Cancellation of Indie: Have we past peak concert in Ireland

veryangryman

I'm just thinking this is ominous

There's an obersaturation of festivals going on last couple of years. Maybe to combat the covid gap. Anyway I'm thinking alot of organisers are giving the ghost up due to the expense and the competition to get decent artists.

I recall Oxegen taking a break in 2012 and we all know how that went.

lbj666

Is it really that much a bother since lineups are getting so diluted and the same acts are back again 2-3 years later?

Picnic moving their dates forward would be a big blow to indie ..ATN same weekend eliminated any chance of an older demographic showing up again. ATN already ended castlepalooza which was on the way out anyway.

The real shame is body and soul mostly to do with BTP, but smaller festivals have a hard time freshening themselves up anything coming on 10 years old really gets stale.

I heard that the newer ones like wild roots are banking on big promoter backing coming along to allow them grow but there's only so much of that to go around surely...hopefully no one loses their trousers in all this.

dav09

I wouldn't be surprised to see Indie back though festivals do sometimes regroup after a year off but who knows. Never had any interest in it personally lineup, target audience and age demographic was targeted to a certain type but always felt it was underwhelming, but it did seem popular judging from online along with Sea Sessions (who I think had either the same bookers or linked somehow if I remember correctly). I think Electric Picnic targeting a much younger demographic is part of the problem, and ATN maybe learning more to an older demographic then with the likes of Forest Fest too popping up all has a part to play in festivals causing the demise of other festivals. In Ireland so far, every long running festival has had its hey day/cyclical and they usually slowly died off pretty much apart from Electric Picnic, FF and Longitude (all owned by big promoters). I am quiet worried for B&S considering it's December and not a peep on social media for quite a while, would be a huge loss if it was to disappear too. In recent years Castlepalooza, Metropolis, Bear In the Woods plus countless others all got replaced as something new took over.

Fanirish

Indiependence Booker has been booking the Galway airport shows so realistically had more on their plate and probably lack of suitable headliners made a fallow year a good thing

Fanirish

Add in EP moving earlier, more musgraves park shows etc

Dreamweapon

Passed.

Fanirish

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121455267#Comment_121455267

And realistically general medium sized festivals are harder to book and program.

getting enough acts that can sell 5000/10,000 or so tickets for €200 festival is more difficult than people think

veryangryman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121456172#Comment_121456172

Yeah Danny is clearly getting his Mortgage paid off handy the past few years.

There's a reason they don't do a World Cup every other week, the novelty is what gets people excited.

Furious-Red

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121456172#Comment_121456172

One of the bookers of Indie was or is still the manager for the Coronas

Strumms

Just looking at Vicar St January up to May… there is really fûck all on, in the way of music… big number of comedians and stuff…

April, a quick scan, about 5 musical acts, all the rest comedians….

I think any true music fan, or certainly , most of us.. we want to see our favourite band or musician in a small to medium sized venue.. Whelan’s to Vicar St and everything in between…

but i think a lot of the kids now are sort of event junkies and the idea of a big outdoor space, more people, a day event, phones, social media, mates etc and all that vibe. That’s what they are into…I always hated the scenario…

Personally all the worst gigs I’ve been to have been in big fûck off outdoor venues….don’t mind the likes of Dublin Castle or the Iveagh Gardens but… jeeez…. Be nice if we good resurrect great bands / artists playing great shows, indoors in actually venue’s designed for the purpose. Like regularly or more regularly than now.

Dreamweapon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121460265#Comment_121460265

Loads of good gigs smaller than Vicar St. going on all the time. I don't even get summer off anymore for indoor shows. Busy for 12 months of the year these days.