It’s just four weeks now until the big festival of August – All Together Now – returns to Curraghmore in Waterford for its fourth year.
We’ve previously discussed the 10 acts you can’t miss at this year’s festival but there is still loads to be announced for the weekender, and there are 16 areas including Arcadia, AVA In The Woods, Belonging Bandstand, Cambium Club, Éalú Le Grá , Global Roots, Ping Pong Disco, Schweppes Ultimate Mixer, The Last City, The Cobblestone, Comedy, All Curious Minds, Seanchoíche, Breathe Wellness, Bosca Beatha and you can see some of the stage breakdowns here.
Pillow Queens were announced as the special surprise guest for Jameson Connects The Circle stage along with a load of great Irish acts of all genres.
Here’s a look at some of the unique offerings that All Together Now is bringing to the Irish festival circuit this year…
1.
Alternative bands
Sometimes you just need a good blast of a distorted guitar and a squall of band noise to set you right…
Not only is punk godfather Iggy Pop bringing the noise ATN this year, there’s a spate of spiky punky guitar music to enjoy, with various strands of anything but obvious-sounding alternative bands on the lineup.
How about these? The post- jazz-rock indie style of Black Country, New Road, the sleazy rock of Warmduscher, the exploratory krautrock instrumentals of the Geoff Barrow’s BEAK>, the reformed punk-pop of Fight Like Apes, the feminist post-punk of m(h)aol, the scuzzy garage rock of Onion Boys or the London grunge pop of Gretel Hänlyn. You could include the droney dark-trad style of Lankum there too for some extra heavyweight noise.
2.
Crudo Restaurant
Crudo is a Dublin restaurant bringing its “best Casual Dining restaurant all Ireland 2023” crown to All Together Now 2023.
Crudo is a neighbourhood café, wine bar and eatery in Sandymount which will be on site serving an Italian and Mediterranean-inspired menu in a Victorian marquee this year. A 4-course dinner is available over the weekend and a kid-friendly brunch is available on Saturday and Sunday. This is high-end festival dining.
Check out the menu, and book your table here.
3.
What’s your Pop Pleasure?
If pop music is what you crave then you’ll find a glut of it at Curraghmore.
All Together Now has a few pure pop names this year that all walk the line of “pop as in popular” and cool. The return of Lorde’s Solar Power show, with its considered costuming and staging is on the theatrical side of pop and the original lineup of UK cool pop merchants Sugababes is one of the more anticipated shows this year, as it’s been too long since Republic of Ireland audiences have heard the likes of ‘Round Round’, ‘Push The Button’ and ‘Freak Like Me’ to name three.
Sing Along Social is an All Together Now institution at this point, always guaranteed to bring one of the biggest daytime crowd at the Belonging Bandstand. It’s a singing party designed for those who cannot sing but are always willing to belt out the chorus of pop hits of any era anyway, egged on by the craic mechanics with props, signs and crowd interaction galore, to loosen you up to help you connect to your inner craic..
Then there’s the disco pop pleasures of Jessie Ware and her dancefloor feel-good anthems and club vogue-featuring dance choreography.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
