Joanna Newsom, Dublin, July – and Beyonce for Oxegen
Jim Carroll
Joanna Newsom is the latest addition to the @ The Park bill at Marlay Park, Dublin. She plays the tent on July 24 with support from Bert Jansch and James Vincent McMorrow. Tickets go on sale next Thursday at €44.20 and €39.20 a pop (plus TM fees).
Also, in coming-to-Ireland news, Beyonce has been added to the Oxegen bill, further proof of the festival’s new-found pop direction, which was first predicted here after Oxegen 2009. It will be interesting to see if Beyonce’s audience will now take to a muddy field in Co KIldare to see her – certainly, the promoters will be hoping they’ll buy day tickets like billy-o ‘cos this act doesn’t come cheap. Hopefully, Beyonce will be producing a greatest hits’ set for the festival circuit. The indoor shows always featured tons of slow or mid-tempo ballads as well as the big ol’ hits like “Single Ladies” and “Crazy In Love” and the former may not go down as well as the latter at hops like T In The Park, Glastonbury or Oxegen. Perhaps her hubby will give her some pointers on rocking fields.
You can also add Tori Amos to the list of new gigs for the week – she’s playing Grand Canal Theatre on 11 September. Not too sure when they’re been released yet…
What a good day for gig announcements – Tori tickets on sale May 12th
Tori’s actually playing in November. She’s in The Waterfront, Belfast on the 8th and the Grand Canal Theatre, Dublin on the 9th. Her new album is going to be on Deutsche Grammophon. It’s bound to meet with less ridicule than Sting’s did.
Redframewhitelight is 100% right. My apologies – it’s the old americans-reversing-days-and-months thing on her email that threw me.
Is the JN gig gonna be standing & seating as per the other @thepark shows? That could be a bit bogey if it is….
Ha, i actually called a Beyonce Oxegen appearance on here when she got announced for Glastonbury. Might actually have to go if it’s the same day as Odd Future.
cmd – now that would be a reason to go to Punchestown. Maybe OF can join B onstage….. Like your new blog, dude – best of luck with it
Thanks a lot Jim. An OF/Beyonce collab doesn’t sound like the most outlandish thing in the world at this stage.
They’re coming thick and fast!
@Hey, thanks for those tips on the hip-hop cmd. Will definitely check out DJ Quik. Like the cut of his jib. Hard to find the new album available to download legitimately i must say.
Joanna Newsom! Well, don’t get me started again..!!
No problem Fergal. Unfortunately as far i know the digital version of the Quik album is only available from the US iTunes store at the moment
I was in the Grand Social for the first time last night for a gig ( Noriana Kennedy , launching her debut album )
Must say, its a very nice venue….reminded me a little if a circus tent with the drapes on the roof and all…I.will be back !!
Arr Me Hearties!!….if its Irish Hip Hop ye be after look no futher than ” Doom Your Cities, Doom Your Towns” by Melodica Deathship
Any whisperings from your spies with regard to Wilco in October / November JC?
James d @4: I hear ya. The jn gig in grand canal was brilliant partly due to the venue and seating arrangement. I’m a bit disappointed to see bert jansch supporting because it suggests to me that Neil young won’t be bringing his twisted road show to Europe. Jansch has supported at every date in the USA and is seen as an integral intro to the show.
for anyone who’s seen her live.. does joanna pull it off live, is she worth seeing? i’ve never understood her. beautiful, pixie-ish woman playing harp and singing weird, passionate songs.. awesome on paper.. but, sometimes i think people are convincing themselves it’s great because of what it is, not because of any musical merit! personally i’d rather listen to a cat being buggered in a handball alley.. then again some musicians just need to be seen live once to unlock what it is they do in your head..
also, pity we can’t comment on una mullally’s article.. personally i loved the cover of mgmt’s congrats album.. simple, crafted image that perfectly nails what awaits inside..
I would rather stick needles in my ear than sit through entire concert of Joanna Newsom and seeing her in a tent in a park in Rathfarnham is especially unappealing. To continue with Halandor’s feline reference, I’m not joking when I say her voice genuinely DOES sound like a cat in pain. He/she also says that ‘sometimes i think people are convincing themselves it’s great because of what it is, not because of any musical merit!’ which I agree with entirely. She’s young, pretty, ultra-hip, Pitchfork-approved, married to Bill Callahan and plays the harp, thusly she’s perfect fodder for hipsters, indier-than-thou bloggers and middle-aged music hacks but is she genuinely any good? Is there real musical merit here? Will her songs be remembered in years to come? Don’t think so, to be honest.
Re: Una’s article on album covers. Pity we can’t comment on it, good article. Link to it here, Jim?
Quint – I hope you feel better now that you got all that off your chest about poor ol J-New.
Una’s article on album sleeves – http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2011/0505/1224296125276.html
@14 I’ve seen her 3 times, once at ATP where the chatty crowd ruined it, once at the Olympia when I thought she played a superb show and last year at the grand canal theatre when I thought the performance itself was very good but I felt a little let down afterwards due to her song selection. She certainly pulls it off live. Personally I think she’s a fine musician and an intelligent songwriter. But I absolutely get why people would be turned off by her, and it’s not because they’re immune the brainwashing that her fans are susceptible to.
@15 Dude, you really need to keep up with whatever the cool kid TMZ is (Hipster Runoff maybe?) because you’re way off with your sex lives of the probably not that rich and indie famous gossip. As of last year she was dating some guy off of Saturday Night Live and hasn’t been going out with “Sweet Billy” as she referred to him in the Ys liner notes for years.
I have seen Joanna live twice – Olympia and Grand Canal. Olympia was one of my fave shows ever and felt the same as Ian re Grand Canal. I would actually rather her live show than listen to her records. Venue this time could be very dodgy….
Joanna Newsom is one of those artists who I really only appreciated properly after seeing her live. Am in complete agreement with both Ian and al70 regarding the Olympia and Grand Canal gigs. I was lucky enough to catch her again this year at the Melbourne Recital Hall though and she managed to top the Olympia gig with a setlist slightly tweaked and a good 20 minutes longer than the Grand Canal one.
A tent in a park though sounds like a recipe for disaster for Joanna.
@17, 18 & 19 fair enough lads, thanks for the tip.. i was completely ambivalent to tindersticks before seeing them at the kilkenny arts festival last year, a band i reckon you really need to see live to appreciate what it is they do. lots of bands and singers have that aspect to them.