Why are the City Of Culture music events so elitist?

squonk

Just looking throught the upcoming City of Culture music events and the majority seem to be orchestral events focusing on classical music. I don't see too much in the way of contemporary bands or even traditional music being promoted. It just strikes me as a bunch of events set up to cater for a certain niche with scant regard being paid to events the wider community might have interest in. I would say the same by the way if the events were biased in favour of traditional music or contemporary rock. It seems a shame as a wider spread of genres would allow more cross community involvement and a greater sense from people that they have a stake in the City of Culture event as a whole. Further, it might have a longer lasting effect by convincing some more pubs to take a chance on more original live music besides cover bands and broaden the options for those going out in the city.

Paulegend

i agree that more should be happening but there is the indie fest in april and the pop up gigs during the summer. then there will be the soon to be announced gigs in thomond and hopefully the gealic grounds

we are less than 2 months into the city of culture so dont give up on it yet. i do wish it would be quicker to get stuff going though.

if they need help just ask ffs. im sure loads of people with any free time could help sort things

Paulegend

just reading they are looking for someone for their marketing so hopefully that position will be filled soon and things will get rolling

Insect Overlord

There are regular gigs in Dolan's and Cobblestone Joe's. Limerick still hasn't found a real replacement for Baker Place, but you can't blame that on the City of Culture thing.

squonk

I hear you An File, and I'm a newbie down here but my point was that if more gigs around town were organised as part of the City of Culture year with bands with a national profile then it might kick off more of an audience for these gigs and encourage some pobs to take up the slack and in the end, create a good thing going forward with more gigs for everybody.

Insect Overlord

squonk wrote: »

I hear you An File, and I'm a newbie down here but my point was that if more gigs around town were organised as part of the City of Culture year with bands with a national profile then it might kick off more of an audience for these gigs and encourage some pobs to take up the slack and in the end, create a good thing going forward with more gigs for everybody.

Good point!

I'd love to see a few mini-festivals like the Coors Light gig at the Docks a few years ago. It was cool to see Walter Mitty and the Realists, Rarely Seen Above Ground, the Dark Room Notes.

Get local bands like Hermitage Green, Leading Armies, the Brad Pitt Light Orchestra, etc, on with the likes of Ham Sandwich, Little Green Cars, Kodaline, Bell X1, the Frames, Imelda May. I know they all do their fair share of Irish gigs, but seeing a few of them on the same bill would be great.

squonk

That's exactly what I was going for An File. I don't really care about heading off to Thomond for gigs but I'd be happy to see a lot of the bands you mentioned on a smaller stage in an area of town. I lived in Galway for a few years before here and it's one thing they do fairly well up there for festivals. I'd like to see some of the inclusive vibe you get from those sort of events around Limkerick. I hope someone from the committe is reading this . Its not about big bands and filling out Thomond Park, more about getting a buzz around town the odd weekend and leaving people thinking "God that was a great weekend of gigs and entertainment, I wonder if they'll do something like that next year". I'm a big believer in "If you build it (a stage) they will come" . I know that a City of Culture event is going to have funding behind it to organise these types of things and any other year it can be harder to come up with funds for things like this but more people having a bit of craic around town is good for everyone so hopefully business could be approached to help shoulder the costs another year if people enjoyed the events. That's something you're never going to get sitting in ther UCH listening to an orchestra!

jmch81

squonk wrote: »

Just looking throught the upcoming City of Culture music events and the majority seem to be orchestral events focusing on classical music. I don't see too much in the way of contemporary bands or even traditional music being promoted. It just strikes me as a bunch of events set up to cater for a certain niche with scant regard being paid to events the wider community might have interest in. I would say the same by the way if the events were biased in favour of traditional music or contemporary rock. It seems a shame as a wider spread of genres would allow more cross community involvement and a greater sense from people that they have a stake in the City of Culture event as a whole. Further, it might have a longer lasting effect by convincing some more pubs to take a chance on more original live music besides cover bands and broaden the options for those going out in the city.

This is the same issue a lot of people had in Cork with the European City of Culture.

The web page set up is gone but I found this:
http://politico.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=471:wheres-me-culture&catid=222:society&Itemid=1245

I was working in Cork at the time and a lot of people felt the same about it as you do for the current Limerick line up!

Paulegend

why cant the likes of dolans team up with the city of culture and have a mini festival? im sure with both of them they might get a few decent acts together for a weekend for the may or august bank holiday

then there is the 4th of july fest which could team up with the COC (not cursing just abbreviating)

there is the Zombie fest. what where they called?? outbreak or something. some of the lads on here where mad into it. maybe they can get the COC to help out too

jesus do i have to organise the whole year for the flipping COC

anyone know if they meet publically seeking ideas or anything. they need an aul booth up the arse to get this stuff together. maybe we could suggest things to them. things that wont even cost that much if anything

Insect Overlord

Dolan's are advertising the spring 2014 Siege of Limerick now.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1/1654022_751740221503508_2145389295_n.jpg

Paulegend

An File wrote: »

Dolan's are advertising the spring 2014 Siege of Limerick now.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1/1654022_751740221503508_2145389295_n.jpg

is that part of indie week?? its around then as far as i know

squonk

Paulegend wrote: »

why cant the likes of dolans team up with the city of culture and have a mini festival? im sure with both of them they might get a few decent acts together for a weekend for the may or august bank holiday

then there is the 4th of july fest which could team up with the COC (not cursing just abbreviating)

there is the Zombie fest. what where they called?? outbreak or something. some of the lads on here where mad into it. maybe they can get the COC to help out too

jesus do i have to organise the whole year for the flipping COC

anyone know if they meet publically seeking ideas or anything. they need an aul booth up the arse to get this stuff together. maybe we could suggest things to them. things that wont even cost that much if anything

That happens in Galway. You get The Roisin or Monroe's teaming up with some of the summer festivals or that part of town get a street cordoned off and do their own mini festival as part of a main weekend. Tbh Paulegend I reckon I should be on that committee too, and I'd do it for taxi fare and beer money unlike the rest of them seem to be doing.

Red Nissan

It's in the title, culture.

It's a total joke and IMO, and insult to any city to be festered with this insult TBH.

Notice in the news that Limerick had a bad start, but ye should have kicked out the whole lot of them and not accept this so called 'honour' it's anything but.

And that's speaking as an experienced city of culture recipient. Take my advise, ignore it. You'll see all the usual festivals being tagged with this logo soon enough.

Paulegend

squonk wrote: »

That happens in Galway. You get The Roisin or Monroe's teaming up with some of the summer festivals or that part of town get a street cordoned off and do their own mini festival as part of a main weekend. Tbh Paulegend I reckon I should be on that committee too, and I'd do it for taxi fare and beer money unlike the rest of them seem to be doing.

thats it all id ask for is a ticket to the events and a couple of beers in return. a few of us should just do it for them. if they got 10 people volunteering and just gave them a few pints or whatever they would come up with a non stop line up. much cheaper than what they are payi8ng now for nothing.

there should be events (music-wise) on every single week under teh city of culture theme.

just because its an organised event doesnt mean it costs ANYTHING

hell this weekend they could team up with nancys flannerys and smiths and have bands on in all 3. local bands. bands that could apply to play in these gigs. they would fall under the city of culture logo so the advertising and they "recommendation" would be the only thing paid for by the city of culture. the following week they could do the same but use the library the office and mollys and then the following week use burkes aubars (whatever its called now) and micky martins. every week just using 3 bars in close vicinity of each other all the while bringing business into town.

on top of that the milk market should have acoustic sessions on during the day midweek so people could come in chill out and drink coffee or have a bite to eat. the same could be done in coffee shops all over the city.

hell they should open up limerick coffee shops all over the city in closed premises. they could try to get the premises for free on the grounds that it would showcase the space for potential buyers and they would just cover costs such as electricity and supplies. they could seek donations from the public for the upkeep of these places and the other city of culture events while also just selling tickets from these stores meaning it would bring footfall to these places. some of them could even open in the evenings giving an alternative the just drinking in this city (to suit people that dont want to drink)

it would get people working (minimum wages but working) and it would bring a feel good atmosphere to the place.

im telling you we just need a chance to voice our ideas. we dont even want to be paid ffs and im sure there are hundreds of like minded in this city. its a complete farce that some of these jobs for the boys positions have turned up and destroyed what could be the single greatest thing to resurrect this city

topper75

Culture is just the byword the middle-aged and elderly bourgeois use for what they perceive to be entertaining.

Which is fine.

Except they divert public monies towards it.

Not fine.

Paulegend

topper75 wrote: »

Culture is just the byword the middle-aged and elderly bourgeois use for what they perceive to be entertaining.

Which is fine.

Except they divert public monies towards it.

Not fine.

to be honest ive no problem with having operas and orchestras and riverdances and all that. but we need more of it plus more diversity. there needs to be a range of cultural events. im not into trad what so ever but why isnt there more trad events on as part of this. hell have a trad fest. have 3 trad fests. surely it costs absolutely flip all to organise these events in a few bars that would welcome it. the bars would get free trade and publicity where the city of culture will have another free event that cost them no money what so ever and a place to have the event


i mean come on this is not rocket science

topper75

Fair point Paul - and your example is solid. Culture is already there - it is just event management. And yet ...

Paulegend

do the committee ever have public gatherings by any chance? im sure there are loads of people with ideas that could get this thing off the ground.

we have st patricks day in a few weeks. surely we should be trying to attract as many people as possible into the city.

what about what they are doing in dublin making the unemployed work for the council? if they did that here they would have a potential workforce for any events they needed. plus they could get the street ambassador thing started properly. have a couple of people handing out fliers at the shopping centers to highlight the events going on for the year.

waterford always set up an office in their city center for their annual events. in the office they sell their tickets and people can ring to make enquires about events etc. there is nowhere obvious that the man on the street can go in limerick to find out about the stuff this year.

surely to run a city of culture you need to tell people what is going on

squonk

Agreed. The Galway Arts Festivqal have a very visible office just a few minutes walk from Eyre Square. While it should probably be in Eyre Square, nobody is going to get lost looking for it either. They're also devils in Galway for putting up flags and banners during a weekend with some indication of what the event is for any particular weekend. If I was dropped in O'Connell Street right now via parachute from somewhere else, I wouldn't know there was any City of Culture going on. Some of the points mentioned above are great and are exactly what's needed. From the point of view of someone newly arrived in the city, it looks like the most piss poor excuse for a city of culture year ever. It does't look like they got any of the basics right. I bet half the classical gigs I complained about in my original post would be going on anyway without the COC being organised. I'm more of a music head but I always find a great array of music events to go to during Galway Arts Festival. I'd take in some plays and a few other things too but there's always great comedy and music and a very wide mix of things. GAF is for 2 weeks admittedly but there's no reason they couldn't supply the same diversity over a wider timeline in Limerick.

cnoc

jmch81 wrote: »

This is the same issue a lot of people had in Cork with the European City of Culture.

The web page set up is gone but I found this:
http://politico.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=471:wheres-me-culture&catid=222:society&Itemid=1245

I was working in Cork at the time and a lot of people felt the same about it as you do for the current Limerick line up!

Hi there! Why did the above web address show up as being potentially harmful by my anti virus programme?

um7y1h83ge06nx

Being a bit cynical it's imo mainly about a cliche in Limerick getting together and coming up with some events so they can take from the money-pot of funding.

Getting hands on the money is far more important than the actual events.

Paulegend

cnoc wrote: »

Hi there! Why did the above web address show up as being potentially harmful by my anti virus programme?

it shouldnt. its just a blog site. its coming up fine for me.

Jazmine Shallow Rakishly wrote: »

Being a bit cynical it's imo mainly about a cliche in Limerick getting together and coming up with some events so they can take from the money-pot of funding.

Getting hands on the money is far more important than the actual events.

im afraid that you might be right. its too much of this jobs for the lads attitude with it rather than organising the events. i know that roma wasnt built in a day and all the stupid cliches but it actually doesnt take long to organise small events. as was said there is culture already happening around the city. trad evenings in the front bar of nancys, trad in the locke, trad nights in cobblestones, live acts in the office crafty fox and cobbles. craft beers in oconnels crfty fox and flannerys. there use to be poetry nights in teh whiet house(dont know if it still goes on)

these are all events that happen already anyway. all that needs to be done is throw the COC banner on it. i know some will complain that they are just stealing the praise from other peoples organisation but at least they could promote it to a wider audience and show people that are 'not in the know' that limerick has culture already hidden inside. these groups or nights would get a new influx of people showing up. the places of business will get more customers and that surely is what this whole thing should be about

Paulegend

so there is a public meeting on next thursday evening as far as i know. im not sure if this is a meeting ran by the COC or just the public wanting to discuss the COC. hopefully its the former. only thing is i have a first aid exam that night. i mailed them to see if it will be happening again and hopefully ill get more info back from them but right now all i know is a meeting is going ahead next thursday 6th of march from 19.00 until 22.00. the venue is to be announced and there seems to be a lot attending. its worth going if anyone has opinions or ideas. even if you think your ideas might not help, i think its obvious that the COC need as much help as possible.

https://www.facebook.com/events/718679134817552/

seachto7

Jazmine Shallow Rakishly wrote: »

Being a bit cynical it's imo mainly about a cliche in Limerick getting together and coming up with some events so they can take from the money-pot of funding.

Getting hands on the money is far more important than the actual events.

You're not that far off the mark from what I have seen and heard so far. Jobs for the boys. Look at the NYE thing, and the song for Limerick.

Whatsgonewrong

Very much agree

Also I have seen this on the post, about some entertainer from Argentina I believe being booked as part of some festivity for Limerick. Now I have read that this Is going to cost €400,000 just to get him.

Staggering amount of money especially when you think about how many unemployed people In the city, myself included. Could that amount of money not be invested In getting the city working again? Im not bitter Im just discouraged and quite confused as to where Limericks priority lies..

pigtown

Whatsgonewrong wrote: »

Very much agree

Also I have seen this on the post, about some entertainer from Argentina I believe being booked as part of some festivity for Limerick. Now I have read that this Is going to cost €400,000 just to get him.

I assume you're referring to Fuerza Bruta here. The article also says that the 13000 ticket sales are expected to cover costs. More revenue for the region will come in the form of extra bednights, taxis to and fro mthe venue, bars, restaurants etc. After all, the main reason for running the city of culture programme is to bring in more tourists to the city.

Whatsgonewrong wrote: »

Staggering amount of money especially when you think about how many unemployed people In the city, myself included. Could that amount of money not be invested In getting the city working again? Im not bitter Im just discouraged and quite confused as to where Limericks priority lies..

No it couldn't. The money came from the government to be spent on City of Culture. If Limerick didn't want to spend it then another Irish city would do so gladly.

jmch81

Whatsgonewrong wrote: »

Very much agree

Also I have seen this on the post, about some entertainer from Argentina I believe being booked as part of some festivity for Limerick. Now I have read that this Is going to cost €400,000 just to get him.

Staggering amount of money especially when you think about how many unemployed people In the city, myself included. Could that amount of money not be invested In getting the city working again? Im not bitter Im just discouraged and quite confused as to where Limericks priority lies..

I can't wait for this show. I think it will be one of the best things in the city of culture.

Whatsgonewrong

Btw, Is Limerick European city of culture or just Irelands city of culture?

Because I think anybody would agree that Limerick being european city of sport Is the biggest joke, but I dont know, if Limerick Is European city of culture then we could have a tie for stupidity !

Poxyshamrock

It's Ireland's first City of Culture.

It'll probably be Ireland's 5th, 9th and 13th City of Culture too. :P

Blazer

jmch81 wrote: »

I can't wait for this show. I think it will be one of the best things in the city of culture.

Can't get this show at all..I appreciate art but this just looks arty farty to me and looks like The Emperor's new clothes to me.
Herself is off to see it as I've no interest in it. Found Riverdance excellent though and would happily see it again.

jmch81

jmch81 wrote: »

I can't wait for this show. I think it will be one of the best things in the city of culture.

It looks feckin amazing! Really looking forward too it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDHG8lgoN60

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vCADV_BFa0