Valentine, Stephen and Patrick move over, there is a new saint in town. Last Thursday marked the second ever ‘Saint’ Arthur’s Day. A day of music and (in some places anyway) cheap Guinness started in order to commemorate the late, great Arthurs Guinness as well as raising money for the Arthur Guinness Fund, which supports social entrepreneurs around the world.
Having had to walk to St. James’ Gate at lunch hour to collect my tickets, I had the opportunity to sample the atmosphere around the hub of the nights events. Even at that time the place was full of people going into the storehouse, taking pictures of the famous gates and storehouse or just soaking in the atmosphere (and some pints) already. That evening I was going to The Village to raise a toast to Arthur. With acts such as Kelis, Tinie Tempah and Example on the bill this wasn’t the type of gig I’m used to, but I was intent on enjoying it anyway.
First up on the night was Kelis who came on stage just before 17:59 to do the countdown and direct the crowd to raise their glass and shout “To Arthur” or Martha/Martians/Llamas or whatever other humourous variant the ad suggested. Unfortunately she then passed the pint of Guinness in her hand back to a roadie who took it off stage. Thats not getting into the spirit of the day, Kelis! She went on to sing her most recognisable song, ‘Milkshake’ to the music of ‘Holiday’ by Madonna. A rather short set included her hit singles including ‘Trick Me’ but dissapointingly didn’t include her first hit ‘Caught Out There’ which had the amazing lyric “I hate you so much right now”. Shame.
Next up was We Have Band. I spent the majority of their set trying to allocate them a suitable genre. After a few songs I settled on CSS and Yeah Yeah Yeahs mixed with RnB. Check them out for yourselves, they’re definitely worth a listen. Energetic on stage and they also have a fit lead singer, what more could you ask for?
Third up was who I was expecting to be the headliner on the night, Tinie Tempah. Best known for his first two singles, ‘Pass Out’ and ‘Frisky’ being two #1 hits in the UK and huge floor fillers, Tinie played these two along with his brand new single ‘Written in the Stars’ which you could tell is also going to be huge. I found it strange just watching a rapper with a DJ behind him on stage. It almost felt at times like I was at a nightclub rather than a gig.
Next was Example who thankfully had a bass player and guitarist as well as a DJ and lead singer. They played a great set with the confident lead singer keeping the crowd involved throughout. Finishing with their most popular song, ‘Kickstarts’ , definitely got the crowd going.
Last up was someone I had never heard of, a rapper by the name of Ty. It soon became apparent I wasn’t the only one who was unaware of his songs when the crowd began to disappear either towards the bar or out the door. Ty tried his best to engage the crowd in singing his songs back but it was to no avail. It has to be said though, that he finished well with a cover of ‘Jump Around’ which definitely got the crowd going.
All in all, 5 acts I would never normally go to see live, 4 of which impressed me greatly. Don’t be surprised if next September we are again raising a toast to Ireland’s newest saint. To Arthur!
