On Monday November 10 2008, Belfast trio Escape Act will release their debut album Loosely Based on Fiction.  So what you say; bands release records all the time.  Ah yes, but following on from Oasis' free sheet music giveaway, Escape Act will release each and every song from the album online via a series of blogs.  The first track, Kings have Fallen was released on MP3Hugger on September 27 and the next track will be released on BoxSetGo this weekend.

After that tracks will be released weekly with directions as to where to get your next fix been given on the band's website www.escapeact.com.  Apropos of nothing it may be worth your while checking out Key Notes on the weekend of October 25/26.

Should you decide you like what you hear then a limited number of CD's will be available to purchase, each with an individually customised booklet.

Given how many bands Key Notes hears complaining about the lack of methods of distribution available it is a pleasant surprise to see a band take such an innovative step and this blog certainly wishes them all the best.

Escape Act:  God Says

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Key Notes was saddened to hear that Derrick Dalton (Mexican Pets, Crumb, Hey Paulette) passed away this week.

Key Notes didn't know Derrick personally but this blog was well aware of his support for, and influence on, the Irish music scene through conversations with fellow bloggers, musicians and fans alike.  An illegal cassette version of Mexican Pets' Nobody's Working Title was one of Key Notes favourite records around the mid 90's and for us humble fans it is through his music that Derrick will be remembered.

Sincerest sympathies from Key Notes and all at CLUAS to Derrick's wife, family and friends.

Crumb: Follow Me Home 

Mexican Pets: Stigmata Errata 

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You may have noticed that there appears to be something of a global economic crisis going on.  This week it became a bit more personalised as Key Notes was made redundant late on Friday afternoon.  Now, this blog can't say he was totally surprised, working in the financial services industry, how could he be?  It's a strange feeling, knowing you've done absolutely nothing wrong but still losing your job.  Very 1980's really. 

The irony of the whole situation is that Key Notes initial reaction to the so-called 'credit crunch' was to celebrate.  After all, capitalism has, time and again, shown that it is a very unforgiving socio-economic model and its apparent demise as the dominant world model should be welcomed.  So is Key Notes a victim of its existance or a victim of its demise?  It's far too early on a Saturday morning to consider that but this blogs gut feeling is that it's a result of the former. 

So, what's the point of this blog you may well ask?  Well, thinking about it last night, there aren't very many good songs about unemployment or recession are there?  Okay, maybe you could count Money for Nothing as the unofficial anthem of the Social Welfare system but that would be giving Dire Straits far more credit than they ever deserve.  Likewise, Bachman Turner Overdrive poked fun at 9-6-slave-to-the-wage types with Taking Care of Business.  Again though, a song about basking in unemployment isn't really something to promote.

One song that does take the idea of unemployment and deal with it in a way that Key Notes can appreciate is Paperback Writer.  The Beatles (or, more likely, Paul McCartney) wrote this song at a time when they were being criticised for only writing songs about boy/girl relationships.  The lyrics are essentially about a writer with serious artistic ambitions but who resorts to writing Paperback novels just to make some money.  The point being, the subject of the song can see an opportunity, regardless of how 'beneath him' it may be, where many others would see a crisis.

The point being that Key Notes now finds himself at a crossroads and anything goes from here on in his life.  It's not the wrost thing that ever happened to him, it's not even the worse thing that's happened to him this year but it could be his opportunity to make some changes; be it career direction, upskilling, travelling, etc.  It'll also give him a chance to listen to lots of new music and think up new and wonderful topics for this blog, none of which will be as self-centred as today's entry.  This one time, however, Key Notes would ask that you forgive the indulgence. 

Here's the video for Paperback Writer/Rain for your enjoyment:

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Sunday evening in Key Note Towers usually involves this blog lying on the couch - a cold beer in one hand and the remote control in the other - flicking between La Liga and American Football. As you can imagine, Mrs. Key Notes isn’t a big fan of Sunday’s as all hope of this blog finally putting that coving up or fixing the door on the washing machine is lost for another week. Therefore, standing in the freezing rain that enveloped Meeting House Square yesterday as Scottish band Larmousse played to just 15 people, almost a third of whom were Sons & Daughters, was positively exhilarating.

Alas, the same could not be said for Larmousse, whose meandering songs lack the necessary musicianship to keep an audience captivated (that’s a nicer way to say they were boring, very, very boring) and, towards the end of the set, Mrs. Key Notes was resorting to rude jokes to keep herself entertained. It was time to move on.

And move on we did, tough only as far as Eamon Dorans to get out of the rain. As a quick aside, Key Notes is of the opinion that Dorans has the potential to be one of Dublin’s best venues. However, when you serve drinks in warm and, worse still, unclean glasses it doesn’t matter how ’cool’ a facade you have. There is a very good reason why ‘Empty’ Dorans is generally the only bar in the Temple Bar area with room to breathe in.

Suitably grumpy, we made our way back to Meeting House Square to catch the double header of Armoured Bear and New Amusement. Key Notes was impressed with Armoured Bear and their quirky acoustic driven pop. However, if the lead singer mentioned the name of the band one more time (or, indeed, the fact they were from Cork), this blog could not have been held responsible for his actions. Key Notes understands that you have to promote yourself, but not at the risk of annoying your audience.

At the other end of the spectrum, by almost forgetting to tell everyone who they were, came New Amusement. A much larger (though still relatively small) crowd had assembled by this stage and included CLUAS’ very own Ian Wright. Unfortunately, Key Notes couldn’t stick around for the whole set as the rain just became too much. Seeking shelter, Mrs. Key Notes and I went to the Music Centre (Button Factory) where Mackerel the Cat was wearing a silly hat. A quick wave to Niamh Madden (or text as it happens) who will no doubt provide a full review later and we were off again to Academy 2 for Robotnik.

A man with a horse’s head, a rainbow umbrella, a miniature guitar, raincoats inside and a drummer wearing sunglasses (which always reminds Key Notes of It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses). It could only be Robotnik. Anna Murray was amongst the biggest audience Key Notes had seen over the course of the weekend and will attest to just how good this guy is. Songs about mortgages don’t sound appealing but when you start a fight with a man with a horse’s head it doesn’t matter that you’ve forgotten your capo and shortened your set because you can’t get your instruments to work. It was Key Notes favourite performance of the weekend.

As the rain continued to fall we (now being joined by two friends) made our way back to the Music Centre for Carly Sings. Despite being in possession of a beautiful voice, one that would make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end, it just all seemed rather dull after the high energy Robotnik. Of course, it’s not her fault that a poor piece of scheduling left her as the penultimate act in the Music Centre on a night when a venue such as 4 Dame Lane would have been much more suitable.

The last performance of the evening was Autamata, whose Colours of Sound album is one of Key Notes favourite albums of the last few years. This blog was less than impressed with the live performance though but that may have been more to do with the audience. Isn’t it deliciously ironic that an artist who does away with all concept of scenes and genres is followed by such a scenester crowd? Or is that an ironic use of the word ironic? While Key Notes is at it, who dresses like that on a Sunday night; don’t you people have work tomorrow?

It’s late and Key Notes is beginning to sound like his dad. This blog is off to bed. However, before he does, Key Notes would like to add that while day three of HWCH 2008 combined the best bits of Friday (catching up with friends) and Saturday (some great performances), this blog worries about the festivals future, a topic that it will deal with in the coming days. Finally, a big thank you to Niamh, Anna & Ian for their time and effort over the course of the weekend. Key Notes, signing out.

Photo: Lindsey Foley

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Day two of HWCH 2008 started badly for Key Notes as his beloved Man United’s loss to Liverpool was swiftly followed by news of Emmanuel Adebayor’s hat-trick for Arsenal. Key Notes, in a decision up there with ‘I don’t think it’s an iceberg Captain’, opted to drop Adebayor from his fantasy football this week, a decision that will, even at this early stage, end his quest to win the CLUAS fantasy football league.

This blog’s general mood improved following coffee and a discussion of all things musical with fellow CLUAS writer Niamh Madden. Dinner with friends, almost all of whom were HWCH virgins, also helped to soften the slings and arrows of Saturday morning’s outrageous fortune. Therefore, it was with a happy heart and satisfied stomach that Key Notes and his band of merry men and women made their way to Academy 2 for Pilotlight.

This blog has a great deal of time for Pilotlight but was worried about the venue; previous experiments in the Academy (or Spirit as it was then) had shown that dance venues can’t provide the type of sound systems required for playing anything other than dance music (very important) and that the bouncers in said clubs weren’t sure how to deal with boys and girls with big hair and skinny jeans (not so important). As an aside, Key Notes would like to nominate skinny jeans as this decades shoulder pads; something lots of people are going to look back on in a few years and shudder.

However, this blog’s fears were unfounded as the sound in Academy 2 (the Academy’s underground venue) was excellent. Every note was crystal clear and Pilotlight’s mix of melancholy and the infinite madness (their on stage banter was almost as entertaining as their music) delighted a small but supportive audience. The same could not be said for Distractors unfortunately, despite their lead singers’ best attempts to channel the ghost of Michael Hutchence.

Unimpressed, our group left Academy 2 four songs in to make our way over the Ha’penny Bridge to the Music Centre (Button Factory) to catch the ever entertaining A Lazarus Soul. Shorn of their keyboard player Bryan McMahon, ALS delivered a completely different set from the one Key Notes was expecting. Much of last years excellent Graveyard of Burnt Out Cars was lost and with it the magic of A Lazarus Soul. Not bad; just not as towering a performance as this blog knows the band can give.  During this set Key Notes bumped into another fellow CLUAS writer, Anna Murray, who suggested Hybrasil's show earlier in the evening hadn't started on time, if at all.  Further details were unavailable at time of posting.

Next on the bill was Deaf Animal Orchestra whose moniker promises little but whose music certainly delivers. There were times when it strayed a little too close to wearing plaid shirts, trucker hats and drinking whiskey from a bottle on your front porch for this blogs liking but, that being said, it certainly got people dancing, this blog included, and it was for this reason that it didn’t notice it’s coat had been stolen. If anyone sees someone wearing a grey/black G-Star jacket in the Temple Bar area over the next few days, they are advised to contact the police and/or punch them in the face.

A joke of course, but this blog was just glad it wasn’t raining as flying visits were made to Andrews Lane (Crayonsmith: musically it was fine, but that voice gets dull after more than 3 songs) and 4 Dame Lane (Ollie Cole: complete with the worlds smallest set list on what looked to be a small post-it, the man has a voice this blog could listen to all night) before Key Notes’ shivering arms made their way to Meeting House Square for Fight Like Apes.

Given the terrible weather and sound problems of the previous evening, Key Notes wasn’t sure what to expect from the band. As previously stated, this blog hasn’t always had time for what must be the most hyped Irish band of the decade but, once more, their incendiary live performance combined with songs that sound catchier with each rendition showed that they are a band that are more than capable of living up to their hype.

As with day one, Key Notes is sure his fellow writers will cover Saturday’s performances in greater detail but it is worth remarking that, despite the excellent line up of bands on day two, not a single venue was full. Even Meeting House Square, which in previous years has had to refuse people entry for even the most mediocre of bands (take a bow The Things), was relatively empty for Fight Like Apes. There are many factors that could account for this; all of them worrying for the festivals organisers.

That being said, the quality of music on offer on day two was highlighted by the bands this blog failed to see; Le Galaxie and Frightened Rabbit to name but two. Sunday will offer similar dilemmas with performances from the likes of Autamata and Robotnik as well as Sons and Daughters, curators of this year’s Scottish Invasion. Thankfully, having too much choice is a great problem for a festival to have.

FLA Photo: Toniireton

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As you'll see over the next few days, CLUAS is well represented at this year's Hard Working Class Heroes and our team of writers; Niamh Madden, Anna Murray and Ian Wright, will bring you extensive coverage of Ireland's only music festival dedicated to Irish bands. As such, Key Notes will aim to give you a slightly alternative view of HWCH.

Yesterday evening began with a quick writers meet up to talk football, travelling but more importantly HWCH and who we were going to see. Colour printers and highlighters were well represented and decisions such as going to see Dublin Duck Dispensary or Chequerboard were mulled over. Eventually, we went our separate ways and the hard work of enjoying the music began.

The first thing to note about HWCH 2008 is how surprisingly empty the majority of venues were. In previous years venues such as the Music Centre (Button Factory) have been so packed that a trip to the bar could result in missing an entire set. Last night, however, there seemed to be more bands and gentlemen (and women) of the press than paying punters. Is this recession 2.0 with HWCH's target market (college students and twenty-somethings like most CLUAS readers) baulking at the increased cost of attending the festival?

Musically, Niamh, Anna & Ian will provide you with greater details but, with a couple of exceptions, Key Notes found last night boring. Not bad, just a lot of bands who sounded like a lot of other bands. Chequerboard was excellent, as were Lines Drawing Circles (despite the atrocious weather for their set). However, it was the Fighting With Wire set that left Key Notes most disappointed. The sound in Meeting House Square was so bad that it was very difficult to distinguish one instrument from another and impossible to understand Chair O'Doherty's fearsome lyrics.

All that being said; HWCH is very much about catching up with old friends and making new ones and last night was no exception. Hopefully tonight, featuring performances from the likes of Pilotlight, Ollie Cole, A Lazarus Soul (artists Key Notes is a big fan of) and Fight Like Apes (a band Key Notes is willing to give another chance to after their explosive Oxegen performance), will see more paying punters around Temple Bar. There's also the first of numerous seminars this afternoon, focusing on changes in the record industry and growing your fan base outside of Ireland.

Here's Fighting With Wire as they can sound:

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A very special edition of Key Note Speaker sees your blogger in conversation with Brian Carroll, organiser and indeed founder of Hard Working Class Heroes.  The 2008 event takes place this coming weekend (September 12-14) and some tickets are still available from here.

Favourite Albums from the Past Year?
One of my favourite albums from the past year has been Cut Copy's In Ghost Colours (and I actually have the pleasure of tour managing these guys). Dan Whitford’s song writing is so masterful especially on this record, and it translates so well live - I should know i've seen them about 100 times!! Another record from this year I love is MGMT's Oracular Spectacular. I know I will love this record for the rest of my life!

Favourite Albums Ever?
Wow, I’m always stumped when it coomes to these types of questions. I could list 50 records ranging from Iron Maiden to Fleetwood Mac to The Strokes to ELO but if pressed for an answer I would have to say Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and possibly Alice in Chains’ Dirt album or Unplugged would be very pleasing to listen to for eternity.

Favourite Albums by Hard Working Class Heroes 08 Bands?
It's awesome to be asked that question as when HWCH first started out most of the bands didn't have records or the means to make them! Thankfully times have changed!  My favourite albums would be SEBP, the very eagerly awaited debut from Fight Like Apes along with albums by Crayonsmith, We Are The Physics, The Vinny Club and, obviously, the excellent Sons & Daughters!

Favourite New Bands/Artists?
God there's so much new music available it's hard to find the really great stuff, but since I tour a lot I do get to see so many bands. As I've already said MGMT rock me big time and Cut Copy are new enough for me.  Others i'm loving right now are Vampire Weekend, Japanther Of Montreal (new for me!), but 3 words you will definitely hear in 2009 would be my dear friends "Matt & Kim". You have been told!

Favourite Bands/Artists Ever?
The Strokes/Fleetwood Mac/Alice In Chains/Abba/CCR/The Band/Iron Maiden/The King/Motley Crue/Bon Jovi/Men Without Hats/The Boss/The Fat Man/Van/Queen/The Jam/Thin Lizzy...

Favourite HWCH 08 Bands?
HWCH 2008 is the most interesting line up yet. I'm really happy with how it's turned out and I really think the line up is killer! Bands you should not miss are: Frightened Rabbit, Kill Krinkle Club, Nakatomi Plaza, Pocket Promise, Angel Pier, Little X's For Eyes, More Tiny Giants, The Spook & The 13th Lock, Bats... You see there's so much I just had to mention!! It's all awesome!

Favourite Gig So Far This Year?
Sex Pistols at Electric Picnic. Having been a huge pistols fan when I was younger in the hopes of pissing my parents off, it was great to finally be able to say I've been to a Pistols show but it's just novelty really.

Favourite Gig Ever?
Fats Domino, the National Stadium somewhere in the 80's, I can barely remember it. What a complete living legend. Plus my dad got to meet him after the gig which, to him, was probably more exciting for him than my own birth!

Favourite HWCH Performance Ever?
Well Peaches in 2006 was pretty awesome but over the years HWCH has hosted many bands who don't exist anymore. One of these was The Subtonics (fronted by The Mighty Stef) in the first year (2003). They blew my mind though sadly they had broken up by the following year.

Favourite Venue?
In Ireland, Meeting House Square. Elsewhere, Revolver in Melbourne, Australia is the best sounding room I've ever heard.

Favourite HWCH Venue Ever?
Well MHS (as above) is just so special and The Button Factory is probably the best spec'd venue in terms of production but you just can't beat a packed, sweaty Dorans when it's rockin!

Download/CD/Cassette/Vinyl?
Definitely download as I seem to move a lot, but vinyl is the most beautiful and special.

Most Listened to Radio Show?
I don't have a radio where I live plus they speak in Swedish (cos I live in Sweden) and I haven't a cluas [boom boom - Key Notes] what the hell they are saying.  However, when I'm in Dublin Phantom FM speaks to me.

Most Anticpated HWCH 2008 Performance?
I'm always working so I actually never get to fully see a bands set but I’m gonna try my best to check out Frightened Rabbit, Pocket Promise, The Spook & The 13th Lock, Fangs. I think i'm just kidding myself though, I'm gonna be so busy!! But fans should check out all the bands on www.hwch.net to have a preview.

What Will Make HWCH 2008 A Success for You?
If everybody has a great time and gets something out of it, whatever that may be. The fact that HWCH still exists year after year and Irish bands, in particular, still have a festival they can call their own that is enough for me.

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Today's feature is on Moth Complex and their recently launched video for Tied Up In Knots.  Key Notes recently caught up with front woman Aoife O'Leary (or 'what's her face from Moth Complex' as the person who introduced us called her) to ask her about the making of the video.

Firstly who directed the video? 

Tied Up In Knots was directed by Gerry Owens (Aoife's Moth CompleX co-writer). He, Ian Kane (video producer) and I began planning and storyboarding the video about 6 weeks before we shot it.

Where was it shot?

The shoot was meant to be in a disused warehouse on the outskirts of Dublin, but a couple of weeks before the shoot date, the roof fell in and everything fell apart… So I started asking everyone I know if they could think of any good locations. No luck. Eventually, in an ironic stroke of luck, my car broke down and I went up to Colm, my mechanic, who is based in Drimnagh, and while he was fixing my car I told him my story, and on the spot, he offered us the use of his garage.

Colm was brilliant - and so trusting as a whole crew of us not-very-normal-looking people arrived and took over his garage and livelihood. We hung lights from everywhere, covered walls, ceilings and floors with red sheets and filled the place with smoke. We had pulled in favours from everyone we knew – lighting pals, film pals, family pals – and were determined to make this video the very best we could…

We worked over a weekend in Colm’s garage, we did all the band performance stuff, my second verse stuff and also additional stuff, which I’ll come back to. It was so much fun, but also freezing cold being filmed in January in Dublin in a garage.

After we finished shooting, I decided to edit the video. I had never intended to. But as I done audio editing and the video was so important to me, I decided I could learn video editing software in order to edit the video. So I did. I knew that if I didn’t, I would have been seeing
someone else’s interpretation of it, and I wanted to see mine.

So after I did an initial edit of the video and I looked back at it, I loved everything but our footage for verse 1, which we originally shot against a white background. It just didn’t suit the rest of the video, to my mind. So rather than let it go, I decided to re-shoot it. So we rented a room, a load of lights, etc, and re-shot. Then I was happy.

So what was the concept behind Tied Up In Knots?

For the performance part, I wanted it to be about our band playing the song and for the verses, I wanted it to be about me singing the song. No concept as such. Just singing and performing a song that means so much to me. Nothing else. And the performance part was so much fun. We played the song over and over from different angles and it was so full-on, but in a different way to a gig or a rehearsal. And so focused. I loved it. Everyone was so “on”. Such intense energy. Gerry, the director, was shouting all the time we kept playing the song over and over 'keep close up in the camera, don’t block your face with your hands' etc. It was all brilliant. I’m sure I sound like such a novice, but I am, this was my first time to do anything like this.

Finally, how does the concept relate to the song?

The video edit that is out so far is just us performing the song, really. There is an additional part coming in a second edit. This came to me in the weeks before I began storyboarding the video with Gerry and Ian. I couldn’t shake the idea of someone being “tied up in knots” in the video. I kept fighting with myself. One part of me said that the idea was ridiculously obvious and unimaginative, so I kept rejecting the idea over and over, but somehow, I couldn’t shake it and it kept coming back to me.

So I suggested the idea to Gerry Owens, who the idea very much appealed to, and he expanded on it to an idea of having a girl, naked, suspended from a ceiling with rope and “tied up in knots”. Naked. Bare. Restricted. Exactly the emotional base of the song for me.

It looked amazing in storyboard – we threw around various ideas and Gerry, ultimately, came up with this comic book like drawing, and I laughed out loud thinking how cool it looked, but thought “who in hell will do this?” I didn’t want to do it myself. I loved the idea and in another circumstance, I’d be cool about doing it but I wanted to be singer in this video. Singing and performing a song that means so much to me. Nothing else.

So at that stage, we put the literal idea of Tied Up In Knots on hold. As it happens, I was dancing in a show at the time, as was a friend of mine. She was a big Moth CompleX fan and so supportive of me and the band and everything. Then one day, having tea and biscuits, she was talking to me about how she had been photographed naked for a “Suicide Girls” shoot recently. She spoke in such a relaxed and open-minded way and a bell went off in my head! I asked her if she felt like being “tied up in knots” and suspended naked from the ceiling in a garage for my video. She said she’d love that!! I explained the freezing cold (in a mechanic’s garage at the end of January, wearing no clothes, hung from ceiling with ropes meant for big boats, lads on the shoot working staring at her etc…) And she was still on for it!

So that is the footage that ties the concept to the song. Yes, that footage hasn’t appeared in the edit we’ve done to date. Not sure we could see MySpace or TV playing it so we did the first edit with the band first… But the second edit is on it’s way!

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Key Notes is not the type of person to say 'I told you so' and this morning is no different.  The demise of State magazine, though worryingly predictable, is of course a bad thing for the people involved, but not for the music reading public.  While State was in print, Key Notes took the unusual step of buying both it and Hot Press to judge the two side by side.  There is no doubt that Hot Press upped it's game, but in fairness, when an 'Indie music magazine' decides to put ABBA on the cover or run a full length feature on Justin Timberlake, they are essentially gifting market share to their competitors.

In a statement you can read here, State head honcho Phil Udell talks of how 'the music magazine world is heading the same way as the rest of the industry – the audience are able to get their fix wherever and whenever they please and usually for nothing.'  Surely somebody could have told Phil and Co. that this was the case 6 months ago?  Or has the industry changed so much and so quickly in that 6 months that they couldn't have seen this coming.  EVERYONE, even this humble blog, saw it coming.

One suspects that State (or Free State as it probably won't be known) will now rely on advertising to continue it's free existence.  However, Key Notes is sure that the money men, especially in the current economic climate, will push their advertising towards Hot Press as it is the more established publication.  Indeed, and again without saying 'I told you so' Key Notes predicted this in March just as the magazine launched. 

Once again, this blog is sure that the future of music journalism is websites such as CLUAS, freebies such as Analogue and Connected and the Friday supplements in both the Irish Independent and Irish Times.  The most worrying aspect of all of this is that Hot Press will probably slip back into pre-State mode, focusing on 'increasing its quota of fashion, gaming and much more.'  Mind you, if it does, then sooner, rather than later, Key Notes suspects that it will follow State, and those that have gone before, into the dustbin of the 21st century where they'll join VHS, cassettes and Oasis.

In honour of State's new found, er, state, here's a rather old version of The Who's I'm Free:

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There are probably lots of people making their way down to Stradbally this morning, hoping that the traffic jams for Electric Picnic won’t be as bad as in previous years. But what will they do if all that time spent in traffic today and coming home on Monday gets too much for them? Well, they could do worse than make their way down to Cois Fharraige, taking place next weekend (September 5 to 7) in Kilkee, Co. Clare. Cois Fharraige, of course, was the winner of “Best New Festival 2007″ at the Irish Festival Awards, and has been critically acclaimed for its original festival concept and line up.

Friday September 5
Friday night will see performances from Kanyu Tree, The Coronas, The Futureheads and The Zutons. The Zutons, of course, have enjoyed huge success since the release of their debut album Who Killed The Zutons. They have just released their third album, You Can Do Anything, and one can expect to hear songs such as Valerie, Why Wont You Give Me Your Love, as well as their new single Always Right Behind You.

Saturday September 6
Saturday sees a diverse range of bands strut their stuff along the western shore. 28 Costumes, The Broken Family Band, Simon & Oscar, Seasick Steve and Supergrass will ensure an action packed day. If only because the aforementioned Supergrass will be performing twice this week in The Academy it is undoubtedly Seasick Steve who will generate the most excitement following his stunning performance at this years Oxegen festival. For those of you not familiar with the man; he has built a reputation for himself thanks to his custom made stringed instruments that give him a unique style. Expect songs from the eagerly anticipated (rumoured to be released in September) follow up to Doghouse Music.

Sunday September 7
With no disrespect to Joe Brown, the man with more albums than Key Notes has had hot dinners (and if you know Key Notes, that's quite a few!); Sunday's headliners Travis will be the star attraction. Having burst unto the scene in 1999 with The Man Who,  containing songs such as Driftwood and Turn, the Scottish folk rockers flattered to deceive during the intervening years until the release of their critically acclaimed album The Boy With No Name last summer.  Well worth seeing if only for how appropriate it is that Why Does It Always Rain On Me? will bring to an end this year's Summer festivals.

There are still some tickets for Cois Fharraige available from here.

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