On the record

Jim Carrollon music

Destination Italy for music festival tourism

After the weather endurance test of the past two months, more Irish music fans are probably planning to decamp to Europe for their festival kicks in 2008. As it is, huge numbers of Irish fans combine a couple of days in the sun with a comparatively cheap ticket for such Spanish jaunts as Benicassim, Primavera and Sonar.

Irish accents can also be heard at Glastonbury and other UK festivals, while the likes of Dour (Belgium), Eurockéennes (France) and Sziget (Hungary) also attract Irish fans.

The excellent Italia Wave in Tuscany, which took place last week, is well placed to take advantage of such festival tourism, especially with direct flights from Dublin to the region.

This year, local town politics necessitated that the long-running festival move from its Arezzo base to a big field on the outskirts of nearby Florence.

The new location saw the largely free (a €10 admission charge applies after 9pm, and there's a small charge for camping) six-day festival pull in more than 150,000 people.

This year's line-up was probably the festival's strongest to date. International highlights included Cansei de Ser Sexy, Chk Chk Chk, Joan As Policewoman, Tinariwen, The Good The Bad & The Queen (see below) and Mika.

Other acts who performed included Scissor Sisters, Nitin Sawhney, Kaiser Chiefs, Susana Baca and Bob Geldof.

Local tastes were sated by such big-hitters as the hugely enjoyable and intriguing Vinicio Capossella and Carmen Consoli.

There were also dozens of newer Italian bands. Those who impressed included A Toys Orchestra, Disco Drive, the Devo-like Volcanoman, rap collective Pass The Mic and the excellent multinational Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio.

The festival's comprehensive late-night dance stage, Electtrowave, is obviously modelled on Sonar and featured Modeselektor, Matthew Dear, Jimi Tenor, King Britt, Cassius, Ame plus a clatter of DJs who had scootered down from Rimini.

But what makes Italia Wave such an attractive proposition are all the extras. These include very good food stalls, film screenings, theatre, talks, discussions, a comics mini-fest, classical music, a chill-out tent, a kids' zone and a very well-behaved campsite. Survivors of recent Irish outdoor experiences will also note the welcome lack of mud.

Wave-goers lap up Feeney

Julie Feeney's appearance on the main stage at Italia Wave marked the Galway singer's debut on the European outdoor festival trail. She had been spotted by the Italia Wave bookers at the influential Eurosonic festival in Holland in January and invited to Florence.

"The audience were really amazing," said Feeney about her show. "They were very open and fresh. My music is so bloody odd anyway, but they managed to tap into it. They were clapping to songs like Autopilot, which I'd never heard an audience doing before."

She has started work on the follow-up to her Choice Music Prize-winning 13 Songsdebut with a 2008 release date in mind.

Damon in dazzling form

While his Blur mate Alex James is content to make cheese, helm a Classic FM radio show and shill his autobiography to whoever will listen, Damon Albarn's musical CV continues to bloom.

Recent strings to his bow include the opera Monkey: Journey To The WestChinese opera and the fascinating Africa Express project.

At Italia Wave, Albarn was leading The Good, The Bad & The Queen. This London song cycle collaboration with Paul Simonon, Tony Allen and Simon Tong make for a hugely atmospheric and dramatic musical delight. Expect them to be one of this year's highlights at the Electric Picnic.

"I'm trying to see how many tracks I can record myself and I'm finding it's much faster that way. I'm already well into the process - I recorded some children singing the other week for one of the pieces."

Wannabe a Euro star?

For European acts seeking exposure on the European festival circuit, it would appear that Eurosonic is the showcase that matters.

Italia Wave acts Julie Feeney, Enter Shikari, Shitdisco, Tunng and the good-time, vodka-soaked, klezmer-ska of Russia's 14-strong Leningrad were first talent-spotted at the Groningen event last January.

Bands who wish to find out more about applying for Eurosonic and to learn about its European Talent Exchange Program (Etep) should check out www.eurosonic.nl.

The closing date for applications for the January 2008 event is September 4th.

Ticket gig of the week

For those who prefer endless guitar workouts to actual songs, Steve Vai delivered in style on Tuesday night. Enthusiastically embracing all the best hard-rock clichés, Vai rocked out with his hair blowing in the breeze and his shades stuck to his head. The band all had their moments in the spotlight, from Jeremy Colson's mobile drum kit to the hilarious violin-off between Alex DePue and the glamorous Ann Marie Calhoun. But it was Vai, whether playing the fret board like a piano or ramming the whammy bar till it went pop, who looked every bit the heavy metal legend he is.