The Boucher Road Playing Fields – capable of boasting audiences of over 40,000 – has faced issues due to a neighbouring site usually used as an emergency exit point not being available this year.

@northernirelandtraveller Liam Gallagher @Liam Gallagher tonight at Belfast Vital at Boucher Road Playing Fields. Performance form @kasabianofficial #belfastvital #belfast #liamgallagher #northernireland #ireland #norniron #oasis #definitelymaybe #irish #boucherplayingfields #concert #belfastcity #vital #belfasttiktok #northernirelandtiktok #belfasttiktoker #belfastfood ♬ original sound – Northern Ireland Traveller

Belfast City Council, who own the site on Boucher Road, have previously found an agreement to use the neighbouring field which is held by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Services (NIFRS).

However, this year the fire services have not given the Council their consent to use the field as an exit point. Without a clear emergency exit, safety and security matters are thrown into turmoil.

Fans will be hoping the issue is resolved quickly, as Sam Fender takes the stage on August 28 just one day before the highly-anticipated Fontaines DC and Kneecap show on August 29. The fields will also host a couple of festivals – Farmers Bash on the weekend of August 9 and Emerge 2025 kicking off on August 23. Get ticket information for all events here.

 

 

 

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The NIFRS vacated the premises last year after opening a new training facility just outside Cookstown, County Tyrone. Due to them no longer using the site, the fire services are looking for the Belfast City Council to take over the lease in order for the gigs to take place.

In a statement, the NIFRS claimed that the site is “currently going through a process of divestment” and they worry that the use of the field would impact on a rates discount for unoccupied properties.

A spokeswoman said in the statement: “NIFRS has vacated the site and would be supportive of an agreement that would see the lease revert to Belfast City Council control, enabling the necessary health and safety arrangements to be put in place for the summer shows.

“NIFRS continues to engage with Belfast City Council and other stakeholders, around the divestment process and the events scheduled at Boucher Playing Fields.”

With still three months until the shows, hope remains that this issue will be sorted. A Council spokeswoman reiterated the desire to find an agreement, saying: “The council has been engaging with NIFRS with a view to ensuring that the necessary health and safety arrangements can be put in place for these concerts.”

These are not the first music events put at risk due to legal issues this year. South London’s Brockwell Park lost a legal battle against local residents due to the nuisance and impact on the park.

It was found that the park exceeded the maximum allowed 28 days of closure a year for events, however every festival due for the park this summer – including Mighty Hoopla and Field Day – insist that the show will go on.

Wide Awake took place at the South London park this past weekend, where Kneecap rocked the festival with a powerful headline performance despite calls for their performances to be cancelled due to recent controversies.

Keep an eye on mxdwn for any further announcements regarding the big Belfast gigs this summer, as fans pray that the health and safety issues will be resolved by August.

Guitarist Conor Curley shed light on why they chose to tackle Bring Me The Horizon’s track, which originally appeared on the Sempiternal album. “It was Grian’s idea from the start,” Curley explained, referring to frontman Grian Chatten. “The electronic elements and overall mood of the song felt aligned with what we explored on our last album, ‘Romance‘, so it made sense as a starting point. Plus, it’s a moody, beautiful song.”

As for incorporating ‘Heart-Shaped Box’, Curley revealed that Nirvana’s 1993 classic holds a personal significance for him. “It was probably one of the first songs I learned on guitar in drop D [tuning],” he shared. Interestingly, the band briefly considered swapping the Bring Me The Horizon track entirely for ‘Heart-Shaped Box’, before ultimately deciding to fuse the two. “Grian just started playing it during soundcheck, and we thought, ‘Do we switch to that instead?’” Curley recalled.

Unfortunately, Fontaines D.C. had to cancel their planned South American tour, which was set to follow their Australia and New Zealand dates. Frontman Grian Chatten suffered a herniated disc, forcing the band to pull out of shows across Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia.

Expressing his disappointment, Chatten shared a statement at the time: “I’ve been looking forward to playing in these incredible countries for years, and it’s heartbreaking to be here in Mexico City and not be able to take the stage. But today, I was advised that I need urgent medical attention. We deeply appreciate your support, and from the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry I can’t perform for you.”

Despite the setback, the band’s Like A Version session stands as a powerful testament to their ability to reimagine music in their own distinctive style.

The band’s latest album ‘Romance‘ recently peaked at number two on UK charts. Their previous release ‘Skinty Fia‘, was published in 2022 and peaked at number one.

The band shared a statement on their Instagram Story that said: “I am devastated to announce that, due to a herniated disc, we must cancel our show in Mexico tomorrow night and our forthcoming dates in Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia. I have been really excited to play these beautiful countries for years and it really hurts to be here in Mexico City and not be able to go onstage, but I have been advised today, that I require urgent medical attention. We are very grateful for all your support and, with all my heart, I am sorry that I can’t play for you.”

At the time of writing, it appeared the shows have been cancelled with no further information as to whether they would be rescheduled later on or not.

Fontaines DC cancela su presentación en México, Chile, Argentina, Brasil y Colombia. pic.twitter.com/Y5S25bpPuL

— Korno Espinosa (@korno) March 18, 2025

The band recently finished the leg of their tour in countries such as Japan, Australia and New Zealand and are due to hit the North American roads with their show in Mid-April. It is unclear in this moment whether Grian’s injury will also affect those dates.

The band released their album ‘Romance’, an album that peaked at number 2 on the release charts and that was been wildly acclaimed last year and surprised fans last month with a brand new song called ‘It’s Amazing To Be Young’, a song inspired by guitarist Carlos O’Connell’s new born. Bass player Conor Deegan said in a chat with NME: “That gave the track the feel of a “lullaby or a music box”. The feeling of hope a child can give is profound and moving, especially for young men like us. That sense of wanting to create a world for them to grow up in happily. It’s a feeling that fights against the cynicism that can often overtake us in the modern world. So we wanted to declare which side we were on — it really is amazing to be young. It was really heartwarming. Sometimes as people we can be a bit cynical. The world around us can make you that way if you’re paying attention it.”

The song, which features a video clip directed by Luna Carmoon, was written for the band’s last album ‘Romance’, but Conor explained it didn’t make the final track listing.

During an interview with Chatten, Elton John heaped praise on the band, reflecting on their growth across albums and their electrifying live performances. “For me, you’re the best band out there at the moment,” John said, citing their Glastonbury performance and latest album, Skinty Fia, as proof of the band’s rising reputation. “You seem to have found your feet with this album in such a big way; it’s a brilliant record.”

John, who is renowned for his ability to spot and elevate emerging talent, didn’t hold back in his admiration for the band’s sound and artistic evolution. “I think this album takes you—and I’ve been around for a long time—to a different level, and it’s going to stay around for a long, long time,” John said, adding that the music on Skinty Fia is “really, really, really special.”

This endorsement comes on the heels of a growing recognition for Fontaines D.C., who in 2022 won a similar accolade to John’s recent praise, titled the “Best Band in the World” award at the BandLab NME Awards. Their distinct blend of gritty post-punk and poetic lyricism has made them a standout act, but recent releases have seen the band explore a more spacious and synth-based sound.

However, despite the high praise, the band is currently grappling with a tough break on their North American tour. What was supposed to be the start of a triumphant run of U.S. shows turned into a difficult week when Chatten fell ill just before the tour’s opener in Seattle on September 20. Singer Chatten revealed that he had come down with “some kind of flu,” which had severely impacted his voice, forcing the cancellation of the Seattle show.

Despite the rest and medication, I can now not even speak without pain. It breaks my heart to have to cancel the show tonight in Portland, and tomorrow in Vancouver, two shows I was really looking forward to.

— Fontaines D.C. (@fontainesdublin) September 21, 2024

Initially, fans hoped the illness would pass quickly, but Chatten’s condition worsened, leading to the cancellation of two further shows in Portland (September 21) and Vancouver (September 22). In a heartfelt message shared on social media, Chatten expressed his deep regret over the cancellations, explaining that he was in no condition to perform.

“Despite rest and medication, I can now not even speak without pain,” he wrote on X, adding: “It breaks my heart to have to cancel the show tonight in Portland, and tomorrow in Vancouver, two shows I was really looking forward to. But there is just no way of making them work.”

The band’s U.S. tour, which is set to run until October 20 in Philadelphia, includes opening performances by New York indie rockers Been Stellar.

Presumably titled ‘Skinty Fia’ the new single was shared to us via the band’s socials, in the form of a YouTube premiere, set for 6PM GMT on Tuesday 11^th. This marks the first new studio recording since their sophomore album LP A Hero’s Death was released back in 2020, to solid critical and commercial acclaim. The popularity of the album lead to the band playing a huge headline show at London’s Alexandra Palace, where they would share the first of their first new material to the eagerly waiting fans. ‘I Love You’ begins nicely with its Johnny Marr-Esque jangly guitars, but by the end returns to the driving urgency the band have become known for. Watch a fan-shot video from the gig below.

During an interview with NME back in September, the band’s bassist Connor Deegan III explains, “The third album is really good,” which is a very good start, “We all thought the songs were quite poppy. We thought we’d got this sound that was finally the sound that we wanted to get across the songs, which we thought was quite poppy.” This could be good news, or bad news depending on what camp you sit in. But, “We showed them to our manager, and he said, ‘Lads, this is the darkest shit you’ve ever written!’ And we were like, ‘What? What are you talking about? This bass melody is catchy, this vocal melody is catchy’. He was just like, ‘No, this is extremely dark’. So there you go!”.

So whichever side of the fence you sit on regarding their possibly-pop-driven new direction, we know that it’s due soon after it was first confirmed to be pretty much finished back in March last year after a Reddit AMA with the band revealed “We just finished mixing the next record last week, sounding really great. It’s funny because we were so swept up with touring when we were writing a hero’s death, I think we only got a sense of what that record really is now.”

See here for the group’s full list of appearances in the summer.

The live performances will take place starting from 19th July 2021 within Grassroots music venues alongside the Music Venues Alliance, 19th July also marks the date in which the Government has issued for Grassroots music venues to fully reopen. The scheme’s tour entitled ‘The National Lottery’s Revive Live Tour’ boasts a roster of talented artists and promises over 300 live performances. The array of other music artists joining the pair on their crusade include English singer-songwriter James Arthur, Mahalia, 27-year-old singer Sam Fender and Irish post-punk band Fontaines DC. All artists involved in the ‘Revive Live’ scheme will be working alongside Music Venue Trust and the National Lottery. Both organisations founded the campaign to bring back lost revenue and to support new artists, musicians and the nation’s live music scene.

The National Lottery injected a sizeable donation of £1 million into the scheme which will cover all touring and production costs occurred during the tour and further events. The donation also means that with upfront costs already paid, the grassroots live music industry can start promoting and producing tours and live shows. Along with the donation to the scheme, the organisation is also offering 30,000 tickets for lottery and scratchcard players to win. The 30,000 tickets up to win will make up half of the tickets available, the other half will be on sale to the public.

Nigel Railton, the Chief Executive of National Lottery, part of the Camelot Group has spoken on the organisation’s excitement to be working with the Music Venue Trust within the scheme. “The National Lottery is very excited to be working with Music Venue Trust in what we believe is a truly ground-breaking initiative. The last year has been incredibly challenging for many industries and we hope The National Lottery’s Revive Live Tour will help kick start the return of grassroots live music. With every ticket having a built in plus-one, we hope The National Lottery can bring friends back together this summer to once again share the experiences we’ve all missed, while thanking players for the amazing things they make happen just by buying a ticket.”

Sir Tom Jones will be performing for a limited audience of 800 at one of the three performance spaces within the Cambridge Junction. Ran’n’Bone Man will play for an even smaller crowd of 250 ticket holders, the gig will take place in Kent. The venue, Tunbridge Wells Forum, is famed within the county as the performance space was once a public toilet.

The ‘Sex Bomb’ singer has spoken on how proud he is to be part of the scheme and the importance of the campaign. He also talks about how grassroots venues are a key part of a new artist’s career and states the importance of support for such venues. “Musicians can record in their bedrooms, but they can’t learn to perform in public without a place to play, without that, there is no way you can communicate directly to people. It’ll be tough to hone your skills and you’ll never have the thrill of feeling their feedback. Without a grassroots music venue, the neighbourhood won’t have a place where people can come together to discover and support a new talent”. So, support your local pub, club, gym or church or wherever someone has the guts to bring in some entertainment, it makes all the difference both to budding artists and the community, I’m delighted to be able to perform a special show as part of The National Lottery’s Revive Live Tour and to be celebrating the return of live music.”

Mark Dayvd, the CEO of Music Venue Trust has also provided the following statement concerning the new campaign. “It’s so important to get artists and crew back out and working, to get our grassroots music venues back up and running, and to get friends, families and communities back together enjoying live music. Grassroots music venues play a crucial role in the development of British music, nurturing local talent, providing a platform for artists to build their careers and develop their music and their performance skills, These venues also play a vital role in the cultural and economic vibrancy of any village, town or city. The National Lottery’s Revive Live Tour is a fantastic initiative which will kickstart the return of great events across the country. We can’t wait to get started!”

The Music Venue Trust has been combating the negative effects in which COVID-19 has held over live music and the industry itself since March 2020. They aim to safely reopen all venues using various campaigns and schemes. Their most successful campaign was # Save Our Venues, which saw support and money given to help infuse revenue and business into Grassroots venues. Now with the new scheme, tour of live performances and #ReviveLive, the trust is on a mission to bring live music back.

The pressing plant in Middlesbrough is set to press 100,000 units a month, with priority given to smaller, independent artists and labels. Press On Vinyl currently have a workforce of ten, which they are looking to triple – this is great news for the area, with Covid having an impact on employment nationwide. The prospect of getting hands on with vinyl is a thrilling prospect for music fans and a start up gaining this much traction is a great sign for the industry in the UK.

Press On Vinyl’s website is showing a countdown to the official launch of the business, due to commence on May 28th. There is a great local scene that will continue to explode with the locality of Press On Vinyl.

Vinyl consumption is on the rise, with the ‘vinyl boom’ showing no signs of stopping: fans of all genres are flocking to their local independent record stores to pick up LPs and singles from their favorite artists. The last twelve months have seen bands like Fontaines DC, Sports Team and Mogwai challenge international megastars such as Bieber and Gaga for the number one spot in the album chart. This is driven by vinyl sales, fans are putting their money where their mouth is and fiercely supporting independent artists as a lack of live gigs has slashed revenue streams throughout lockdown.

Bandcamp is key to this vinyl explosion, offering artists the chance to keep 100% of revenue on the first Friday of each month. This has prompted a number of artists to produce new and exclusive vinyl pressings to improve their income. Statistics  released earlier this year showed that vinyl sales overtook CD sales for the first time in the UK since the 80’s.

It’s a truly exciting time to be a record collector, with two jam packed Record Store Day drops due, as well as exciting start ups like Press On Vinyl popping up, what more could an audiophile ask for?

Among the line-up are Fontaines D.C., with a slow, melancholic cover of The Beach Boys’ ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’. The Beach Boys sometimes have that effect where in completely the right mood they’re perfect – otherwise they’re kind of sickening. Not this cover. The last four lines, which tend to just fade into outro in the original, are haunting. You can catch a clip of it here:

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We recorded a version of “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by The Beach Boys for @deezer “Inversions”. Listen exclusively on Deezer.

A post shared by Fontaines D.C. (@fontainesband) on Oct 6, 2020 at 2:48am PDT

This is what they had to say about it: “Covering a Beach Boys song has always been a scary thing considering the genius arrangements, their playing, their harmonies, everything about it … So ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ we saw this kind of naive perspective towards love and marriage in the lyrics, and we were quite curious to see what would happen when you contrasted that approach with a darker musical palette. So we kind of slowed down the tempo and created a draggier tune for those lyrics to sit on top of.” 

A cover is an art form, there’s no doubt about that, and it’s always struck me as a great way to really get to know a band. What Fontaines D.C. say above, for example, shows just how much they understand their industry, and their craft. Perhaps Deezer picked the line-up for InVersions for exactly this reason.

InVersions also presents Arlo Parks’ first song in French: ‘Ta Reine’ by Angèle. Parks explains why this is so special: “I picked ‘Ta Reine’ by Angèle because I find her voice completely mesmerising and soft, and I feel like the topic the song discusses is very important. I’ve always wanted to sing in French since my mum is French and I’m generally just enthralled by this song and her delivery. I hope I can do it justice.” 

Really there is nothing to distinguish one moment from another – all of these covers are spectacular. For me, other honourable mentions go towards Alfie Templeman’s ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’, which retains the feel of the original while simultaneously softening everything. It perfectly suits the style that Templeman is really making his own.

Likewise, Orla Gartland’s ‘Nothing Compares to You’ is ambitious – intriguingly, her powerful voice seems to be set against a Radiohead-inspired, subtly electronic take on the melody. When the music falls away for the final refrain, Gartland shows nothing but pure talent.

Robyn we frikin love u @robynkonichiwa & this gem of a song so we made our own version of dancing on my own for @deezer listen here : https://t.co/esJwBHkW6b pic.twitter.com/rh80Xt84P4

— Dream Wife (@DreamWifeMusic) October 6, 2020

But, for me, Dream Wife’s ‘Dancing On My Own’ steals the show. It has all the chills of the first time you heard it. It absolutely puts a spotlight on why we all unexpectedly fell in love with Robyn in 2010. This is not because it’s a carbon copy, though; Dream Wife retain all of the best of Robyn’s original, while giving it a spin of their own. If you listen closely, you catch an endearing whisper of “in a galaxy far far far away” just before the bridge.

InVersions could not be more exciting as a music project, but it also feels like a positive force in these bleak times for the music industry. Nigel Harding, who is Deezer’s VP of Global Artist Marketing, explained the thinking behind InVersions. “We all know the music community has been hit hard by the pandemic, especially Indie artists who rely on live gigs. During this tough time, we wanted to do our part and offer support to Indie and Alternative artists with our new Inversions album … I’d love for music fans from all over the world to discover some new favourites on our InVersions album.”

You can stream it here.

Singer/songwriter and guitarist, Anna Calvi has been nominated for her third album, Hunter. She joins the likes of Amy Winehouse and Wolf Alice for having had all of her studio albums nominated for the award. Foals receive their third nomination for their fifth album, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 1 and The 1975 try their luck for the second time for A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships.

With the U.K having a deep history with the genre, Punk leads the pack with the most nominations. Welsh musician Cate Le Bon is nominated for her fifth album, Reward and the Bristol based band Idels for their second album, Joy as an Act of Resistance. Irish band Fontaines D.C. and London’s Black MIDI both receive nominations for their debuts, Dogrel and Schlagenheim respectively.

Representing British hip-hop Little Simz’ Grey Area, Slowthai’s Nothing Great About Britain and Dave’s critically acclaimed debut, PSYCHODRAMA have all been nominated. With national bookmakers currently giving PSYCHODRAMA as the favourite to win.

In alternative genres, London-based ‘wonky funk’ pioneer, Nao is nominated for her second studio album, Saturn whilst the 10-piece jazz collective, SEED Ensemble receive a nomination for their debut, Driftglass.

To assist with this year’s nominations, five new judges from various creative fields were added to the panel. BBC Radio 1 presenter and DJ, Annie Mac, VICE editorial director, Tshepo Mokoena and British singer/songwriters, Gaz Coombes, Jorja Smith and Stormzy joined the remaining seven judges to pick the best albums of the year.

The Mercury Prize Nominees are as follows:

Anna Calvi – Hunter

Black Midi – Schlagenheim

Cate Le Bon – Reward

Dave – Psychodrama

Foals – Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 1

Fontaines D.C. – Dogrel

Idles – Joy as an Act of Resistance

Little Simz – Grey Area

Nao – Saturn

Seed Ensemble – Driftglass

Slowthai – Nothing Great About Britain

The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships

The band, who are currently at the end of their eight-date spring tour of the UK and are scheduled to play, the Garage, in London tonight (April 17), and have added even more dates to their UK for 2020. It has now been revealed that Fontaines DC will also perform in Newcastle and Nottingham, next January. Following tonight’s show at The Garage, the band will conclude their Spring-run of shows, at Haunt, in Brighton, tomorrow (April 18).

Speaking of the band’s live shows, Fontaines D.C. frontman Grian Chatten, said: “There is a truth there. It’s an invisible truth, between us and the crowd.” Meanwhile, speaking to NME, about the current music scene, frontman Chatten said: “The world is in disarray in a way that it hasn’t been before. It’s more confusing than it was before – there’s just a huge lack of trust in any form of media or narrative voice. No one really believes anything, and what we’re having to do is form some kind of truth for ourselves. I think that anger [in modern guitar music] is just confusion, in a way.”

The band are set to have one of the biggest ad busiest year’s with the release of their debut album, ‘Dogrel’, their April UK tour, which they will follow up with a tour of North America, supporting IDLES, on their tour. That’s all before hitting the road again, in November, for an extensive UK tour.

The announcement of the additional dates comes as Fontaines DC, made up of frontman Grian Chatten; Conor Deegan III; Carlos O’Connell; Conor Curley; and Tom Col, debut album, ‘Dogrel’, is currently sitting at number five in the UK Albums Chart. An official release describes the album, ‘Dogrel’ as, “a debut which is best enjoyed as a whole; it is very much in the grand tradition of the album as art form, just as this is a band very much in the classic band mold: great singles, an indefatigable work ethic and an utter aversion to standing still.”