Wet, wet, wet, but fans have a whale of a time

Rain and rock festivals don't usually mix, but the wet bank holiday weekend didn't stop play at the Heineken Green Energy Festival in Cork and Galway. Music fans ignored the downpours and flocked to hear Van Morrison, Moby, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Counting Crows and Robert Plant, in the shelter of two purpose-built marquees.

This was the first time the festival had been staged outside Dublin, and the headline acts alternated between Cork and Galway, creating two simultaneous festivals in one weekend.

In Cork, Fun Lovin' Criminals followed their live act at the Munster Showgrounds with a DJ set at the Opera House, and Van Morrison resurrected some of his classic songs, including Brown Eyed Girl, Moondance and Baby Please Don't Go.

Robert Plant, formerly with Led Zeppelin and now fronting his new band, Priory Of Brion, had been in a minor car crash the previous week, and had to perform his set sitting down.

But there was no sitting down for the American dance star, Moby, who was the weekend's big draw. The diminutive Christianvegan has sold 2.5 million copies of his current album, Play, and he has made millions by licensing his songs for use in television commercials, movie soundtracks and TV shows. Moby's music is so ubiquitous it has been claimed that it is impossible to get through a single day without hearing one of his tracks.

The Green Energy Festival appealed to both young clubbers and old rockers. Two businessmen from Cork, Mr Joe Murphy and Mr Tom Whelan, for example, were happy to make the trek down to the Munster Showgrounds to hear Van Morrison in action.

"We can go and see Van the Man, and then our kids can go and see Moby," Mr Murphy said.

The Old Oak in Oliver Plunkett Street served as the festival club, and on Saturday night The Walls (formerly The Stunning) shook the rafters with songs from their new album, Hi-Lo.