Address | 58 Thomas Street, Dublin, Ireland |
---|---|
Owner | Harry Crosbie |
Type | Concert hall Performing arts centre |
Seating type | Seated, standing |
Capacity | 1,050 (seated) 1,500 (standing) |
Construction | |
Built | 1997–1998 |
Opened | September 1998 |
Expanded | 2002 |
Website | |
www |
Vicar Street is a concert, performing arts centre and events venue in Dublin, Ireland. Located on Thomas Street, Dublin 8, Vicar Street has capacity for 1,050 people for seated performances and 1,500 people for standing gigs. [1] The venue is owned by Harry Crosbie and operated by Peter Aiken. Since opening in 1998, [2] the venue has become a popular setting for a wide range of acts including stand-up comedy, drama performances and a variety of concerts. The first artist to play on the Vicar Street Stage was local singer/songwriter Shay Cotter. [3] Major international recording artists have performed in Vicar Street, such as Bob Dylan in 2000, [4] Neil Young in 2003, Adele in 2008, [5] Paul Simon and Ed Sheeran in 2011, and Lana Del Rey in 2013.
Because of its intimate size, the venue is one looked on with warmth by fans and acts alike. [6]
The longest-running show to take place in Vicar Street was Tommy Tiernan's Loose show with a string of 166 performances. [7]
Vicar Street hosts the Choice Music Prize ceremony in February/March each year. [8] Occasionally the venue is used to accommodate higher attendances than expected at smaller venues. In 2008, Canadian indie rock band Wolf Parade's November show which had been scheduled for Andrew's Lane Theatre was moved to Vicar Street. [9]
Bob Dylan performed at the venue in 2000 for his first, and as yet, only gig at the venue.
Lankum have played here many times with the nights known for their debauchery, general mayhem and off kilter vibes.
Gary Numan played his first concert in Ireland here in 2001.
Planxty played a series of concerts at the venue on 30 & 31 January and on 4 & 5, 11 & 12 February 2004, [10] : 317 which were recorded and from which selected material was released on the CD Live 2004 and its associated DVD.
Bell X1 played two shows in November 2008 to celebrate the venue's tenth anniversary. [11] In March 2009, the Irish Anti-War Movement hosted a fund-raising event at Vicar Street, featuring Christy Moore, Stephen Rea, Sinéad Cussack, Róisín Elsafy, Mick Pyro, Judith Mok and Joyce. [12] A Musicians For Marriage Equality show featuring artists such as Michele Ann Kelly and The Spikes took place at Vicar Street in October 2009. [13]
Rap superstar Kendrick Lamar played his first concert in Ireland in Vicar Street in 2013.
"Weird Al" Yankovic played his first concert in Ireland here on October 26, 2015, during the Mandatory World Tour.
Many comedians and musicians, both from Ireland and abroad, have chosen to record some of their live material at the venue. These include Simon Amstell, Aslan, Des Bishop, Jason Byrne, Damien Dempsey, The Dubliners, Erasure, The Frames, Andy Irvine's 70th birthday concerts, Kíla, Christy Moore, Dylan Moran, Moving Hearts, Mundy, Planxty, Josh Ritter, Tommy Tiernan, Neil Young, Dara Ó Briain and Foil, Arms & Hog.
Vicar Street has been awarded the Live Music Venue of the Year Award, in the national and Dublin-based categories of the IMRO awards, for two years running in 2009 and 2008 – the first two years of the IMRO Music Venue Awards. [14] In addition in 2008, it also received the Hot Press Readers Award for Best Live Music Venue in Ireland. [15]
William Michael Joseph Whelan is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The result, "Riverdance", was a seven-minute piece of original music accompanying a new take on traditional Irish stepdance that became a full-length stage production and spawned a worldwide craze for Irish traditional music and dance. The corresponding soundtrack album earned him a Grammy. "Riverdance" was released as a single in 1994, credited to "Bill Whelan and Anúna featuring the RTÉ Concert Orchestra". It reached number one in Ireland for 18 weeks and number nine in the UK. The album of the same title reached number 31 in the album charts in 1995.
Planxty were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972, consisting initially of Christy Moore, Andy Irvine, Dónal Lunny, and Liam O'Flynn. They transformed and popularized Irish folk music, touring and recording to great acclaim.
Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore is an Irish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. In addition to his significant success as a solo artist, he is one of the founding members of the bands Planxty and Moving Hearts. His first album, Paddyon the Road was recorded with Dominic Behan in 1969. In 2007, he was named as Ireland's greatest living musician in RTÉ's People of the Year Awards.
Andrew Kennedy Irvine is an Irish folk musician, singer-songwriter, and a founding member of Sweeney's Men, Planxty, Patrick Street, Mozaik, LAPD and Usher's Island. He also featured in duos, with Dónal Lunny, Paul Brady, Mick Hanly, Dick Gaughan, Rens van der Zalm, and Luke Plumb. Irvine plays the mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, harmonica, and hurdy-gurdy.
Sweeney's Men was an Irish traditional band. They emerged from the mid-1960s Irish roots revival, along with groups such as The Dubliners and the Clancy Brothers. The founding line-up in May 1966 was Johnny Moynihan, Andy Irvine and "Galway Joe" Dolan.
Dónal Lunny is an Irish folk musician and producer. He plays guitar and bouzouki, as well as keyboards and bodhrán. As a founding member of popular bands Planxty, The Bothy Band, Moving Hearts, Coolfin, Mozaik, LAPD, and Usher's Island, he has been at the forefront of the renaissance of Irish traditional music for over five decades.
John Moynihan is an Irish folk singer, based in Dublin. He is often credited with introducing the bouzouki into Irish music in the mid-1960s.
Bell X1 are an Irish rock band from County Kildare. The group consists of Paul Noonan, David Geraghty and Dominic Phillips.
This is a summary of the year 2007 in the Irish music industry. 2007 was described as "an annus horribilis for Irish music" by the Irish Independent's rock critic, Eamon Sweeney.
This is a summary of the year 2006 in the Irish music industry.
This is an, as yet, incomplete summary of the year 2005 in the Irish music industry.
Live at the Marquee is a season of music concerts and other live performance events organised by Aiken Promotions in a large marquee in Cork, Ireland, every summer since 2005. A concert is held most evenings with the festival usually running from the end of May to late June/early July; tickets for each night are sold separately, with varying lineups and pricing. Acts have represented many genres of popular music, including rock, folk, electronic, hip hop, rhythm and blues, and country; as well as stand-up comedy acts.
This is a summary of the year 2008 in the Irish music industry.
James MacCarthy is an Irish singer-songwriter.
This is a summary of the year 2009 in the Irish music industry.
Electric Picnic 2009 was the sixth edition of the Electric Picnic festival to take place. The three-day event took place on the weekend of Friday 4 September, Saturday 5 September and Sunday 6 September at Stradbally Hall in Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland. The festival was launched on 15 April 2009 and featured performances from artists such as Orbital, The Flaming Lips, Brian Wilson, Basement Jaxx, Madness, Klaxons, Bell X1, Fleet Foxes and MGMT.
Aiken Promotions is a music promoter operating in Ireland. It is a former co-organiser of the annual Electric Picnic festival at Stradbally, County Laois, and also organises the Live at the Marquee event in Cork. Founded by Jim Aiken, the company has been seminal in bringing international acts to Ireland from the 1960s to the present day. Aiken was particularly successful in encouraging artists to perform in Ireland during The Troubles.
The Music Show was an annual event which took place in the RDS, Dublin on the first weekend of October each year. The event combined live performances, music workshops and talks given by professionals within the music industry. It had several high-profile sponsors, including Hot Press, RTÉ 2fm, the Irish Independent and the Sunday Independent. RTÉ 2fm provided live radio coverage of the event.
The IMRO Live Music Venue of the Year Awards are annual awards which are presented by the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) in conjunction with Hot Press and MUZU TV. The awards were first given in 2008.
Live 2004 is an album recorded live by the Irish folk band Planxty.