The Rolling Stones - “Charlie is my Darling Ireland 1965” to premiere in New York

The Rolling Stones

I was recently reminded of another amazing summer vacation I had 30 years ago (July 24, to be exact).

As soon as I landed at the Shannon that summer in 1982, my mother and young aunt (only five years my senior) informed me that I would be going to see the Rolling Stones at Slane Castle in Co. Meath!

My brother and father joined my aunt and I on the arduous bus trip, one whose difficulty my father reminds me every time I moan about taking my kids to see their boy bands in concert!

Once we got there, we were rewarded with a stellar show that included J. Geils, George Thorogood and a little “local” band called the Chieftains!

The Stones were white-hot, having just released Tattoo You.

The band was celebrating two decades of touring at the time. It’s hard to believe that they have endured 30 more years of hard rock living since then!

In the present day, the Rolling Stones marked their 50th anniversary last month and a new book is out to commemorate the event. Music journalist Hanspeter Kuenzler has collaborated with The eBook People (www.theebookpeople.com) to bring us 50 Years: The Rolling Stones – Views from the Inside, Views from the Outside.

This is a massive two-part collection of the best journalistic material spanning the band’s career. The ebook includes feature articles from Rolling Stone, The Daily Mail, and Daily Express with everyone from girlfriends and wives to the Stones themselves.

As an acknowledgement to the tight connection they’ve had with Ireland over the years, (Slane gigs, Chieftains records, the recording of Voodoo Lounge there, etc.), the Stones will also release Charlie Is My Darling - Ireland 1965, which will have its premiere at the New York Film Festival.

According to the MusicRadar.com website, the documentary was shot on a quick tour of Ireland just weeks after the Stones hit number one with “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.”  Charlie is my Darling - Ireland 1965 is the first documentary of the band, featuring professionally filmed concert performances and intimate, behind-the-scenes diary-like segments of the young Stones on the road.

Among Stones fans, Charlie Is My Darling has achieved mythic status over the years. According to the website, the band is shown traveling through the Irish countryside by train, dashing from cabs to cramped, basement dressing rooms through screaming hordes of fans. Motel rooms host impromptu songwriting sessions and familiar classics are heard in their infancy.

Originally directed by Peter Whitehead and produced by Rolling Stones manager and producer Andrew Loog Oldham, the 2012 version, presented by ABKCO Films, has been meticulously restored with added, never-before-seen footage by director Mick Gochanour and producer Robin Klein, the Grammy-Award winning team that brought the classic The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus to the screen.

Charlie Is My Darling - Ireland 1965 will premiere at the New York Film Festival on Saturday, September 29.

A broadcast premiere will follow soon after, and the film will be available on DVD, Blu-ray and as a super deluxe box set in November.

Celtic Cross’s Kathleen Vesey Fee prepares for Montauk summer sessions

Kathleen Fee

The summer season is a busy one for Irish musicians. They no sooner get a break from the St. Patrick’s Day festivities before rolling into a busy festival calendar during the warm months.

For Celtic Cross’s lead singer Kathleen Vesey Fee, she is combining music and vacation when she brings a few musicians onto the dock of Swallow East in Montauk for a series of Tuesday evening shows through August.

“Friends of mine opened Swallow East out in Montauk and asked if I would do a regular gig there during the summer,” she explains. “There is a very chill, relaxed vibe at Swallow East and we will be playing right outside on the deck, next to the dock, where the fishing boats come in. The restaurant has quickly become a local favorite here in Montauk.”

Fee will be joined at Swallow East by Walter Ensor on acoustic guitar, Ryan Cavan on percussion and Dan Muniz on electric guitar.  And what can Celtic Cross fans expect if they make their way out to the dock?

“I thought it would be a really great opportunity to do some fresh, new material that may have not been a great suit for Celtic Cross,” she explains. “It has been such fun rehearsing and learning almost a whole new set of songs for this gig. We are really excited to try them all out!”

Fee counts the Kinks, Dixie Chicks, Rolling Stones and Grateful Dead in her list of favorite bands, and she is rehearsing some songs from those catalogs as well as some tried and true Celtic Cross crowd pleasers.

Fee says it will be weird at first not to perform with the rest of the Vesey clan (her brothers make up the bulk of the band). 

“I have been singing with them since I was 16 and most of the gigs I have done, they have been right by my side,” she says. “You have to get out of your comfort zone to grow, but I forgot that my big brothers always set up the PA system and now I have to figure that out. Sorry in advance if anyone hears any screeching feedback!”

Fee is excited by these new gigs, but is equally stoked to put her nose to the grindstone finish the long-awaited follow-up to Celtic Cross’s classic Shores of America. The band has been writing and rehearsing with the goal to have an all-original album out before St. Patrick's Day.

“We are also looking forward to trying out some of our new material at some fun performances this summer and fall,” she says.

Those gigs include the Sloppy Tuna in Montauk on Sunday, August 5, the Buffalo Irish Festival on September 8, Ulysses Oyster Festival on September 22 and up to East Durham for the Gavin's Guinness Festival on October 6.

Check out Fee on Tuesdays at Swallow East (474 West Lake Drive, Montauk, Long Island; www.swallowrestaurant.com.

Former Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher to tour with Snow Patrol

Noel Gallagher

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Snow Patrol have announced a rare co-headlining tour for the fall which will kick off in Portland, Oregon on October 23. This will be Gallagher's fourth U.S. tour within the last 12 months, having performed at Coachella Festival in April, as well as double sell out shows in Los Angeles and New York.

Along with a selection of classic Oasis songs, the High Flying Birds set will include songs from their self-titled debut album that was recorded in London and completed in Los Angeles last year. The album went straight to the top spot in the United Kingdom, achieving platinum status within its first three weeks of release. It ranks among the highest selling debut albums of 2011 and still features high up in the U.K. album charts some nine months after its release. 

Northern Ireland’s Snow Patrol has, of course, had success that rivals Oasis. The band launched 2012 with a top five Soundscan debut for their sixth studio album Fallen Empires, and entered the Billboard 200 albums chart as well. Fallen Empires went straight to number one on iTunes, and was bookended by live performances on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman and the same night with a full-length concert on the ground-breaking Live on Letterman webcast concert series. The band also appeared on Ellen and The Tonight Show.

The initial press release announcing the tour has dates listed for Canada, the West Coast and a smattering of Midwest dates. No plans to take this to the East Coast yet, but keep your eyes peeled for more announcements!

Sinead O’Connor to pay tribute to Curtis Mayfield in New York City

Sinead O'Connor

The one and only Sinead O’Connor makes her only New York stage appearance this summer at Lincoln Center Festival’s tribute to the late soul music legend Curtis Mayfield on Friday, July 20, in Avery Fisher Hall. Previously announced performers include the Roots, Bilal, Meshell Ndegeocello, William Bell, Ryan Montbleau, Mavis Staples and others.

O’Connor has called Mayfield “my absolute musical hero, along with Dylan and Marley.”  She cites his album There’s No Place Like America Today as one of her all-time favorites, and recorded his song “We Who are Darker Than Blue.” 

Ms. O has cancelled a number of shows behind her criminally ignored album earlier this year, How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? but to see these other artists on the  bill for tickets that start at $35 is still a bargain even if she is a no-show. 

For more information call 212-721-6500 or visit http://lincolncenterfestival.org/index.php/2012-curtis-mayfield.

Alan Doyle - Great big sea leader sails solo - VIDEO

Alan Doyle

After 19 years of producing nine gold or platinum albums and astounding crowds with a ferocious live show that fills clubs, Irish festivals, and hockey arenas across the continent, Great Big Sea’s Alan Doyle has branched out on his own with Boy on Bridge, his first solo album.

“You can’t un-ring a bell/you can’t un-tell a story/you can’t un-break a heart/I’m sorry/if there’s a chance in hell/for a moment’s glory/I’ll be so glad to tell you/I’m sorry,” he pleads on “I’m Sorry,” the album’s opener.

The combination of countrified rock and his earnest, husky vocals on this track and on songs like “Break it Slow” call to mind a younger Jackson Browne.

“It’s not what you got its what you’re looking for/I’ve been over the moon and down on my luck//been down on the bottle and made my way up/I’ve seen a little but isn’t enough,” he sings on “I’ve Seen a Little,” a drive-with-the-top-down kinda ferocious rocker that would fit right in with that Bon Jovi mixed tape you’ve had in the dashboard for just such an occasion.

Doyle’s hometown of Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, is a small fishing village at the lip of the open sea. The ocean would bring European settlers into the port, which explains while Great Big Sea’s brand of Irish music was washed with sea salt and many French and Canadian influences.

He was just a teenager when he left home and moved to Newfoundland’s capital, St. John’s. Although he pursued a BA in English and religion at Memorial University, music was his real passion.

Doyle honed his performing skills as a solo artist in the city’s pubs, standing on bar stages, belting out folk songs and the classic rock for the rowdy patrons.

Making your way up from the pubs is much different than making it on a reality show, so Doyle developed the thick skin needed to go with his natural talent.

In 1993, he joined forces with fellow pub warriors Sean McCann, Bob Hallett and Darrell Power, and together they started Great Big Sea, where they fused Newfoundland traditional music with their own pop sensibilities.

In his spare time, Doyle is much in demand as a producer, arranger and general musical catalyst, having produced albums for actor Russell Crowe and Juno Award winners the Irish Descendants, among others, and furnished soundtracks for many movies.

In 2010 he put his matinee idol looks to good use when he joined his friend Crowe as Allan A’Dayle in the Universal blockbuster Robin Hood.

With the release of Boy on Bridge, Doyle enters a new phase of his career. After almost 20 years with great Big Sea he is stepping out on his own.

Doyle has amassed many friends as a producer and performer, and he calls in a bushel of favors that contribute to the making of a breakout classic.

Canadian stars like Colin James, Hawksley Workman and Jim Cuddy are joined by Nashville pros like Troy Verges and Kelly Archer, while long-time collaborator Gordie Sampson helped him write and record some.
Boy on Bridge gave Doyle a chance to finally delve into his love of country music and more classic rock and roll sounds.

Fresh from their success with artists like Faith Hill and Carrie Underwood, Sampson and Verges helped create the modern country of “I’ve Seen A Little,” while Nashville up-and-comer Ryan Tyndall co-wrote “My Day”.

The blues shouter “Testify” was co-written by Crowe, and then recorded with guitar hero Colin James in Vancouver.

“The chaplain says the end has started/your judgment has begun/prayers can lead to God’s forgiveness for all the foolish things you’ve done/I hope and pray I never get what I deserve,” he sings on “Testify,” a ZZ

Top-like bluesy smoker that also deserves an airing in that convertible of yours.

Just when you think Doyle chucked the Irish fiddling made famous by his old band, he whips out a southern fried rocker, “Somewhere in the Love We Made,” a track that brings the fiddle and banjo together to produce a sweet ending to the album.

“It’s part travelogue, part solo record,” Doyle told the Canadian press of the 13-song album that stemmed from a desire to simply “work with friends with no goal in mind. Just go and live in their music environments, basically doing it their way and seeing what came out the other side. And something always came.”

That playful vibe that flirts with danger on every corner is what makes Boy on Bridge such a joy to hear.
Doyle will be at City Winery (155 Varick Street, New York) on June 3 and World Cafe Live in Philadelphia on June 6. Check out www.alandoyle.ca for more information.

Alan Doyle performs "I've Seen a Little" in Studio Q

After release of excellent album overwhelmed Sinead O’Connor nixes US tour

Sinead O'Connor (Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

Sinead O’Connor has cancelled her entire 2012 tour due to health problems. This includes a 12-date North American trek in support of her newest CD, How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?.

This is a shame because the new disc is excellent and it went Top 10 in Ireland and Top 40 in the
U.K. Since there is limited places to promote an album in this uncategorized category on tight radio format, live concerts are one of the best ways to assure that the music can be heard.

“With enormous regret I must announce that I have to cancel all touring for the year as I am very unwell due to bipolar disorder,” the singer announced in Munich where she had just pulled her Kongresshalle Alte Messe show.

“As you all know I had a very serious breakdown between December and March and I had been advised by my doctor not to go on tour but didn't want to 'fail' or let anyone down as the tour was already booked to coincide with the album release.

“So very stupidly I ignored his advice to my great detriment, attempting to be stronger than I actually am. I apologize sincerely for any difficulties this may cause.”

O’Connor then appeared to announce her retirement from the music industry.

“Asking about jobs as music biz is very bad for Sinead,” she resumed. “Any one have a job for a very clever woman with massive heart and courage, who adores people and has to escape music business as is very bad for her? Too much and too many long times away from home.

“All bad triggers for a woman with a mental illness. Can anyone come and take me home from Munich?”

She then closed her Twitter account, promising to come back anonymously.

The news takes me back to a raw lyric from the new album that proves how art imitates life.


“I wanted to change the world/but I couldn’t even change my underwear/and when the s*** got really really out of hand/I had it all the way up to my hairline/which keeps receding like my self-confidence/as if I had any of that stuff anyway,” she sang on the riveting “Queen of Denmark.”

While this is disappointing to her fans, including me, this is probably the right call for the chanteuse.
The comments on her website and in the press were often desperate cries for help.

A world without Sinead would be a dull place indeed, one that I wouldn’t want to live in. Sending prayers and positive vibes her way during this difficult time.

To borrow a line from  “The Wolf Is Getting Married” on the new disc, let’s hope “the sun’s peeping out of the sky/where it only used to be grey” over Sinead’s house sooner rather than later.

It pays to ride the Donegal X-Press

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The Irish divas are back - Sinead O’Connor and Cranberries Dolores O’Riordan return - VIDEOS

Sinead O'Connor

Sinead O’Connor and Dolores O’Riordan, two of Ireland’s greatest female rock singers, released albums these past couple of weeks.

Because of her high profile, it’s a safe bet that O’Connor’s How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? will get the most attention. O’Connor has been a darling of the tabloids for most of her career, but this last year was extraordinary even for her standards.

Since last summer her life has been one drama after another. In August she advertised online for a boyfriend, found Dublin drugs counselor Barry Herridge and quickly married him, split up with him and was reconciled (twice), attempted suicide and was hospitalized, either for depression or bipolar disorder.

Those of you who buy Sinead’s album looking to pore through her lyrics for reflections on this circus life won’t need a magnifying glass.

The album opener, “4th and Vine,” details her whirlwind marriage on the Las Vegas Strip last year over a bluesy skiffle shuffle that would sound right at home on Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks.

“I’m gonna put my pink dress on/and do my hair up tight/and put some eye liner on/I’m gonna look real nice/I’m gonna go to the church/on 4th and Vine/gonna marry my love/we’re gonna be happy for all time,” she sings.

It’s a gutsy move to open the album with this track, given the very public embarrassment she suffered when she and Herridge separated less than three weeks later.

But isn't that why we fell in love with her in the first place? Sinead has never played by anyone else’s rules, knowing full well she had one of the best voices on the planet to back up the reality show celebrity element that swirls around her.

Anyone who doubted the power of that voice in the 25 years since The Lion and the Cobra should click on the bonus track on this album. Her classic “I Am Stretched On Your Grave,” recorded at the Iceland Airwaves festival last October, will bring some of that Icelandic chill to your spine as the singer, unaccompanied by any instrument, fills the space of the concert hall with that pristine voice.

Even her own mental health is fair game for lyrical inspiration.

“I wanted to change the world/but I couldn’t even change my underwear/and when the s*** got really really out of hand/I had it all the way up to my hairline/which keeps receding like my self-confidence/as if I had any of that stuff anyway,” she sings on the riveting “Queen of Denmark.”

If you believe the rants in her blog, the marriage broke up because her husband was too nice to be subjected to the harsh spotlight that constantly shone on the singer.
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On “The Wolf Is Getting Married,” she winks at the notion of her monstrous reputation in the chorus as she wraps the rocker brilliantly with gushed schoolgirl love letter fodder with lines like “the sun’s peeping out of the sky/where it only used to be grey.”

Like most iconic artists, the magic happens when the mighty voice meets a great story, and that happens all over the album.

In the harrowing “Reason with Me,” O’Connor plays a junkie who’s gonna call that number “one of these days.” “Hello/you don’t know me/but I stole your laptop and I took your TV/and I sold your granny’s rosary for 50P,” she sings, a letter to her victim that almost apologies for the damage she had to do for her next quick fix.

The album’s title, How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?, would imply that Sinead just wants to be left alone to live her life in peace and quiet.

But if that’s the case, she wouldn’t open her mouth again and would instead retreat to her Wicklow abode and draw the curtains to the outside world.

The courage it took to make such a raw, bruising musical diary of her life is a refreshing burst of honesty in this plastic pop era when televised singing competitions make singers into stars.

Sinead’s reality is the real stuff you won’t find on the boob tube. Can you handle it?

The Cranberries’ album Roses is no less newsworthy because it marks the band’s first recording in nine years.

Dolores O'Riordan

It is a joyous return to form for the band and O’Riordan, a lioness of a singer often compared to O’Connor.

“I was very much into trying to capture the intimacy and the innocence of that first album,” says producer Stephen Street, who has worked with Morrissey, the Smiths and Blur over the years.

“Listening back on the first album, there was something about these four kids coming together from Limerick -- they were this tight, intimate little unit. Of course, it proceeded to go global.

“Since then, Dolores has had to project to the world. In doing this album, I mentioned to Dolores that I wanted to convey her lines in a more warm, inward way than projecting out to the world. I think it happened here and it made for a better sounding album.”

As a son of a Limerick woman, I remember brimming with pride when the Cranberries’ “Linger” charmed the planet all those years ago.

That little coffee house doodle gave way to the roar of “Zombie,” proving that O’Riordan could snarl with the best of them. That vocal range is displayed beautifully on Roses.

“Tomorrow” is the leadoff single of the album, a classic slice of Cranberries complete with a tight, jangly alternative rock guitar riff and a chorus that sticks like syrup in hair.
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“I think that you’re mad/you spend a lot of time in your head/if you could come away with me/you should have some faith in me/tomorrow could be today/if only you had some faith/too young, too proud/too foolish,” she coos.

“Fire and Soul” is another breathy vocal delivery by O’Riordan. Your eyeglasses fog over as she sings “lose yourself/fall off the fence/where is your fire and soul?”

The classic gentle beginning/tiger’s roar dynamic of days gone by is represented on tracks like “Losing My Mind.”

Even though Street captured the Cranberries as we knew and loved them back in the nineties, there are tons of new sounds that break new ground.

“Waiting in Walthamstow” re-imagines “Eleanor Rigby” as a show tune. Roses closes with “Always,” a hopeful rocker.

With a collection of songs this good, the Cranberries are firmly back in the pop orbit in a galaxy that missed them so much!

Sinead O'Connor - The Wolf is Getting Married:



The Cranberries - "Show me the way":