The RTÉ Big Music Week ended on a high note with a special concert at the Vicar Street theatre in Dublin on behalf of the childrens’ charity Barnardos.
Presented by Kathryn Thomas it featured some top names from a wide variety of musical styles, including the Irish chart topper who outsold Avici and Katy Perry just a month ago, Finbar Furey. Finbar is the recent winner of the TV show The Hit and performed his recent number one song The Last Great Love Song plus some of his songs from five decades. Also on the bill for the night was trad legend Sharon Shannon and Paul Walsh from Royseven whose song We Should Be Lovers was the most played song on radio in Ireland in 2011. The enigmatic Jerry Fish will also be re-creating his most famous song True Friends in collaboration with The Lost Brothers. Other well known acts performing at this charity event include The Heathers, Scullion, Robbie Overson and Philip King. The show also featured a brand new song written by Brendan Graham and performed by Eimear Quinn, Celine Byrne and others which was premiered on The Late Late Show last night. It has been released as a single in aid of Barnardos.
Speaking about the release of the single Fergus Finlay, CEO Barnardos said: “I’d like to say a huge thank you to RTÉ and all the artists who so generously came together to perform this amazing song in aid of Barnardos. We are delighted that all the proceeds from single sales will go to Barnardos and assure you 100% of that will be spent directly on our work with vulnerable children and families across Ireland. I encourage everyone to go online tonight and download The Fair, Fair Land in aid of Barnardos.“
RTÉ presenters launch Big Music Week at Dún Laoghaire Photo: IE website/Maxwell
Starting on the DART service in Dublin tomorrow morning from Bray to Dublin, the fifth RTÉ Big Music Week will be on the rails from 7:45am. Commuters at Bray will be entertained on the platform by a number of well-known musicians including The Benzini Brothers featuring Liam Ó MaonlaÍ, Fiachna Ó Braonáin and Peter O’Toole; Luan Parle; Lisa O’Neill; The Lost Brothers and Eleanor McEvoy. Here is the advertisement currently running on RTÉ television:-
The musicians will then board a train to bring them to Connolly Station, where there will be more music live on the John Murray Show with Miriam on RTÉ Radio 1 from 9am. I hope to join the event there to cover it for my blog, travelling on the special train to Newbridge. From there it will be a case of “Follow Me up to Carlow”, where I will return Northwards to write my report and hopefully bring you some photographs.
The Big Music Week in association with Iarnród Éireann features the very best of home-grown musical talent by bringing live performance to audiences in Ireland and all over the world; on radio, on television, on line and on mobile with plenty of opportunity to catch-up on the latest action with RTÉ.ie, RTÉ Ten, RTÉ YouTube and @rte (not forgetting @fishbelfast) on twitter.
RTÉ presenters launch Big Music Week Photo: Maxwell Photography
This year, the RTÉ Big Music Week Train, consisting of three carriages, will travel to some of Ireland’s best-loved venues and best-travelled stations, bringing performances from Kodaline, Paul Brady, Damien Dempsey, Christy Moore, Lumiere and Julie Feeney and much more to radio listeners across the island. The schedule for the Irish Rail special train is as follows:-
Monday 30th September – Dublin Connolly to Waterford
Stay on the train for the day, join in the music and fun as the train stops at Newbridge and Carlow and ends the day in Waterford.
Tuesday 1st October – Waterford to Killarney
Entertainment and Music on board all the way to Mallow.
Wednesday 2nd October – Killarney to Westport
Entertainment and music all the way plus a stop at Limerick Station to join in the fun at the 2Fm Ryan Tubridy Show onboard.
Thursday 3rd October – Marty in the Morning
Attend a live radio programme (breakfast included!) from Westport Station.
Friday 4th October – Boyle to Dublin Connolly
Final show in Maynooth with Ronan Collins at 12pm.
RTÉ’s Big Music Week will finish on a high note with an All-Star Charity Concert in aid of Barnardos. It will be presented by Kathryn Thomas and feature several headline acts and surprise guests. Finbarr Furey, the Irish chart topper who outsold Avici and Katy Perry after winning RTÉ’s The Hit with The Last Great Love Song, will perform his latest chart topper and other songs from his extensive repertoire. Also on the bill are Sharon Shannon and Paul Walsh from Royseven. Jerry Fish will perform his well-known song True Friends with The Lost Brothers. Other acts include Heathers, Scullion, Robbie Overson and Philip King.
The show will also feature a brand new song written by Brendan Graham, which will be performed by Eimear Quinn, Celine Byrne and others. The new song will be premiered on The Late Late Show on October 4th. Tickets are available now at Ticketmaster priced at €25, with all funds going to Barnardos.