Paul Weller by the sea

Ronan McGrade • Published 8 Jul 2010 16:00 0 Comments

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Paul Weller to play Bundoran

En route to Bundoran I had envisaged mile long tail backs driving into the town however as we approached everything seemed eerily quiet. That is until we took the turn for the beach and then it hit us in the face like a multicoloured festival cream pie - Seasessions had arrived!

The festival arena was larger than anticipated with hundreds of people milling around queuing for tickets and even more streaming through the entrance. There were three main stages. The Main Beach Stage that was housed in a massive four peaked tent with a capacity of at least a few thousand, the North Shore Stage that was held in a smaller circus styled tent and the fairly compact Reach Session Stage. Bands playing over the weekend were an eclectic mix of international and emerging acts covering a whole host of genres. There were also a many other activities on offer including BMX and skating displays, a surfing contest, street dancers and carnival acts.

The stand out act from Friday night was most certainly Fun Lovin' Criminals. Lead singer Huey and the rest of the band strolled on stage to a deafening crowd and immediately blasted into their set. They played a great set comprising of newer tracks mixed with their old hits including Korean Bodega and Scooby Snacks, during which they pulled one merry reveller dressed in a Scooby Doo outfit onto the stage. Swigging beer and proclaiming they 'love Donegal' in their broad New York drawl they proved that it's possible to be over 40 and still cool.

Saturday began with the experimental acoustic fusion of Túcan. They are a Sligo based outfit who have talent in abundance. Think of an Irish Rodrigo y Gabriela made up of four Rodrigos! They were the perfect cure to what I'm sure were many Bundoran hangovers.

As the evening went on you could feel the anticipation building for the main event, Mr Paul Weller. However, before Weller took to the stage I had the pleasure of having a chat with Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. They are eight brothers from the south side of Chicago who come from an extraordinary musical family - their other sisters and brothers are professional musicians, their mothers are singers, and Philip Cohran, their father, is a jazz musician who is famous for his trumpet playing in the 1950s and 1960s. Hypnotic Brass Ensemble began as a street ensemble and organically developed into the jazz/hip hop, jam band that they are today.

As they prepared for their set I asked Hypnotic Brass Ensemble about their first impression of Seasessions. "We like the vibe, it's pretty welcoming!" exclaimed LT.

"Ireland is our twin favourite place with London." his brother, Smoov, immediately pitched in. "London shows the most love with the most people but Ireland shows the most love with the smallest crowds. Here you've got 3,000 people shouting out like it's 120,000. Ireland is like our second home man. It's going to be more fun than Glastonbury!"

Judging by their performance I believe every word. It was the best live performance I've seen in a long time by one of the most uniquely talented bands around at the minute. If you haven't heard of Hypnotic Brass Ensemble get their album now, you won't be disappointed.

With the Main Beach Stage arena suitably warmed up and with the crowd buzzing, it was time for Paul Weller to take to the stage. The atmosphere was surreal. There were about 4,000 people crammed into a huge tent cheering as loud as their lungs would allow and the sun was setting on the horizon throwing all sorts of wonderful shades of light upon the whispy, almost cloudless sky. However, among this perfect backdrop, there were rumours circulating throughout the crowd that Weller wasn't going to play. I almost believed these rumours because Weller's management cancelled my scheduled interview at the last minute but thankfully the rumours were proved incorrect as he took to the stage with the vigour of a man half his age. Weller's set consisted mainly of tracks from his latest album, Wake Up The Nation, however he played to the crowd (which is unlike Weller as he has a reput

ation for being a grumpy sod) and also included a lot of classic tracks from his early days with The Jam. He must have got carried away and turned his guitar up to eleven on a number of occasions because there were technical hitches aplenty that eventually resulted in a complete power loss. At this point Weller threw a tantrum and walked off stage only to return ten minutes later and continue his set to a hero's welcome however I had lost interest in him at this stage and went to get a burger.

Sunday seen a much more relaxed atmosphere take over Seasessions with lots of great bands to discover. One of which was 'The Happy Outs' with their chilled reggae/jazz/rock amalgamation of music, dreadlocked singer and aging saxaphone player who is one of the best I've ever seen. They were an odd band but not in a bad way. It was kind of like when you take a sip of tequila - you don't particularly like the taste but there's something that makes you order another.

Wrapping up the festival were Cathy Davy and Tom Baxter who helped to relax the festival weary audience with sonically unobtrusive tunes in their respective sets.

Seasessions is still a music and surf festival in its infancy but that is not to say it's a big baby. It is a professionally organised and comprehensive festival with a great line-up and plenty of activities on offer. If it's this good after just three years, I'm certainly looking forward to what the future brings. www.RojoGraphic.com

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 08 Jul 10

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