Hopelessly Devoted to EU!
Stuart Clark braved the sub-Arctic temperatures of northern Holland to see how And So I Watch You From Afar, Imelda May and Delorentos got on waving the Irish flag at the Eurosonic Festival, and checked out some of the acts our continental cousins are going mad for.
Stuart Clark, 10 Feb 2010
It’s minus-five outside, snowing like the next Ice Age is about to start and still all the busses are running on time. Ireland’s public service chiefs should get their sorry asses over to Groningen where our Dutch cousins are able to deal with anything the winter throws at them.
Also refusing to surrender to the elements is Imelda May who’s tour bussed her way over from Dublin for her gig tonight in Huize Maas. A slightly tattier version of Whelan’s, it’s one of 27 venues that have been pressed into action for this year’s Eurosonic showcase festival, which for the first time has sold all 18,000 of its tickets. 2,600 of those have gone to music industry professionals here to spot de volgende grote ding.
With Huize Maas’ dressing-room area doing a good impression of a walk-in fridge, Ms. May is wearing a furry hat very similar to the Mama Claus one she donned for her Hot Press Christmas cover shoot.
“I was going to give it back…honest!” she deadpans. “I tell you who loved that cover – me dad! I’m not joking you, he bought about 50 copies and handed them out instead of Christmas cards!”
Mr. May was also front-row, centre-stage for his daughter’s December 22 visit to the Dublin O2 – quite a step up from HP’s first sighting of her two years ago in the rather more intimate Sugar Club.
“We could have done a few nights somewhere else but I thought, ‘Ah sure, let’s go for it’ and it turned out brilliant. There were no gimmicks, just a bit of snow, some good songs and some good company, and everyone had a ball. I spent the first ten minutes checking that all my family and friends had got to their seats okay – I think I set a new world record for the number of people on a guest-list! – and then I was able to relax and do my thing.”
That ‘thing’ has won her a host of celebrity fans, the most ardent of whom is guitar legend Jeff Beck who’s invited Imelda to sing on his Emotion & Commotion album, out on April 8 and also featuring Joss Stone and a 64-piece orchestra.
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