Stella Dore - Sebastian Guinness Gallery.

Last weekend I went into the Stella Dore group show at the Sebastian Guinness Gallery, there were some very cool pieces and installations, and there is a slideshow here that no sh*ty iPhone camera can do justice to.
I bought myself a print by one of the artists Eelus which I LOVE, all I need now is a frame.....

This is the Print I bought.

Shebeen Chic - Georges St

I went into Shebeen Chic on Georges St last night with my mate Betty. It's a new self proclaimed Gastro Pub directly opposite the George in a building that seems to change hands from restaurant to restaurant on a far too regular basis. Shebeen Chic is brought to you by the people who brought you the Globe, The Market Bar and the Odessa Club among others so their track record for successful venues is pretty good. The place is an 'eco' venue with all the furniture recycled or mix and matched from auctions and the wine list is made up of Bin Ends, meaning it will change regularly but should be good value for money.
I liked the look of the place, it reminds me a lot of the bars in Oberkampf in Paris about 10 years ago. There's plenty to look at and the place was buzzing.
For me, the menu was a bit of a disaster, It took ages to figure out what I wanted because, well, let's just say I found the menu "difficult" There are about 6 soups, the first of which was "Leek, Onion and Maybe Mud" about 6 Boxtys, (that's mashed potato mixed with stuff) one of which was something like "Beans and Blood", Then there were the the starters which included pigs trotters (but of course) and the mains, a long enough list with "Monkfish Cheeks" and "Eel and Fried Banana" in the mix. I opted for the "Spudballs with Mushrooms and Ould Cheddar" which was basically Gnocci with mushrooms, a sticky grey sauce and some very overcooked broccolli. It was inoffensive enough in it's own way, but nothing to get too get carried away with. €14 for some very cheap ingredients is what it actually was.
The trouble with putting things like Mud and Ould on a menu in a place that is made up of a load of recycled stuff is that you get the impression your food might be leftovers too, especially if it comes out grey with unexpected bits of ancient broccoli.
We went downstairs and ordered some coffee, after waiting ages we called the waiter over to find out what was taking so long and she explained that the coffee machine was broken and she had forgotten to tell us. I guess that's the trouble with getting things second hand, they're not always reliable.
On the way out the door we passed the Harpist, strumming away.
It's a cool venue but first impressions are that the food kinda sucks.

How's my driving?

Garda in a yellow box in Donnybrook.
That's be 2 penalty points then?

What shall we do with the drunken sailors?

I had the misfortune of going to Friday Nights Hal Willner's Rogue's Gallery Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys, as part of the Analog Festival.
What a shambles, someone would come on, stumble through a folk type tune, wander off, there would be a few minutes pause and someone else would shuffle on, god forbid they, or anyone else would introduce them. The whole thing was completely disjointed and disorganized, making a school concert seem like an efficient military operation in comparison. Shane Mc Gowan did a few rousing tunes and then poured beer all over the people at the front and started firing cans into the audience. Let's face it we deserved it for being dumb enough to tolerate their self indulgent tripe.
Maybe if we had been out on a pier with the sound of waves splashing and ropes jangling boat masts it would have worked better. Nah, probably not.

Heeeeeerrres GRACE!

Good news, Grace Jones is playing at Electric Picnic this year, and Joan As Policeman is confirmed, but we knew that already.

Oxegen 2008

Made it down to Oxegen for the afternoon on Saturday and Sunday, used the park ride and shuttle service and it all worked out fine. Gig wise the Saturday line up suited me better.

Music - Saturday
We popped into the Brian Jonestown Massacre to watch them self combust but they were pretty together, tighter than I thought they'd be and other than that not much to report. Newton Faulkner was on the Main Stage and for a guy with an acoustic guitar he held a good crowd closing with a cover of Bohemian Rhapsody which went down well. I ended up seeing a bit of My Morning Jacket in the Pet Sounds Tent because it was pouring rain. They were well into the performance and having fun, but ultimately boring. Legged it over tho The Ting Tings and had to fight our way in, they were playing in the Green Room Tent which apparently has the same capacity as the Point Depot and they were thronged. They played the tightest set, I loved it. Caught a little of The Wombats on the O2 stage just after, Snore Bore. I meant to go and see Holy F**K then but I forgot or got distracted or something. We went to Amy Winehouse on the main stage, probably for the wrong reasons really, I felt a bit cheap showing up just to see if she showed up. She came on and sang away fine, didn't really engage with the crowd (would you?) and left. Her kind of music is not really Main Stage stuff, she suits a more intimate setting better i think.
After that we popped in to Seasick Steve in the Pet Sounds Stage, swigging away on a bottle of Jack Daniels and busy blowing everyone away. I think it was a mutual thing, the more he played the more the crowd responded the more blown away he was. It was one of those occasions where you really believe the guy when he says "You're a great crowd" It was my festival highlight.

Music - Sunday
The weather was warm and sunny for the most part. The Feeling, on the Main Stage belted out covers, including A-HA classic Take On Me, which had everyone dancing. I popped into Prince influenced David Jordan, who was throwing himself into it to a tiny crowd. we caught The Stranglers too, just to hear Golden Brown, and fitted in a little bit of The Blizzards.

Festival Thoughts.
The festival overall was organised enough in so far as I could see. There seemed to be a pretty hefty Garda Presence and loads of Stewards.
The food offerings were pretty grim, most people opting for AbraKebabra, who had a lot of concessions stands, better the devil you know I guess.
We opted for Chicken On A Stick and had to bring it back because the chicken was raw.......
The Eco Cups kept the place clean enough which meant less rubbish underfoot when moving around, a big improvement on previous years.
The age profile seems to have gone up, yes there were loads of kids, but there were loads of thirtysomethings too, the line up maybe....?
The line up was really male orientated, very few girls on stage either as musicians or singers, it made the whole thing feel a little hey ho same ol'. I think that might be why Seasick Steve was so rockin', it was something different in a sea of boys with guitars singing identikit songs.
There is not a lot to do at Oxegen if a band you are interested in isn't playing, there is a funfair I guess.....
Lot's of cover songs knocking around.....I got the feeling a lot of bands had a better chance of getting the crowd going if they played them stuff they know (ie not there own stuff)
There are no more super groups.

Operator Please in Crawdaddy

I went to Operator Please in Crawdaddy last Tuesday night. The crowd was pretty small but there was an appreciative gang up the front. The drummer (who looks like he's 12) singer and fiddler were all fairly rocking, bass and keyboards less so ( I think the bass guitarist wants to be in My Chemical Romance). Highlights were their hits, Leave It Alone and The Ping Pong Song and an energetic version of Salt N'Pepas Push It.

4Day Movie - one of the best bits.

The 4Day Movie, a collaberative effort made as part of the Darklight Festival is a montage off the work of a number of people who shot around dublin last Thursday. The whole thing was spliced together to create a feature of sorts.
Below is a longer version of what appeared towards the end of the movie, it got a great reaction from the crowd, and was one of my favourite pieces, in fact I've been raving about it a little, so I'm glad it's online now!

Virtual Cinema

The 10 videos made as part of the Wildlight Virtual Cinema scheme are online now!

Here is my favourite.