There really hasn’t been much time for post-show blues following on from Trainspotting. Things haven’t even slowed down, meaning as usual I’m up to my eyeballs and the backlog continues to grow, blogging is on the huge “to do” list.

So, once again I’m trying to catch-up. I’ve uploaded a whole new batch of photos to the Kilkenny Music Galleries. The first set; my return to the One Take Sessions following a lengthy break due to the end of college. Much to my surprise to find that KKM have finally begun to build ourselves a collection of stage lights. So I spent the night playing around with settings, trying to get used to being able to see people on the stage, and with alternating colour! You can check out my shots of Evan Prendergast, the Joe Cleere Band, Travega and the Dirty Epics at the 6th One Take Sessions of 2008 here.

The second set; my shots from last weeks One Take Sessions featuring Odi, Gary Stewart and once again the return of Jimi Cullen (he’s going for the record!). I have to say thanks to Jimi for the free copy of his new album “The Junkyard Poet” but unfortunately as of yet I haven’t had a chance to listen to it. You can check out my shots from the 7th One Take Sessions of 2008 here.

Myself and the Chief were on the road this week, travelling quite simply put in the company of legends. I’ve got a ridiculous amounts of shots to go through from the Clive Barnes (Legend) and Jeff Lang (Australian Legend) tour. I also have to give a mention to Jeff’s bassist Grant Cummerford (Also an Australian Legend). I’ll blog more about this as soon as I get through the shots and of course have time.

No sooner than a junkie needs another shot, had Trainspotting ended when Devious Theatre went straight into rehearsals for our 4th production; ‘Smitten’. Written by KKM Forum regular John Morton, here’s the official Devious statement on the show;

“Smitten depicts a tragicomic series of loosely interlinked vignettes set in Kilkenny City over a succession of rainy summer nights. The play takes its cues from the short stories of Raymond Carver and the films of Woody Allen (the early funny ones that is). The characters at the core of Smitten are trying to get their bearings in life, each stuck in their own limbo. The realities of adult life are dealing a harsh blow to the best laid plans, in a way that leaves them totally smitten… in all the meanings of the word.

Alcoholism. Pregnancy. Testicular Cancer. Apathy. Doomed Relationships.
Sock Puppets. Those elusive mystery girls. How to dance to Bruce Springsteen. And rain. Lots of rain. Smitten functions as a theatrical collage, with intertwining narratives and varying forms of narrative giving life to the comic and often tragic stories that litter the rainy streets of Kilkenny City…” Read More

Here’s my two words on it; “It’s awesome!”

We’re already knee-deep in rehearsals and pre-production for the show and I’ll hopefully be blogging throughout, over on the Oss237.com Blog. I’ll also be giving an update on Vultures Episode 3, as we head into shooting the next adventure of the three hapless detectives of VPI.

Keep on eye on the Chemical Addiction MySpace over the weekend. The lads have told me they’ll be making some interesting announcements about the fate of their upcoming debut ‘The Brian Jones E.P’ sometime over the weekend.

That’s it… so much more to come.

Oss237@work (Photo by Sean Dempsey)

This past week has been nothing short of hectic, it has passed by so quickly, leaving little time for blogging.

Last Friday night saw Laminate return to Cleere’s Theatre for their farewell performance, with support from The Skins. It’s way too late to go into details about the gig but as expected it was awesome. The Skins have come along way since I first shot them a couple of years back at Guitar Wars and Laminate once again delivered an unbelievably energetic performance. An awesome set from the lads, with the crowd singing along throughout, they’ve always been one of my favourite bands to shoot. The worst thing about shooting them is that there’s three of them, you’re pretty much guaranteed that when you’re snapping one of them, you’re missing two other great photo opportunities.

I’ve uploaded some shots of the Skins in the KilkennyMusic Galleries, unfortunately my flash batteries went half-way through their set and by the time I got back they were finished. But I’m sure I’ll catch them again. I’ve also uploaded my latest and last series of shots of Laminate in action and you can download their farewell E.P here on the Laminate MySpace.

Sunday saw the Thermal Detonators, Control Freak and Parhelia hitting the Underground stage in the Zoo Club. A good set from the Thermal Detonators (cheers for the copy of the demo guys), they’re heavier and tighter than before and they’ve improved their sets greatly by not swapping over instruments all the time. I do however think they need to find a vocalist. As for Control Freak, well I’ll leave it at “not my cup of tea!” (and I love tea!).

Parhelia are awesome! I’ve been waiting months to see them live and I was not disappointed. Daw introduced me to their second E.P ‘Oceans Apart’ a couple of months back and I’ve listened to it constantly ever since. I had to buy my own copy when I got the chance and much to my surprise the lads were selling it along with their also awesome debut offering ‘First Light’ for only €5!?! They were throwing in another CD from a previous band (I haven’t checked it out yet) and large Parhelia stickers as well!?! All for €5!?! I’m not sure these guys know how good they are!? I would have paid double that, for each E.P! I can only describe their songs as a journey, if you get a chance to see them live then check them out. Hopefully we’ll be seeing them back in Kilkenny very soon and hopefully they’ll have t-shirts with them!

I did get some shots of Parhelia in action but unfortunately I haven’t had time to get them online yet and it’ll now have to wait until Trainspotting finishes up next week. We’re deep in the final stages of rehearsals for the show at the moment, endless hours of blocking, researching drug-use, learning monologues, perfecting Scottish accents and bombarding all forms of local media.

If you’ve seen any(or all) of the local newspapers over the last three weeks you’ll find Devious Theatre lurking around the pages like a junkie trying to score some scag. As Ken pointed out we hit the KCLR studio this week to do some interviews. You can’t walk the town without seeing one (of ten) awesome Trainspotting posters, once again thanks to the “photoshop wizard” Paddy Dunne. They’ve been raising eyebrows and lowering frowns, creating a bit of controversy and a huge buzz about the show.

They’re hanging in any establishment that would allow them and my mother hates them (with no offence to Paddy of course)! If you get a chance then make sure and check out the awesome display in the Credit Union window featuring a series of behind-the-scenes shots by photographer Shane Hatton. And if you haven’t booked your tickets then you should do so now with sales picking up fast; Watergate Theatre 056 77 61674. We enter the Watergate on Sunday and the show runs from Tuesday 24th to Saturday 28th.

Having received my college results on Tuesday, I’m very proud to announce that I now hold a BA Honours Degree in Communications & Public Relations, receiving 1st Class Honours. You can read more about that here on the Oss237.com Blog. Although I refrain from going into any details about the expectedly insane celebrations that took place in Carlow on Tuesday night as myself and fellow graduates are currently seeking employment. Parties that wild could in no way help us in the current age of employers figuring out how to use the internet/nosing into people’s private lives.

On Wednesday, Atrax Mantis sent me on the latest versions of artwork for their upcoming E.P ‘Condemned to Hatred’, the “foul as fuck” grindcore metallers have begun releasing tour dates and I can’t wait to release the photos from the shoot very soon.

Dublin based hardcore outfit 23(who rock!) are still searching for a new vocalist and as I’ve pointed out in the previous post, “this is a great opportunity to join an already great band!!!”.

Local grungers, Chemical Addiction should be announcing some very interesting news and developments concerning their upcoming release very soon. If you check out the latest edition of HotPress you’ll find one of our press releases for the upcoming Clive Barnes & Jeff Lang Tour (more on that very soon!).

Last night saw the 6th OneTake Session of 2008 (I’ve lost count of the total number) in Cleeres with Dirty Epics, Evan Prendergast,who apparently likes “big butts”, the Joe Cleere Band (I’ve never seen a 9-string bass before!) and Travega, who played an awesome cover of “Gangsta’s Paradise” and raised the interesting point of “whatever happened to Coolio!?”.

With KKM receiving some funding for lighting equipment it was a chance to test out the new lights. Unfortunately, I won’t get around to uploading the shots until after Trainspotting finishes next week.

For now, I’m off to talk Scottish with a devious bunch; tapping our veins, handling syringes, messing the bed, listening to 80’s music, searching into dirty toilets and taking the use of “the C word” to a whole new level and meaning. BOOK YOUR TICKETS FOR TRAINSPOTTING!!! Watergate Theatre: Tuesday 24th to Saturday 28th.

Dublin based hardcore metallers 23(who rock!) are currently looking for a new vocalist, are you awesome enough!?

I’m not entirely sure what happened with former vocalist Matt, but it’s not important. What is important is that the band find a suitable replacement and quickly, because damn it we’ve been waiting for their album ‘Share the Pain’ for long enough.

According to sticksman Joey, the rest of the lads will be hitting the studio as planned to lay down tracks but then it will all go on hold until they find a replacement. Having had the pleasure of seeing the guys live twice, they are a force to be reckoned with.

The new singer would not only have to be a good hardcore vocalist but have high-energy stage presence in-line with their fast, frantic, chunky, extremely high-energy and tight performances.

If you think you’re awesome enough to be 23’s new singer then get in contact with them here on the 23 MySpace profile or the 23 Bebo profile. This is a great opportunity to join an already great band!!!

Finally, a weekend filled with bands and music. Myself, Daw and the Chief were in Ryans pub last night, which seemed to have something for everyone.

When I arrived there was a trad session in the centre of the pub, a band setting up in the front and Problems at the Pancake House had Hola Manana and The River Valley Band in the back room. The River Valley Band have been gigging around the town a lot lately but I missed all the gigs because of my exams. I’ve heard nothing but good things about them and after hearing some of their early E.P mixes I wanted to check them out.

Knowing that the back room in Ryan’s has crap lighting and we were celebrating Daw’s birthday, I didn’t bring my camera with me. In the end, I spent most of the night moving between the back room (it was way too hot) and listening to the covers band in the front bar (it was just as hot but had a bar!). I’ll definitely go see Hola Manana and the River Valley Band again. Hopefully somewhere with lights and air conditioning.

Hola Manana are only together a couple of months but they’re pretty awesome. They have a real Album Leaf sound, keyboards, a flute, xylophone. I was pretty surprised to see former Slave Zero guitarist John Roche playing bass. I’m not sure if he’s a full time member of the group!? Check them out here. The River Valley Band are awesome, end of story. I’m really looking forward to hearing the E.P and hopefully shooting them in the future. Check them out here.

Sunday morning (or mid-afternoon) came too early. Memories of last nights adventures continue to resurface in flashback form. At some stage myself and John Morton transformed into Rentboy and Sickboy, well… very drunk versions of the Scottish junkies anyway, ranting away in Scottish.

Following on from my less than favourable review of Cronus when they played support to 23 (who rock!), I was surprised when they added me on MySpace earlier this week. Then when vocalist Joey said to come along to their Underground gig I figured the lads wanted a second chance, I was quite happy to check them out again. I don’t like writing bad reviews but at least the lads from Cronus took my criticism and realise it wasn’t a personal attack (unlike other bands).

First up were Dublin grungers TwentyPercentDead, but it clearly wasn’t a good day for them. On the way down the bassist took a wrong turn and so they had to do their sound-check without him. When the time came to take to the stage, they were still waiting. With a lot of people in the middle of exams and the sun shining outside, there was a small crowd in the Zoo, mainly kids. Everyone waited. By the time he finally arrived and they got started attention spans were low. Musically, they were good although the guitar sound was “wimpy” and every time he stepped on his pedal it became muffled with static. And it seemed like they just weren’t into it. Clearly influenced by bands like Kyuss and Nirvana (it’s okay, they’re old enough to have listened to Nirvana before they were completely over-rated) but they just didn’t have any stage presence. The crowd stayed away from the stage, the band seemed more like 90% dead and with nothing to take photos of I found myself growing bored very quickly. I’d like to catch them again when they’re not having “one of those gigs”.

Next up were Teratoria. I missed the start of their set, I was outside talking to T from Atrax Mantis, trying to figure out what we were talking about outside the Watergate at 5am and what was the deal with the cute American chick who’s eyes looked in different directions!? When I went inside the crowd had moved right up to the front of the stage and they were doing that “arms around each other mosh thing” that they do. It’s like moshing for beginners or something!? Teratoria’s set was okay, better and tighter than the last time I saw them. Their songs are catchy, they’re tighter and the vocals have improved with nice harmonies from the drummer too. But the solo’s are pretty pointless, seeming more a formality of following a generic song structure. I’m not sure they know what type of music they want to play, with songs varying from radio-friendly rock (one sounded very like that Eagle Eye Cherry song ‘Save Tonight’) to faster, heavier, chunky-riff metal songs. But they are young and certainly making progress. Still lacking in stage presence, I didn’t take any shots of them.

Finally, Wexford thrash metallers Cronus took to the stage. In typical Kilkenny all-ages gig fashion most of the crowd left after seeing their friend’s band. But that didn’t stop Cronus from taking things up a notch and slamming out a good performance, despite technical difficulties with the bass amp continously cutting out. Those who bothered to stay around enjoyed the set. With the band in constant states of head-banging and windmills, finally I had something to take pictures of. I stopped taking notes so don’t know the song titles but their set was a far cry better than last time. The songs are less drawn out and tighter, they’ve got plenty of stage presence and they’re confident. Joey’s mic technique has improved greatly (I’m just not really into that style of vocals) and he interacts well with the small crowd. Last time he was also playing guitar but not today, with only one guitar their set seems a lot tighter. Not that he’s a bad guitarist, I heard he was great at the One Take Sessions and he gets lessons off the legendary Clive Barnes, but for Cronus, one guitar works. They’re hitting the studio in a couple of weeks to record their E.P and they’ve changed my mind, I’m looking forward to hearing it when it comes out.

For now, I’ve added my shots of Cronus in action to the Kilkenny Music Galleries, again playing around with a studio style series of live shots. Check them out here. It feels good to finally update the galleries, adding another band, and getting some practice in for next weekend, which is surely going to be one of the Summer’s best weekends gig-wise, with Laminate playing their farewell gig and releasing their E.P on Friday night in Cleeres and then Dublin instrumental band Parhelia in the Zoo Club on Sunday. Both these bands are awesome and if you miss these gigs, then well, you’re an idiot.

Still struggling to get back into blogging on a regular basis, things have been fairly quiet around KKM in recent weeks. This is sure to change very soon with upcoming gigs, E.P launches and projects. But for now birthday celebrations are all around.

Oss237.com - Ross Costigan Photography celebrates it’s 2nd Birthday today. It’s been quite an adventure behind the lens so far and you can read more about it here on the Oss237.com Blog. I’ve also just posted a shot from Behind the Scenes on the Atrax Mantis ‘Condemned to Hatred’ E.P cover shoot.

He’d probably prefer for this to stay under the radar, but Kilkenny Music Engineer Daw also celebrates his birthday today, Happy Birthday dude. We’re currently working on lots of little projects which should begin surfacing in the next week or so.

Finally, a belated Happy Birthday to the Chief. We’ve also got lots of news and projects about to launch in the next week or so, taking things up a notch once again.

For now, I really should stop typing and go buy some presents…….

It’s been well over a month since my last post, but now that college is over I’m trying to catch up on a huge backlog of work and slowly but surely get myself back in the game.I’ve been flat out over the past few weeks working on a bunch of different projects, many of them will begin to appear over the next few weeks.

Following on from my promo-shoot with Clive Barnes a few weeks back, myself and the Chief will be providing P.R services for his tour with Jeff Lang this July. More on that soon.

This morning I met up with T from Atrax Mantis to deliver the results of our photo-shoot for their upcoming debut E.P ‘Condemned to Hatred’. There is still a bit of work to be done but the “foul as fuck” metallers should be releasing the artwork for the E.P very soon. The photo-shoot was part of their prize for winning the Battle of the Bands last year and my first opportunity to work with Make-Up/Special Fx artist Carey Harte, who I’ll be working with again on some more projects. I’ll have more news on that and ‘Condemned to Hatred‘ soon.

I’ve also been working closely with Chemical Addiction as the lads prepare to launch ‘The Brian Jones E.P’. They will soon be taking things up a notch with the release of their debut recording, an official website, videos, photos and merchandise. More news on all that soon, along with news of the upcoming Battle of the Bands and more.

Aside from the KilkennyMusic side of things, I’ll also be posting news about new photo-shoots, more Vultures news, new online t.v shows, new podcasts and updates about Devious Theatre’s ‘Trainspotting’ on the Oss237.com Blog. Tickets for the show are currently on sale and booking fast so don’t miss out, book your tickets now: Watergate Theatre 056 77 61674.

Okay so I’m back in the game, if any bands or musicians are interested in working with me, or you’re playing a gig, want me to shoot it, have some recording you want me to check out, need P.R advice, press-packs, videos, anything then give me a shout, but give me some notice, ringing me at the last minute means chances are I’m already doing something else.

Yet another week goes by in a blur and not a single blog post!? With my thesis due in less than two weeks now, chances are there won’t be too many posts for a while. But for now there’s plenty of news.

Check out the promo trailer (above) for Vultures episode 2: The Scarlet Lady Vanishes. Mycrofilms are currently shooting episode 2 in and around Kilkenny and it’s shaping up to be hilarious. The second adventure for the three hapless detectives of Vultures Private Investigators will see them caught up in all sorts of hilarious situations and fans of episode 1 will not be disappointed. Keep an eye on the Vultures bebo page for updates and behind the scenes photos.

If you weren’t a fan of it then you’re probably one of those really annoying idiots who have plagued filming in town by doing stupid things like walking into shot in the middle of a scene, staring at the camera and saying “now, there’s a nice picture for ye lads!” or trying to push crew members out of the way so you can look through the viewfinder on the camera!? It never ceases to amaze me how rude, obnoxious and ignorant some people can be!

As I mentioned on this weeks podcast, Atrax Mantis were back out in the studio working with Daw, for their upcoming E.P ‘Condemned to Hatred”. We had announced an invitation for somebody to be on the cover of the E.P and already the lads have found somebody suitable. We’ve been working on the concept of the artwork for weeks now and I’ve recently been in contact with an awesome Special FX artist who will be working on the shots with us. More news on that very soon.

Other random news and bits; myself and the Chief will be providing P.R for Clive Barnes and Jeff Lang as they tour around the country this summer. I’ll be doing a photo-shoot with Clive (the legend) this week. I’ve come 2nd in the ‘Life at ITC’ photography competition. There’s brand new tattoo shots and random captures up on my bebo photography account.

I’ll be hooking up with the lads from Chemical Addiction over the next week or so to do some promo-shots and work on the artwork for ‘The Brian Jones E.P’. My important message to local media received quite a good response and I’ve even been talking to some journalists who agreed with me (yet declined to say so on the blog), maybe I’ll get a job out of it yet!?

Devious Theatre announced that we’ll be doing Trainspotting in the Watergate Theatre this summer! I can’t wait although I’m struggling with my Scottish accent! Check out the awesome new Devious Theatre website and stay tuned for updates and news.

I caught the end of Ghost Town’s set upstairs in the Pumphouse last night and from what I can remember it was awesome. Unfortunately I didn’t have a camera with me, I was taking a night off.

Other than that, it turns out it’s Easter, maybe chocolate will cure my hangover!?

Exactly a week on and I finally get a chance to upload the final installment of photos from last weeks Underground gig with Na Damanta, Chemical Addiction and 23 (who rock!). For those of you interested, I’ve just posted a blog on the new Oss237.com Blog giving details about the new shots and the post also contains an IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO LOCAL MEDIA.

Gig wise, last Sunday was exactly what I expected it to be, with Dublin hardcore band 23 once again putting on an awesome display of pure energy and finally getting the crowd they deserve. Blasting their way through ‘Demise’, ‘Evil’, ‘Coming Around’, ‘That’s Right’, ‘Greed’, ‘Rise Up’, ‘Betrayed’, ‘Welcome to Reality’, ‘Freedom Anthem’, ‘No More’ and finally finishing up with an encore of ‘Hatred’.

Throughout the set, 23 never once let up on providing pure energy, even when the crowds started to get tired from vicious circle-pits and flying through the air, they were rocking out on stage throughout. It’s hard not to give the exact same description I gave of their set last time I saw them; each song was fast, frantic, chunky and extremely tight.

They are hitting the studio very soon to record their debut album “Share the Pain”, and I can’t wait to hear it. I’ve also been assured that they’ll be returning to Kilkenny pretty soon, so if you missed them last Sunday I recommend you don’t miss them next time.

Once again, 23 rock and you can read more about my shots from last Sundays gig here along with MY IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO LOCAL MEDIA.

The second installment from Sunday’s Underground gig, Kilkenny’s own grunge 3-piece, Chemical Addiction.

The first of several warm-up gigs for the lads in the run-up to the launch of their debut offering ‘The Brian Jones E.P‘. With Ciwi caught up with college (I feel your pain dude), Ben and Danny were joined by KKM Engineer Alan Dawson (I lied Ciwi, you’re better looking!).

Clearly a large amount of people in the Zoo to catch Chemical Addiction in particular, and the lads were clearly enjoying themselves on stage as they blasted through their set, even throwing in a SilverChair cover. And I have to say it was awesome to hear people behind me singing along when they erupted into ‘Brian Jones’.

In the next few weeks I’ll be doing some promo shoots with the lads and working with them on the artwork for ‘The Brian Jones E.P’, but for now Chemical Addiction have just posted a photo-blog featuring my shots from Sunday’s gig.

CHECK THEM OUT!

With the primary research due on my thesis at the end of this week, I really don’t have much time to be blogging, and so shots from yesterdays gig with Na Damanta, Chemical Addiction and 23 will come in three (brief) installments.

First up yesterday and the first band to hit the Underground stage this year were Tipperary metallers Na Damanta (formerly Shadow Puppets). It can’t have been easy for them filling in at short notice and filling in for 20BullsEach but they didn’t seem phased.

A good set from them (once again minus a bass player though), really getting the crowd warmed up with people literally flying through the air. I didn’t get a chance to make a note of any of the song names, a combination of avoiding the aforementioned people flying through the air and playing around with the settings on my new flash (who has time to read a manual!?).

Shots of Na Damanta have now been added to the KilkennyMusic Galleries, the first additions of 2008 and hopefully there’s plenty more to come.

Photos of Chemical Addiction and 23 as soon as I have time to breath…

Over the past few months I’ve become increasingly aware of using my KKM Staff Blog to talk about all of the photography work and projects I was doing, and how it was becoming less and less relevant to KilkennyMusic.

And so thanks to the Chief, I’ve just launched a new blog on Oss237.com. As I continue to branch out in photography styles and work I’ll be using this new blog to talk about the photo-shoots. My KKM Staff Blog will become what it was originally intended to be, a blog relating to KilkennyMusic and the work we do.

For the first few weeks I’ll still use this blog to announce when new series go online but make sure and keep an eye on my new blog for all the details.

The One Take Sessions returned to Cleeres Theatre on Thursday night, the 18th session, our first session of 2008 and my first gig shoot of the year.

I’m not going to go into detail about the gig, we’ll be doing a OneTake Sessions special on next weeks Sound System Podcast. But I have to say there were great performances all round from Stace Gill, Jill Deering, Kevin McNamara and Jester.

My first gig shoot of the year and my first chance to properly use my new flash. Over the last two years I’ve gotten used to shooting gigs in low or poor lighting. Last night I arrived to find two lights working in Cleeres; one white spotlight and a crappy yellow light, so having a proper flash means I now don’t have to worry about the lights. Although it does mean I have to learn how to shoot gigs with a flash, without losing the atmosphere.

Photos from the 18th One Take Sessions are now up in the KilkennyMusic Galleries, with plenty more to come.

The Underground All Ages gigs return to the Zoo Club this Sunday, and I have to say that I got damn excited when I heard the lineup; Chemical Addiction, 23 and 20BullsEach.

Quite frankly, I couldn’t believe that three of my favourite bands would be taking to the stage on the same day. And now I can’t believe that I have to announce the unfortunate news that 20BullsEach have had to post-pone their return to Kilkenny.

Unfortunately 20BE frontman Gar has pneumonia, and under doctors orders the Bulls have had to pull out from Sundays gig. This is disappointing to say the least but I’ve been assured that the lads will be hitting Kilkenny once Gar is back at full health (Get Well Soon!).

The Dublin hardcore punkers are set to release their new E.P ‘Minimum Wage/Maximum Rage’ in the coming weeks and I’ve already got my hands on rough mixes of the tracks which sound awesome! More on that at a later date but for now back to Sunday.

I ‘m not sure if a replacement band has been found to fill the slot yet, but even with the departure of 20BullsEach it’s still going to be a gig you don’t want to miss!

Local grungers Chemical Addiction will be taking to the stage to get a warm-up gig under their belts before the release of their debut ‘The Brian Jones E.P’. However, due to being bogged down with college work (and I know the feeling) sticksman Ciaran “Ciwi” McCarthy won’t be playing. Instead Danny and Ben will be joined by none other than KKM Engineer Alan Dawson.

Daw has been working with the lads for the past few months engineering and producing ‘The Brian Jones E.P‘, so who better to fill in for Ciwi!? I’ve also had the pleasure of getting my hands on a copy of the final mixes and what a pleasure, it’s sounding great! But, once again more on that at a later date, for now back to Sunday.

I’ve said it several times on the blog and on the Sound System Podcast, 23 rock!!! The Dublin hardcore metallers (featuring former Clergy guitarist Barney) completely blew me away last time I saw them in Kilkenny;

“They erupt into their first song, which is just like the next 11 songs. Their entire set is fast, frantic, chunky and extremely tight. It’s a powerful display of confidence from four guys who sure as hell know what they’re doing.

23’s songs are filled with chunky, catchy riffs and pounding drums. It’s hard to take photos because I keep nodding my head to the riffs and beats. The small crowd love it all. Each song is followed by roars. On stage, 23 are jumping around, dreads are flying everywhere. It’s a pleasure to listen to and shoot this band…”read more

The last time the lads were down they sure as hell didn’t get the crowd they deserved so I can only hope they will this Sunday.

I have no doubt that 23 (who rock!) and Chemical Addiction (who also rock!) is gonna be one of my favourite gigs of the year and a great return for the Underground gigs. DON’T MISS IT!!! Any news or updates and I’ll keep you posted.

Do you want to know the track listing for the upcoming Chemical Addiction ‘Brian Jones E.P’?

Well then I guess you’ll have to swing by the Chemical Addiction myspace profile and have a read of their latest blog then won’t you!? The Kilkenny-based Grunge 3-piece have just announced the running order for their debut offering. I have to admit that I’ve already heard the final mixes and they sound awesome. I can’t wait for this to come out!

Swing by the Chemical Addiction myspace and have a look at the track listing, make sure and subscribe to the blog too, the lads will be releasing all sorts of updates and news from the Addiction camp in the run-up to the launch of ‘The Brian Jones E.P’. And you can also listen to the title track ‘Brian Jones’.

Myself and the Chief caught a bus around lunchtime yesterday to make our way to Dublin for the Irish Blog Awards 2008.

It’s not very often that myself and Ken actually have two hours to sit and talk, and so the trip up was a serious session of planning, ideas, brainfarts and future plans. There’s going to be a lot of big developments in the coming months, once again taking our services at KKM up a notch and we’ll be working with some great bands and musicians. But for this weekend we had one main goal; to be the drunkest bloggers in Ireland.

We got off the bus and strolled through Dublin, found the hotel, checked in, found our room, checked to see if there was anything worth stealing, not that we steal stuff!? We were just checking and everything was crap anyway! We headed to the bar, got some food and that was when the drinking became, sometime around 4pm. From there it was back to the room to tuck into a bottle of jagermeister and get ready for the Blog Awards.

We got a taxi to the Alexander Hotel just after 6pm. Our taxi driver was a legend! A Nigerian guy with the most complicated name I’ve ever seen. He had a DVD player built into the dashboard of the taxi and treated us some reggae, we cruised through Dublin, music blasting out of the speakers and him singing along as we bobbed around the car. He gave me his phone number incase we needed a taxi later. I think I’ll ring him everytime I need a taxi!?

We registered, got our raffle tickets and goodie bags (which I lost within minutes), found our name tags and planted ourselves at the bar. It was only 6.30pm and people were only starting to arrive but we found ourselves immediately in conversations with Darren and Darragh (they’re commentors, not bloggers!?).

From there onwards the entire night was spent talking to people from all over the country, people interested in absolutely everything and anything from music to politics, from photography to ice-cream. It was great to be in a room packed with over 400 people and every one of them actually really interested in something and productively blogging or podcasting about it! It was also great fun to try get as many of them to drink tequila with me as possible!

The awards were given out, before each one there was hilarious video clips of George Bush re-dubbed to fit the specific categories, winners made their speeches and the drinking turned into rounds of everything and anything from tequila to sambucca and Jack Daniels, the list goes on. Congratulations to all the winners, but in particular Nialler9 for ‘Best Music Blog’ and Gingerpixel for ‘Best Photo Blog’.

As the night went on, we all got very drunk and I had some great conversations, finally putting faces to blogs. And of course getting to chat to people I had met at last years awards and PodCamp (in particular David and Phil, nice to see you again guys). Apparently I had even been giving the nickname “the ninja”, after my appearance last year where I didn’t really talk to anybody due to being new to the whole thing and not wanting to seem like an idiot. But thankfully Conor had taken my shyness and turned it into a nickname which gave me mystery, stealth and the ability to kill people with my bare hands!? I repaid him by posing for photos and teaching him to “raise the sign”.

With all the awards handed out, they cleared the chairs for a dancefloor and the drinking went to whole new levels. From here onwards the night is a complete blur, I’ve been trying to piece it together based on Ken’s photos and things he can remember me doing or saying. At some stage everyone was wearing fake moustaches!? For some reason I took my top off!? I’m in a ridiculous amount of photos I don’t remember being taken, with people I can’t remember talking to!? Apparently I was even dancing (I can’t dance!). I’m told that once the bar closed we went for food with David and Deborah, I must have been drunk if I ate in BurgerKing (god I hate BurgerKing). I really don’t remember!? But one thing I am certain of is that it was an awesome night and I met really cool people!

I awoke this morning sprawled across the bed, still in my clothes, one hand clutching a roll I must have bought in Centra at some stage last night!? The contents of my pockets included everything from two fake moustaches, a beer mat that say’s “I work until BEER o’clock”, a comb (not a moustache comb), and several things I don’t remember putting in my pockets!?

We checked out of our hotel (we didn’t even steal the towels!), although using Ken’s trusty pocketknife which includes a screwdriver, we could have removed the large mirror and paintings from the room, if we wanted!? But like I said, we don’t steal stuff, we just check to see if we could!?

We spent a couple of hours wandering around Dublin (god I hate Dublin), although there was some cool street performers about, included a girl who makes dogs out of sand!? Okay, that’s not really a performance but then again neither is painting yourself silver and standing really still!?

I slowly but surely dispensed any change I had to the ridiculous amounts of homeless people sitting on the streets. It wasn’t much and there are so many. When I had no change left we turned a corner to find a homeless girl sitting on the ground with a small baby! What the fuck is going on in this country!? (It can of course be pointed out that I spent a shit-load of money killing my braincells last night!?)

We made our way to Bus Aras (talking absolute shite the whole way) and were just in time to hop on a bus home (which was great considering how hungover we were and the fact that we couldn’t remember any bus times). The Chief fell asleep and I sat struggling to remember what the hell I did last night!? Whilst most of the night still remains a blur I think that I achieved my initial goal of being Ireland’s drunkest blogger (well one of them anyway)!?

The Blog Awards are over for another year, I’m already looking forward to next year, it was great to see how much it has grown already and it was great to finally actually talk to people. Hopefully we’ll see a few of them in Kilkenny for Creative Camp.

Cheers to Ken for snapping photos all night, I now have memories even if I don’t remember them!? I’d also like to say thanks to everyone who sent me messages on myspace and bebo, emails, text messages and phonecalls; all wishing us luck. Who needs an award when we’re doing something we love doing and people are encouraging and supportive towards it!?