U2 in town

Gav just tweeted the finished stage – I think the moody clouds suit it!

U2 360 stage at Croke Park

Robin got some amazing shots from the air, see them all here.

U2 stage at Croke Park from the air

Bootlegs from their last tour dates at Croke Park and Slane ’81 are available to download via Swear I’m not Paul.

@360FromTheEdge is posting some interesting photos via Twitter…

Edge's guitars

Stage roof

I’m just giddy with excitement for tonight’s gig. To everyone who’s going, hope you have a fantastic time

U2 360 in Barcelona - from u2.com

Getting there

If you’ve never been to Croke Park, it’s in Drumcondra which is north Dublin city centre almost halfway between the city centre and the airport. It’s serviced well by buses & trains & only a short hop from town.

Bus
The following buses pass through Drumcondra. Jump out at the stop as close to the railway bridge corssing the road as possible. Bus routes from the city centre to Drumcondra Rd: 3, 11/a/b/c, 13/a, 16/a, 33/b, 41/a/b/c, 40/a/b/c/d. Others that get you nearby are on this map.

Train
Drumcondra train station is on the Maynooth/Longford/Sligo line. Check www.irishrail.ie for timetables.

Walk
It’s only 15mins from O’Connell St, here’s the route I’d suggest – http://short.ie/walktocroker

Preparation

Time
Gates open at 6pm, first band is due on at 6.30 with U2 due on around 9pm. I’d hazard a guess it’ll be all done and dusted by 11/11.30 at the latest. If you want a decent standing spot, get there early. If you’re seated well then allow yourself about 30mins from arriving in Drumcondra to getting into your seat in the stadium.

What to wear/bring with you
It will more than likely rain at some point so bring layers & waterproofs, even if you’re seated – Croker is quite open & quite windy! Leave the umbrellas at home as they won’t be allowed in. I’d imagine bag searches will happen so try keep luggage to a minimum.

Have an awesome time. See you round there on the Friday

Booklet for Handels' Messiah

On Thursday last, I had the fortune of getting to hear a powerful, moving & inspiring rendition of George Fredrick Handels’ famous work, ‘Messiah’. As part of a week of celebrations in Dublin called ‘Handel 250′, the magnificent choir of Christ Church Cathedral, The Orchestra of Saint Cecilia, soloists Deboragh Abbot (soprano), Duncan Brickenden (alto), Peter Davoren (tenor) & Philip O’Reilly (bass) gathered in the beautiful venue of Christ Church Cathedral for a performance of the ‘Messiah’, a piece first performed in Dublin in April of 1742.

My first memories of hearing this beautiful piece go back to when I was in 2nd class of primary school, about 8 years old. Our teacher at the time occasionally had a ‘music appreciation’ lesson & more often than not it was an aria or chorus from ‘Messiah’. I have for years failed to catch a live performance of it and my am I sorry it’s taken me so long to do so. It was magnificent from start to finish. The infamous ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ didn’t disappoint – I haven’t felt goosebumps race from head to toe like the ones I felt on hearing the voices raising the roof with their rendition of the powerful chorus. Admittedly, I was moved to tears by it! 

Congratulations to all involved in the performance and in the festival that ran all week which seemed to offer up a fantastic selection of musical delights. There’s photos and video from the week over at the Temple Bar Cultural Trust website.

You can sample some choral tracks I recorded (only when the blinking iPhone decided it wanted to) right here.

I was at Doves in the Olympia, Dublin last night. One of my favourite bands of all time & it was amazing as usual. Some photos on Pix.ie, down below is a noisy little video and the first of a range I am going to classify as ‘Danceycam‘ (I continue to shake booty & enjoy myself while filming).

RTE have launched their RTE Player online service. Nice design effort & video quality but the use of Flash only across the site is questionable in terms of usability.

Awesome t-shirt design for the Blacknight T-Shirt competition from Nice Cube Design.

Registration for Bizcamp Belfast is now open.

Loopthing is the Tuesday push (I think!)

Bollywood Dancing on Sunday for Big Fish Films was fantastic fun despite the terrible sunburn I suffered

Handel’s Messiah at Christchurch last week was epic, so epic a tear or two may have escaped me. Will put up MP3s later on for your aural pleasure.

Doves – There Goes The Fear on Danceycam from Stephanie Francis on Vimeo.