Top acts lined up for the‘ Right Here, Right Now’ music fest
FOLLOWING it hugely successful first outing last summer, the ‘Right Here, Right Now’ music festival is set to make a welcome return to the Cork Opera House over the June bank holiday weekend.
Run in conjunction with Coughlan’s Live, the two-day extravaganza will once again highlight the sheer quality and depth of the vibrant contemporary Cork and wider Irish music scene.
Taking full advantage of the various concert and performance spaces within the venue, the festival will feature an impressive line-up of afternoon and evening gigs featuring an eclectic mix of established and upcoming acts.
As its name would suggest, the festival will provide music fans with a snapshot of the current music scene featuring a cross-genre mix of acts that will fine broad appeal with even the most jaded of musical palates.
The action will kick-off on Friday, June 2 in the main auditorium with a specially curated gig as the Cork Opera house Concert Orchestra, under the baton of conductor John O’Brien, perform alongside The Frank and Walters, Marlene Enright and Ye Vagabonds.
This unique arrangement will give the audience an opportunity to hear a new and refreshing twist on the music of the artists.
A busy Sunday programme will get underway in the Right Room at 3pm with an afternoon of trad music in the company of Iarla Ó Lionáird and Steve Cooney.
Lead singer of The Gloaming, Ó Lionáird has a unique singing style that has carried him to stages and concert halls all over the world and seen him work with such luminaries as Peter Gabriel, Robert Plant and Nick Cave.
Australian-born guitarist Cooney is one of the most dynamic modern performers in traditional music and has performed alongside the likes of Sharon Shannon, Altan, Martin Hayes, The Waterboys and Sinead O’Connor. The pair will be joined for the gig by special guests family-trio Greenshine.
This will be followed at 7.30pm with a concert in the same room by 2017 Choice Music Prize nominee Wallis Bird. The singer/songwriter has been enrapturing Irish audiences for more than a decade with her sound, a wonderfully melodic mix of folk, blues and funk with distinctly rock undertones.
She will be joined for the gig by special guest critically acclaimed Cork singer/ songwriter John Blek. Best know for his association with his band The Rats, Blek has released five solo-album over the past five year, each of which has been heavily influenced by Irish folk music.
Later that evening the Right Room will host an evening in the company of Cork singer/songwriter Jack O’Rourke, with support from Anna Mitchell.
The lone figure of O’Rourke hunched over piano keys and moody synths is one that Irish music fans have become increasingly excited about, with his album ‘Dreamcatcher’ regarded as one of the top Irish debut albums of 2016.
His eclectic style of music, plaintive baritone voice, poetic flair and inventive arrangement have earned O’Rourke widespread acclaim, with critics likening him to Bowie, Kate Bush, John Grant and The National among others.
Cork’s Anna Mitchell has earned a steadily growing fan-base with her dark folk/Americana sound, epitomised on her self-titled second album released in January of this year.
More special guest for the Right Here, Right Now gigs are set to be announced over the coming weeks.
Tickets for the gigs from the Cork Opera House box office on 021 427 0022.