The Underground of Happiness

Cork Midsummer Festival. An opera. In theory. Like Bjork might have imagined. Set on a beach. We are on a balcony looking down on a patch of sand. Where people in their togs are lying on towels. Playing ball games. Reading. Having picnics. Walking the dog. And singing. Overhead infernal lights shine down to indicate blazing sun. The songs centre on foreign travel. Airports. Resorts. Climate change. Sung in conventional opera style. But conversational. And against a cosmic electronic soundtrack. It floated and drifted. The singers changed for each song in a continuous ambient flow. Moments of communal voices singing without harmony and lifting the heart. By the end we were sweating under the lights. And contemplating the beauty and brutality of the human universe. They call it apocalypse in a pastel colour palette. A full blown masterpiece of intrigue and emotion this event.

For those of you who prefer the long read format, here are all 30 chapters plus bonus in one piece...enjoy x I'm going to post out some thoughts on live shows I was at this year. I'll put them out between now and the end of the year. It's a bit of an experiment because, unlike whenever I've written live reviews^ before, this time (for the most part) I was writing at a remove of many months. These were not thoughts I put down at the time of the gig. So these are thoughts dependent on memory - I suppose all thoughts are but with these ones longer term memory - in that whatever I've written consists of impressions that have stayed with me over time. I like the idea of forcing myself to depend on memory this way. It might create a different kind of review. Less detail probably, but heavier on general currents, patterns, trends. Shorter (good says you). Plus it would presumably incorporate more of an overview of all the shows together. Because, whether these arti...

Chapter 10 Leagues hooked up with Pretty Happy to stage a lovely day out in the park behind Shandon part of Cork Midsummer Festival . Food stalls. Coffee. Kids games. Cork Queer History. More on those talented Pretty Happy people later. On this day bands played in a cross sectioned caravan. It was midsummer. The wind blew. I took my 11 year old. We saw I Dreamed I Dream play. Four young women looking shit cool and spitting fire and melody. The outstanding I played the bass was the highlight. My 11 year old is not easily impressed and she did not once ask if we could leave. We agreed they had something alright. Even cooler, we passed the bass player on our way to school the following week. https://www.foggynotions.ie/festivals/festival/quare-cork-midsummer-2022