sold out within three hours, the ticket-selling process only taking longer than usual due to the anti-scalping measures in place.
  • The Rory Gallagher International Tribute Festival took place in Ballyshannon, County Donegal from Thursday May 29 until Sunday June 1.
  • On Friday May 30, Celine Dion played Croke Park, Dublin on her fortieth birthday with support from Il Divo.
  • Also on Friday May 30 at 9&nbsp;a.m., tickets for Morrissey's June 28 show at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham went on sale.
  • Humanitarian rock stars Bono and Bob Geldof guest edited the Friday May 31 edition of the Asahi, Japan's second largest newspaper. Bono defended the pair's temporary career change by saying: "Lots of people are closet rock stars – they stand up in the mirror and play air guitar, well, myself and Bob, we're closet journalists." The main aims of the pair were to change Africa's negative coverage in the Japanese media and to encourage Japan to increase its African aid and investment. The eight-page Africa section focused on Africa's culture, economy and politics rather than poverty and war. Bono said: "Really we're trying to reframe the stories about Africa, most of which historically are tragic. We would like to turn this around a bit and make the stories about opportunity and the adventure of the African continent, not the burden and the obligation."

June

  • Heineken Green Spheres took place in June, with Dirty Pretty Things playing as the headline attraction on June 2 in Dolan's Warehouse in Limerick. Tickets were free, but had to be applied for in advance from www.heinekengreenspheres.ie.
  • On Friday June 6 and Saturday June 7, Radiohead played two outdoor concerts at Malahide Castle in Dublin. They were supported by Bat for Lashes. Thom Yorke urged Irish fans travelling to and from their Malahide Castle shows to be more carbon conscious this summer, by travelling by public transport, by foot or in a car pool. A section of the car park was turned into a bicycle-only zone so fans could cut down on their carbon emissions. The park had a capacity for a huge number of bicycles and was well guarded by security so that fans could leave their cars at home for Radiohead's shows. Photos
  • On Saturday June 7, Bon Jovi played Punchestown. They were supported by Razorlight and Kid Rock. Bon Jovi last performed in Ireland when they played Croke Park in 2006. They played for two-and-a-half hours, with the show featuring state-of-the-art giant video screens and special effects. Gates opened at 3&nbsp;p.m. and the show began at 7&nbsp;p.m.
  • On Monday June 9 at 11&nbsp;a.m., forty new acts as well as the full stage line-up of Oxegen 2008 was announced. New acts confirmed included Mundy, Aslan, Captain and Sugababes for the Friday and Eddy Grant, Flogging Molly and Fight Like Apes for the Sunday.
  • On June 12, reports of the demise of the concert business in Ireland have been greatly exaggerated with the business never having been healthier, says leading concert promoter, Peter Aiken.
  • On June 14 and 15, Leonard Cohen played two dates at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham. The shows, brought to Ireland by Pod Concerts and AEG Live, were his first Irish dates in twenty years. A third date, Friday June 13, was added later. Support on all three dates came from Damien Rice who serenaded Cohen in March 2008 when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York City. Gates opened at 5:30&nbsp;p.m. and the shows will begin at 7:30&nbsp;p.m.
  • Also on Saturday June 14, Neil Diamond returned to Ireland after an absence of nearly four years to play Croke Park, Dublin. Tickets cost €69.50.
  • On Monday June 16, Iggy and the Stooges played the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham. Gates opened at 6&nbsp;p.m. with support coming from The Kills and Stiff Little Fingers who took to the stage at 7&nbsp;p.m. Iggy took to the stage at 9&nbsp;p.m. Tickets cost €55 with more information to be found on pod.ie. Fans were urged to travel by public transport.
  • Prince was scheduled to play Croke Park on June 16. He had previously played in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on July 7, 1990. On June 10, MCD confirmed the show had been cancelled for what are described as "reasons beyond the control" of both the artist and MCD. The 55,161 ticket holders were able to obtain a full ticket refund including booking fee from their Ticketmaster point of purchase from 9&nbsp;a.m. on Friday June 13. The six days notice was too much for some, with Today FM's Ray Foley expressing his disappointment and shock live on radio having just heard the news as he came on air.
  • On Friday June 20, The Police returned to Ireland following their performance at Croke Park on October 6, 2007. On this occasion they played at Stormont. KT Tunstall supported.
  • Also on Friday June 20, Eric Clapton played the Marquee in Cork. On Saturday June 21, Clapton played Malahide Castle in Dublin, his first Dublin appearance since the Point in 2004. He was supported by special guests Robert Randolph and the Family Band. The show was notable for being amongst the victims of heavy weather that hit Ireland that weekend which also saw a number of children struck down with hypothermia at a Westlife show in Galway.
  • On Sunday June 22, an, as yet, unannounced act played Malahide Castle in Dublin, with details to be announced in coming months.
  • On Monday June 23, Lou Reed played the Marquee in Cork.
  • Morrissey played two Irish dates in June. The first, on Thursday June 26, took place at the Marquee in Cork and is an Aiken Promotions event, whilst the second, on Saturday June 28, took place at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham and was promoted by Pod Concerts as a successor to their Iggy Pop and Leonard Cohen shows at the same venue earlier in the month.
  • Glastonbury 2008 took place from Friday June 27 until Sunday June 29. Amongst the Irish acts performing were Fight Like Apes, who started a UK tour on May 22. They took to the Late 'n' Live Stage on Friday, June 27 at 8&nbsp;p.m. and also won a second slot on the BBC Introducing Stage on Saturday, June 28 at 8&nbsp;p.m. Jape shared a stage with CSS, Battles and MGMT on the Saturday whilst Róisín Murphy played support to Fatboy Slim in the Dance Village. Dublin bluegrass outfit Prison Love meanwhile opened the Avalon stage on the Sunday. Also appearing were Eleanor McEvoy, Sinéad O'Connor (both Friday on Acoustic Stage), Academy Award winner Glen Hansard (Saturday on Acoustic Stage), Ilya K, The Inishowen Gospel Choir, The Flaws and Ham Sandwich were scheduled to appear despite frontwoman, Niamh Farrell giving birth less than a month before the event.
  • On Saturday June 28 or Sunday June 29, Malahide Castle hosted another outdoor event, details of which were confirmed at a later date. On March 5, this was confirmed to be Neil Young (Sunday June 29), who also played the Marquee in Cork the following night.

July

  • Beck is coming to Ireland in July "for a live date or two".
  • On July 3, Paul Simon played the Marquee in Cork. Comedian Tommy Tiernan was originally to perform on July 3, but agreed to put his gig back a day to accommodate Simon who was only available to perform on the 3rd.
  • Oxegen 2008 took place from Friday July 11 until Sunday July 13 at Punchestown Racecourse in Naas, County Kildare. It was a three-day affair for the first time ever. Headliners R.E.M., The Verve, Rage Against the Machine, Kings of Leon and Kaiser Chiefs were amongst the performing bands and musicians. Other artists to feature included Amy Winehouse, Interpol, Editors, Ian Brown, Stereophonics, The Fratellis, The Kooks, The Raconteurs, The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Manic Street Preachers and Republic of Loose.
  • On Tuesday July 15, Meat Loaf was forced to postpone an appearance at Bundoran Live until the following day over stage safety fears. "We just had real security issues inside, like the tent falling down on the audience and the stage falling down, and lights falling down, so yeah, real security issues", he told Ocean FM. Chris de Burgh, Des Bishop and Shayne Ward were also due to perform in the marquee in the following week. Meat Loaf was later threatened with legal action after yelling at the audience: "You can thank me for saving your fucking lives. This fucking tent would have fallen down all around you." Sean McEniff was outraged and, showing how backwards Bundoran really is, had this to say: "....the language is unrepeatable what he called me....it's with my legal people at the moment...if I was in the audience I wouldn't be very happy about it either, he called them a name too...I can assure you he won't be welcome back in Bundoran, he's burned his bridges".
  • On July 22, the nominees for the 2008 Mercury Prize were announced, with Irish artists being overlooked for the award given on September 9. Fionn Regan was the last Irish nominee in 2007.
  • On Friday July 25 at 9&nbsp;a.m., tickets for Coldplay's O<sub>2</sub> show on December 21 went on sale limited to four per person/transaction. Despite an extra show being added (December 22), all tickets for both shows still sold out within minutes of going on sale, with promoters saying the extra tickets did not satisfy demand.
  • On July 30 and July 31, Tom Waits played two critically acclaimed shows in Dublin's Phoenix Park at The RatCellar Marquee as part of his Glitter and Doom Tour. Tickets, priced from €116.25 to €131.25, went on sale on Tuesday May 27 at 9&nbsp;a.m. A third date was later added, August 1. The shows, promoted by Aiken Promotions, were Waits's first Irish shows in 21 years. He last played Dublin in 1987, when he performed at the Olympia Theatre. Tickets for Waits's summer shows were limited to two per person but, in an effort to beat touts, a valid I.D. (passport or driving licence) matching the name on the ticket were required to gain entry. Gates opened at 6:30 and the show kicked off at 8&nbsp;p.m.

August

September

October

November

December

  • On December 1, RTÉ's digital radio revolution began, with the official launch of five new digital radio and broadband services which have been on trial for twenty months. They are Choice, a sister speech station to RTÉ Radio 1; easy listening and ambient service Chill; Junior, which is aimed at two to ten-year-olds; the dance-minded Pulse; and 2XM, a sister station to the rock and indie components of RTÉ 2fm.
  • On December 8, TV3 Ireland announced it was to axe the Channel 6 late night music video show Night Shift. The last show was due to air on December 31. The move meant there were no national outlets on television for Irish bands to get their videos shown.
  • By December 11, Enya's seventh full-length studio album And Winter Came... had reached the Top 20 in twenty-one countries, three weeks after release.
  • On December 19, U2 announced that their twelfth studio album No Line on the Horizon would be released on 2 March 2009.
  • Dublin's O<sub>2</sub> opened on December 16, with the annual ChildLine Concert the first event to be held there. A few days prior to this, U2 members Bono and The Edge struck the first musical note by playing guitars and singing "Van Diemen's Land" and "Desire" to an O<sub>2</sub> empty but for Harry Crosbie, Gerry Ryan and a handful of other people. Kings of Leon with support from M83 performed the venue's first rock concert on December 19 and Coldplay's PR company encountered a hostile reaction from State for its strict rules which saw the magazine provide one of only two press photographers to shoot one of their 21–22 December Viva la Vida Tour shows. They were ushered into an area "no more than 10&nbsp;foot by three foot, about 100&nbsp;metres from the centre of the stage", allowed to photograph the second, third and fourth songs only and forced to sign contracts by the company to hand over all copyright of their pictures to make use of as they wished.
  • On December 29, U2 drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. was reported to have criticised his band colleague Bono in an interview with Q. Mullen said he "cringes" when he sees Bono with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and outgoing United States President George W. Bush, stating that Blair was "a war criminal" even more so than Bush because he was "intelligent".

Bands disbanded

Albums & EPs

Over 180 Irish albums were released in 2008.

Below is a list of notable albums & EPs released by Irish artists in Ireland in 2008.

Summer +

Date unknown

Singles

Below is a list of notable singles released by Irish artists in Ireland in 2008.

Unknown

Festivals

Oxegen 2008

Electric Picnic 2008

Heineken Green Energy

Garden Party 2008

Indie-pendence '08

Castlepalooza '08

Lovebox Weekender

Solas Festival

Bud Rising

Live at the Marquee

Cois Fharraige

Slane 2008

  • Slane 2008 was cancelled for the second time in three years. Lord Henry Mountcharles said he couldn't find the right act to play Slane Castle this year. There will instead be a smaller concert at the estate in August, possibly for up and coming Irish bands. Mountcharles resisted pressure to book two major acts for Slane in 2008. With pals desperately trying to persuade him to sign up one of the rock bands, he stood firm saying they were not up to scratch.

Hard Working Class Heroes 2008

Music awards

2008 Meteor Awards

The 2008 Meteor Awards took place in the RDS Simmonscourt on Friday February 15, 2008. Below are the winners:

Choice Music Prize

The Choice Music Prize for Irish Album of the Year 2007 was awarded at Vicar Street to Super Extra Bonus Party for the album Super Extra Bonus Party LP on February 27, 2008.

References

External links