This weekend such a moment occurred. I never knew I wanted to see Harry Styles channel Lord of the Dance Michael Flatley in a silk blouson shirt and headband and canter around a stage.
"I haven't heard him sing yet," Flannery confesses, in answer to the burning question, when we sit down after a rehearsal in Nuns Island theatre in Galway.
Dolores possessed a voice that could reach deep into your soul. A voice that could carry a sense of joy, but also sorrow in each and every note. Her music was synonymous in every kitchen, pub and dance hall the length and breadth of the country. Dolores was also so popular, simply for her unrivalled sense of wit and kindness that touched the lives of so many.
The Irish government will give 2,000 artists unrestricted weekly stipends in a program officials described as a "recognition, at government level, of the important role of the arts in Irish society." After a successful three-year pilot, the Irish government made its basic income program for artists permanent. Similar pilots have been launched here in the United States, but they're supported primarily by the nonprofit sector.
It is Moby at the peak of his powers but there's one track that stands especially tall. It's Harbour and it features a sublime vocal from Sinéad O'Connor. The song, stately and seductive, is yet another reminder of the rare gifts of the late singer.
"It's so evocative. I'm surprised they got rid of it," Duffy said. "It's written by Stockton's Wing, Mike Hanrahan and the boys. I used to meet Mike in the old radio centre when he was in, doing bits of work." "And he'd always say to me, at least once a year: 'Thanks, we got the Lanzarote this year off it'. I just think it's evocative. And the programme is in a very hard time, a quarter to two. So you need something, a call to listen," he told The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk.
Foo Fighters are currently playing a series of warm-up dates in Ireland and the UK ahead of their upcoming summer 'Take Cover' stadium tour. During a recent Dublin show, Dave Grohl and co. debuted a new song, titled 'Of All People,' from their upcoming album, Your Favorite Toy.
Ireland's 37-man Six Nations squad was along expected lines as head coach Andy Farrell deals with a mounting injury crisis ahead of the tournament opener in Paris in a fortnight. With 10 players listed as unavailable, Farrell has been forced to make a couple of tweaks, which meant some were breathing a sigh of relief that they made the cut, and others had to make do with a place in the Ireland XV squad for the game against England 'A' at Thomond Park on February 6.
"My father spent most of his waking and sometimes sleeping hours in there...he'd ramble in and stumble out. I wrote this song after he passed at the fair young age of 62. The kind of tribute song he would have approved of. My father was a proud man. Loved his family and his drink in equal measure. My father showed his love shoulder to shoulder, not face to face."
