NEWS
EVENTS
Don’t Like Guinness, Then There Was Another Reason To Visit the Emerald Island
Indie | Monday 5th August 2013 | Jamie
For those who couldn't afford to go to Glastonbury, hate the mainstreams acts of Wireless and thought travelling to South by South West Festival is too far away from the British Isles, then the Forbidden Fruit Festival was a perfect option for you.
Dublin is not particular famous for its live music, it’s unfortunately overshadowed by the United Kingdom's huge music scene. The UK has so many great festivals, that you are spoilt for choice. So what did the Forbidden Fruit Festival have to offer? Well if you’re not a fan of camping and like the comfort of a Premier Inn, then Forbidden Fruit was conveniently located for you. It is based in the luxury gardens of what once was a hospital and now is becoming a popular site for gigs. The XX and Blur have both planned to play their later this year.
For the first time it has grown into a two day event with more than 4 stages of live music each day. With Kasabian headlining the undergrowth stage on Saturday and Primal Scream closing the festival on Sunday it was already guaranteed to be a strong event.
While both bands did make the crowd wave, sing-a- long to their lyrics and have marriage proposals from their fans, it was however the 70s soul legends Chic that made the most impact. Nile Rodgers (the remaining living member of the duo) had recently brought back the band with new vocalists, new backing musicians and the old classics that made them much loved in the disco era. Songs including; 'Le Freak', made even the youngest of music fans want to freak out, while `Everybody Dance` literally told the crowd to do just that.
If you were up for a rave then alternatively you could have seen Four Tet perform at the dance tent. You could have seen a massive HD screen that was projected behind the stage showing computer generated graphics, some as bizarre as a 3D mouse imitating Jay Kay.
The older claustrophobic crowd who weren't bothered by live bands enjoyed an imitate tent where a DJ played retro tunes from the 1950s. Couples enjoyed doing the cha cha, the twist and the mashed potato, with the clothes to match.
There was a fair share of mentalness on stage; Fight Like Apes wanted to prove themselves madder then Crystal Castles kicking their keyboard on the floor and shouting 'Lend Me You Face' while bashing their heads on drum cymbals. This wasn’t a hardcore festival though certain bands wanted to prove that they were nuttier then Ozzy Osbourne eating a live alligator on stage.
When it comes to new music, Ireland's very own Kormac's Big Bands made their mark as a band to watch this year. A 9 piece band that consisted of 3 lead singers, 2 backing singers, a saxophonist, a trumpet player, a drummer and of course Dj Kormac himself mixing the decks like he was in Run DMC.
All and all it was an exciting festival that introduced new names such as WoodKid and Toro Y Moi, while also respecting the old bands that influenced them.
Jamie Hobbs.
