The Monday morning re-up
Jim Carroll
New blogs on the block, people, so step on up and don’t be shy. There’s some smashing stuff from Dublin indie promoters Skinny Wolves at their new joint and we also welcome Hot Press writer (and dude with his “John the Revelator” novel due on Faber & Faber in early 2009) Peter Murphy to the blogosphere.
Then, there are the blogs which are not really blogs, as in the Oxegen production blog. A lovely diary from the wet and soggy fields of Punchestown, the Oxegen production blog gives us the skinny on how a racecourse in Co Kildare is transformed into Oxegen City. Only thing, though, it’s an one-way thing as readers cannot comment on the posts. Er, right, so it’s not a blog, then. In fact, now that we think of it, there’s also no forum on the Oxegen site, a state of affairs which has remained in place since 2006. Does this make Oxegen the we-want-your-money-but-not-your-opinions kind of music fest?
Speaking of money, it’s Crazy Ol’ Tom (™ On The Record) time! Waits has gone scalping for charity which means he is auctioning five pairs of premium tickets to shows in each of the European cities on his Glitter and Doom tour this month, with the proceeds donated to charity. This means you can get your hands on the best seats in the Ratcellar in the Phoenix Park for any of the three nights by making a bid here. I hope someone has told Crazy Ol’ Tom (™ On The Record) that there is now a recession on here. (Cheers to Bren @ Analogue for the heads-up)
It’s official: Rick O’Shea is the new Gerry Ryan. Rick (real name: Brandon Anto Murphy) takes over the Ryanline from July 21 while Gerry is off (a) on his summer holidays and (b) writing his big buke about his life and times. 2fm chiefs can expect a big surge in the audience for the 9am to noon slot with new listeners, younger listeners and blogging listeners tuning in.
I meant to write about Bono’s letter to the NME last week but completely forgot about. Una, though, didn’t and she had this piece in yesterday’s Tribune about it. Basically, U2 manager Paul McGuinness gave Radiohead a few digs in the mush a while back about their “In Rainbows” experiment, saying it had backfired and stuff. Hoever, Bono and the boys disagreed with McGuinness and wrote a letter to the NME in praise of the ‘Head and all that. Lovely hurling. However, it’s unlikely that U2’s solidarity with their brethern will extend to making the new album a pay-as-you-go affair. That might be a step too far for the pension plan.
And finally, Irish Times reporter Ronan McGreevy had some quotes from Harry Crosbie in Saturday’s paper about his Giant Man project (AKA Big Bertie). Ronan also asked Crosbie about The 02 and what we were saying about the new venue on Friday. Here’s what Crosbie had to say about our speculation:
“I was reading that. I think that the experience of seeing a show in the new arena is going to up the ante for all the punters. There is a huge win situation for the public here. The experience of going to a show is going to be vastly improved because the sightlines are perfect, because of its massive intimacy and because of the choice of catering, you can eat and drink around the venue.
I fail to understand why you want to stand in a wet field in broad daylight and you can’t see the light shows. I really believe that people will be stunned when they see the Point.”
10:04 am
Massive intimacy. Whats that?
“I fail to understand why you want to stand in a wet field in broad daylight and you can’t see the light shows.”
Because the Point is closed and there’s nowhere else to go?
Comment by Peter81(sorry for stating the obvious)