Jack L v Kerry v Donegal was always going to be a tough gig. As he took to the stage and his image also filled three giant screens, the All-Ireland football final on the two flanking the stage shrank to one corner so the fans watching the last 20 minutes huddled closer, rivalling those keen to see the Athy troubadour strut his stuff. It wasn’t Donegal’s day but Jack Lukeman more than held his own, aided by the Suso Gospel choir.
Otherwise, it was all about the music at Forest Fest in the picturesque village of Emo in Co Laois, now in its fourth year and as established a part of the festival calendar as Electric Picnic up the road in Stradbally.
Saturday was the biggest day in terms of crowds and star acts, but a magical performance from The Magic Numbers, building from melodic pop to ever more muscular rock, sent those watching home on a high, giving a satisfying sense of the best wine having been saved till last.
Elsewhere, Qween on the main stage and in particular The Complete Stone Roses on the Fleadh stage also delivered blistering, crowd-pleasing sets.
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Nick Lowe had set the bar high early with a solo set that proved once again what a fantastic songwriter he is. “I was advised to keep things up tempo as it’s a festival,” he said, “but with just an acoustic guitar there has to be light and shade.” Caravaggio would have been jealous of the result.
Tony Hadley is still looking good but the former Spandau Ballet sounds now like a cocktail singer, whereas Billy Bragg’s music has matured and his politics are as relevant as ever. “Sunday night is the perfect festival slot,” he told the crowd. Friday night, they were saving themselves; Saturday night they’re too drunk; whereas last night they had lost all inhibitions.
He told a funny story about meeting a woman in Boulder, Colorado before a gig, who asked the name of his band. When he told her, she said, there used to be a singer in the 1980s called Billy Bragg. It’s a good yarn, and it captures a truth that festival founder Philip Meagher has capitalised on. Many great acts from the 1980s and 1990s are still around and appeal to a key demographic.
There are some great up-and-coming acts as part of the mix, such as Pillow Queens and The Oars – but the core ingredients are proven, tried and tested.
A thrilling set from Manic Street Preachers on Saturday night was a huge highlight.
Singer James Dean Bradfield led the Welsh band through a string of great songs, kicking off with Motorcycle Emptiness, in front of a capacity crowd. The Manics have had their share of misfortunes, most notably the loss of Richey Edwards, but the set is dedicated to another late colleague and their producer is standing in for their keyboard player who is ill. Perhaps this gives songs such as A Design for Life and You Stole the Sun from My Heart an edge others lack. They close with If You Tolerate This Your Children Will be Next, as three Palestinian flags are waved near the front of the crowd.
“This is the sound of Laois I’ve been looking forward to hearing,” says Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos, fresh from Glastonbury, as their hit song Do you Want To is met with a roar of approval on a sunny Friday evening.
Kapranos, as limber as a flamenco dancer, delivers a hit-filled set as shining as his black satin bomber jacket: Take Me Out, Hooked, Michael, Walk Away and This Fire were standouts.
If Franz Ferdinand are top-of the range glossy, The Dandy Warhols, who followed, are prestige matt, with fewer pyrotechnics but a set including hits Bohemian Like You and We Used to Be Friends that slowly builds to deliver a captivating soundscape, complemented by a powerful visual display on the screens behind.
Something Happens had got the ball rolling earlier, Tom Dunne offering some sound advice: “did you all take your medication before coming out today?” Other Friday highlights included Alabama 3’s rendition of Woke up this Morning, the singers dressed like Pearly King and Queen, as a fan shinned her way up and swung from a pole in the Village Stage tent.
A feature of the festival is its plethora of brilliant covers bands. Friday night closed with Live Forever Oasis, Daft Punk Tribute and Thin as Lizzy on three stages, while Walk the Line (Johnny Cash) and Qween closed on other nights. No complaints as they delivered some of the most crowd-pleasing sets. Standouts included Pogueology, The Classic Beatles, Neil Young tribute Harvest and superb Smiths act These Charming Men, who have graduated from the third to second stage and deserve a main stage slot next year. Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want.
Peter Hook made a welcome return to the festival, and delivered a solid set, this time focused more on his time with New Order than Joy Division. He too was pleased with the crowd. “You’ve made an old man very happy,” he said, responding to the adulation that greeted a strong finish featuring True Faith, Temptation, Blue Monday and Love Will Tear Us Apart.
Earlier, Larne rockers had dedicated Die Laughing to the late Ozzy Osbourne. The Stranglers were rather downbeat, apart from Always the Sun, Peaches and the brilliant Golden Brown. It was curious to go from that song of heroin addiction to another delivered by an irrepressible Mary Coughlan, The Ice Cream Man (inspired by an Irish Times story she reads in a Galway pub, she said).
Rather miscast on the Fleadh stage, she packed it out with songs as dark and sparkling as her runners. The Susu choir joined her on stage for a beautiful rendition of I Would Rather Go Blind, which she first heard aged 15 when stepping out with “future president” Catherine Connolly’s brother. Her rousing rendition of Ride On is the best I’ve heard.
The sound quality throughout was exceptional and overall the organisation was impeccable, but the stage timings irritatingly went half an hour awry on Saturday afternoon.
This is a feelgood festival, attracting young and old and sending them home happy. The bands too. Teenage Fanclub singer Raymond McGinley can’t help smiling as he delivers a joyous set, with Sparky’s Dream and What You Do to Me standouts.
The Riptide Movement, headlining the second stage on Saturday night, caught the mood with the glorious closer All Works Out. “Tomorrow’s a new day.”
Here’s to next year.
