Holding on for 2moro
RTÉ is doing its bit for Irish music with the 2FM 2moro 2our. Patrick Freyne went along to the live launch to catch a glimpse of the hit bands of the future.
Patrick Freyne, 24 Oct 2007
In the old days all radio was live. The band was live, the advertisements were performed live, sound-effects were live. Pre-recording things were seen as cheating – lying even. So it’s nice that for a while in Studio One of the Radio Centre, RTÉ returned to old-fashioned principles for the launch of the 2FM 2moro 2our. Live on Jenny Huston’s The Waiting Room, each of the bands is to play a tune amidst Jenny’s normal setlist, followed by an interview upstairs in the regular studio.
Yes, 2FM has organised another big tour of the country, MC-ed by some of their all-star DJs – Rick O’Shea, Jenny Huston, Jenny Greene, Ruth Scott, Cormac Battle and Dan Hegarty. They will all broadcast their shows from different points on the tour and each gig will also be opened by a local band (who can apply via the 2FM website). But that’s all a month and a half away. Right now the acts – the indie-poptastic Ham Sandwich, rocking supergroup Concerto For Constantine and bluesy quirktronica maven David Geraghty, gather and mingle with friends, crew and liggers (like myself) around a table of canapés and wine.
In the middle of the room a full backline has been set-up waiting to be played.
Before long the disembodied voice of Jenny Huston announces Ham Sandwich, who are (by now) standing patiently ready to rock. They launch into ‘...Click Click Boom’, a monster song sung with cool energy by Niamh Farrell. The 2FM 2moro 2our will be Ham Sandwich’s biggest tour to date, and their co-vocalist and guitarist Podge McNamee is blown away by the perks.
“I told my folks we were on a big worldwide tour of Ireland on a double-decker bus and they were already impressed with that,” he says. “What I didn’t realise was that we were to be staying in all these 4 and 5 star hotels! I thought we were sleeping on the bus. What’s going on? They might even have orange juice and breakfast. Some of these hotels have full-on health spas. I’ll be getting mud baths. I’m telling you, it’s not what we’re used to.”
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