Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
June know it makes sense
Harmony makes it hot month for live music... RUSSIAN SUPERSTAR NINA KRAVIZ IS A DRILLER THRILLER Feel free to check out Liberty star It’s Krystal Klear what to do in Derry
June looks set to be the biggest month of the year for live music and festivals in Ireland. Kicking off this evening with AVA, we roll into Forbidden Fruit in Dublin, the Malahide Castle series, Live At The Marquee in Cork, the arrival of the mighty Belsonic to Ormeau Park,
Sea Sessions in Donegal and then Celtronic in Derry rounding things off.
Add to that a relative newcomer in the shape of
Holywood’s Harmony
Live and there’s something there for every possible taste.
It’s a three-day event is gearing up to pack out the Co Down town this weekend, with the Festival Marquee setting up home in the Holywood She aparently worked as a topflight dentist, pulling cosmonauts’ teeth no less, and a radio star before becoming a superstar DJ.
It sounds like the sort of bat-shitcrazy fake news from a Russia
Today broadcast but then considering Nina Kraviz’ rise, nothing is surprising. The 29-yearold from Siberia is a former Red Bull Music Academy inductee who Rugby Club grounds and venues throughout the town also taking part. Previously known as the Holywood Harmony Festival, Harmony Live welcomed more than 15,000 people into the town last year.
This year will see a marquee double tin size to play home to big-name acts such as The Boomtown Rats, Reef, Toploader, Joshua Burnside and Ryan
Mcmullan.
For us, Ryan Mcmullan, who headlines Sunday at the Festival, is worth the entrance fee alone. Blessed with a voice that can shift effortlessly between the angelic and the guttural he has also honed a song-writing craft that exploits the incredible versatility and power of his God-given instrument. Growing up proved her worth with a string of hit albums and acclaimed performances that led to to be named the coveted Mix Mag’s DJ of the year for 2017.
The latest of these remarkable shows is tomorrow night – and it has a remarkable venue to match it. The Shine event is at the former Belfast Telegraph building on Royal Avenue, a place where you can in picturesque Portaferry, on the shores of Strangford lough and in sight of the Mourne Mountains, Ryan was informed by trad and pub sing-alongs.
However, this gives only a portion of the story, as a member of an unashamedly post-mtv generation he was always on the hunt for more diverse influences from bubblegum pop to hip hop, hard rock to blues.
Ryan has already earned a formidable reputation in the European live music scene. After spending many years developing a dedicated local following (and gaining the favour of personal heroes such as Foy Vance and Gary Lightbody) in 2017 he supported Ed Sheeran on Ed’s arena tour. Perhaps almost taste hot metal and ink in the air. It’s Nina’s first visit to the club behemoth in six years – back when the Tele was still rolling off the presses in the famous print hall. Progress, eh?
She’s joined by, among others, Phil Kieran who has seen the city changing around him like a monolith in a time-lapse video. It’s not as if he’s been static, though. more pertinently, this was followed up with his own (largely sold out) UK and European Headline tour complete with a triumphant homecoming gig in Belfast.
It was for this homecoming that Ryan joined the select few who have sold out the venue in question
(The Limelight) prior to releasing their debut album – a select few which include The Strokes and very nearly Oasis (only nearly though).
There are loads of other brilliant acts taking place at Harmony Live – head to the festival website for the full rundown. There are still some tickets available for each evening, available at wegottickets.com, do move quickly though. The Belfast producer and DJ ploughs a lone and determined furrow but he’s always open to new ideas, styles and vision.
The others are pretty neat too – Dense & Pika, Lucy and Schmutz fill up a line-up guaranteed to make even the sternest cosmonaut show off his pearly whites.
Doors 9pm-3am (last entry 12am). If you fancy something a little less, well, thumping, this weekend Lindi Ortega is on at the Empire.
The country singersongwriter has drawn favourable comparisons to Johnny Cash and
Emmylou Harris quietly building up a reputation in her native Toronto before moving to Nashville. Her latest album Liberty has won a slew of awards and acclaim with the Guardian neatly summing it up as “faustian, haunted country”. Sounds about right...
Lindi Ortega plays the Empire Music Hall on Sunday, doors 7pm, £16.
The Oh Yeah music hub has long been a champion of equality and next week hosts the Women’s Work festival – a week of gigs, workshops and panels aimed at celebrating and furthering the role of women in music. Get involved at ohyeahbelfast.com. Final shout for the the awesome Krystal Klear who plays in Derry tonight for Celtronic.
His new track, Neutron Dance, is on rotation on the Radio One specialist music playlists.
Big, sunny and loud, it appears on Krystal Klear’s Division EP on Gerd Janson’s Running Back label (who plays Celtronic at the end of the month).
The Dubliner – real name Dec Lennon – can destroy underground dancefloors or spin out polished productions in the studio with legends like Nile Rodgers. Support from Deep Fried Funk DJS and Jordan Villa. See eventbrite.com