Sea Sessions 2011 – June 24th to 26th
Review: Deirdre Harrison
Photos: Paul Dowd
Sea Sessions, now in its’ fourth year, returned to the picturesque Donegal town of Bundoran this June. The line up featured a selection of impressive home-grown talent as well as international acts sure to please music and surf fans alike.
Sea Sessions – Friday
First act of the day was local group Surf Chixxx, a two piece girl group playing a combination of original material and covers. The duo’s covers in particular were popular with the crowd who joined in turning the North Shore tent into a mass karaoke. Next up were Waterford’s O Emperor on the Main Stage, playing a mellow set to an unusually full tent. What surprised me was just how many people were present already; looking around the tent you could easily believe it was much later in the night.
The spirit of the crowd was clearly not affected by the apocalyptic rain outside when The Delays took the stage. The quartet’s synth/guitar sound was perfect for the Sea Sessions crowd. The showmanship and larger than life performance of the band could easily be mistaken for that of a major stadium filler. In fact, it is almost impossible to picture them playing in a small venue.
Those lucky enough to make it inside the North Shore stage for The Minutes witnessed not only the highlight of Friday, but possibly of the entire festival. The band’s heart thumbing, pure rock and roll show left many a festival goer gasping for breath while staggering out into the cool night air.
Friday’s headliners, Villagers, treated the packed crowd to some new material. However, this was not appreciated by the majority of the audience who just wanted something familiar. Conor O’Brienand co gave a magical performance as always, but it was hard not to think it would have been better in more intimate surroundings.
Ham Sandwich were greeted by a crowd which could have filled their tent several times over. Those stuck outside still witnessed an amazing show complete with balloons and confetti but it was hard not to feel a little jealous of those inside. Over on the Main Stage Japanese Popstars entertained the crowds, keeping them dancing long into the night.
Sea Sessions – Saturday
Sea Sessions isn’t just a music festival; it’s also a surf festival. With this in mind it was time to head to the Donegal Adventure Centre to try out surfing for the first time. Two things were learned; surfing is a lot of fun and surfing is REALLY hard. After several delays due to cut feet, bleeding hands, flooding a hotel room (apologies to the room below) and the slowest restaurant in Ireland, it was back to the festival site.
The site itself had a lot more to offer than just music. Audiences were kept entertained by skaters and BMXers performing draw dropping stunts. Professional surfers are also at hand to demonstrate how to really surf unlike our earlier pathetic attempts.
The Go! Team gave a lesson in feel good performances much to the delight of the dancing crowd. Their show was bright, quirky and colourful, exactly like the festival. When Erol Alkan took to the decks the Beat Shack was quite literally heaving, with late comers unable to get anywhere near.
Bell X1 returned from a long stay in America to remind Ireland of what we have been missing. With Paul Noonan as the perfect charismatic front man, complete with breathtaking dance moves, and a catalogue of songs most bands would sell their granny for, Bell X1 were the perfect choice to headline the festival. Playing new hits such as “Velcro” (complete with beach balls), oldies like “Next To You” and everything in between; the energy of the band or the crowd never waned. Even the band’s questionable encore song choice of two album tracks from latest offering, “The Bloodless Coup”, and the beautiful but downbeat “Eve The Apple Of My Eye” did not dampen the spirits of the attentive audience.
Sea Sessions – Sunday
Cork’s The Frank and Walters played to what was again a surprisingly large crowd given the time of day. Perhaps the surf crowd are more likely to emerge from their tents than the typical festival goer. Following on were fellow Corkonians Fred who unfortunately just didn’t have the same presence as their fellow county men; it was well…just a bit dull.
Surprise highlight of the day has to be Charles Bradley, who has just released his debut album at the tender age of 62. With a sound combing that of Otis Reading and James Brown, and the most impressive suit Bundoran has ever seen, it was impossible not to instantly love Charles. As if that wasn’t enough the man’s dance moves are a something which really must be seen to be believed. The crowd loved Charles, and Charles clearly loved the crowd. Definitely someone to look out for in the future!
Jamie Lawson of “Wasn’t Expecting That” fame took to the North Shore Stage. While a slight come down after the insanity of Charles Bradley, his performance was beautiful and touching none the less. The crowd quickly filled the tent to capacity yet somehow the performance felt incredibly intimate, as though it was one man and a guitar in a sitting room with some friends.
When Ziggy Marley took to the stage it was unfortunately the smallest audience present for a headliner. Given how well known Villagers and Bell X1 are in Ireland it could probably be put down to a lack of familiarity on the part of the audience. Crowds did begin to pack out the Main Stage when well known Bob Marley hits were played, but for original Ziggy material there just didn’t seem to be much interest.
Northern Ireland rockers A Plastic Rose gave a fantastic performance but with one major problem, the sound. Never have I felt so old and I am ashamed to admit I had to leave the performance as it was just far too loud. Even outside the tent, several feet away, with earplugs, the sound levels were just painful. At smaller festivals this usually would lead to the problem of “What do we do now?” at Sea Sessions however the solution was simple; go to the Bacardi bar to finish the festival dancing!
It became apparent very quickly that Sea Sessions organisers know how to run a festival. There is always an act playing in either on Main Stage or on the North Shore Stage. The majority of acts run on time and screens in the Main Stage inform the audience when the next act is on and who they are.
The central location in the town means that there is always something to do before, during and after the arena is opened. If you want to run to the shop or to have a meal you can. If you want to continue the party after the festival has ended for the night you can. There is a constant atmosphere both at the festival and around the town and the intimate layout of the festival mean no long walks or queues.
The only problem is the size of the North Shore Stage, for a vast majority of acts there was a queue just to get inside. For many festivals the size of the tent would not be an issue but with the calibre of acts playing this year a bigger tent really was required. Sea Sessions tickets, at the price of €79.95, really are a bargain. Sea Sessions truly is a fantastic festival and one which should not be missed in 2012.
