Next Monday 9th June, Live at the Marquee Cork 2014 kicks off good and proper with a record breaking 22 shows until 15th July.
This year marks 10 years of Live at the Marquee, a festival that has consistently boasted some of the most eclectic line- ups of recent years and which has seen many of the biggest names in music perform each summer since 2005: everyone from Nick Cave to Kanye West, from Lady Gaga to Brian Wilson, who plays on- wait for it- on 4th July.
Due to support Morrissey at his 21st June gig at New York's Barclays Centre (yes, you read that right), Cliff Richard kicks off the programme with a sold out show on Monday 9th June.
Another surprise Morrissey support act, who played with the Manchester misanthrope on last May the Los Angeles Sports Arena, is Tom Jones, performing on 19th June, mixing it up, no doubt, with classics such as 'It's Not Unusual', 'Delilah' and 'She's a Lady', as well as cuts from 2010's Praise and Blame and 2012's Spirit in the Room- both of which were produced by Ethan Johns, who has worked Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon and Paolo Nutini, who’s Tues 8th July show sold out so fast that an extra date for Wed 9th July has been added due to demand.
American Greats
Country Music Hall of Famer Dolly Parton should have no problem following Sir Cliff on 12th June, her seemingly endless list of hits of songs that everyone from you to your Mum and Dad and your granny and grandad and your next door neighbours know.
The '9 to 5' and 'Jolene' singer- songwriter, 68, who has composed over 3,000 songs, least of which is the 'I Will Always Love You' (the Whitney Houston version being a hit in almost every corner of the world on its release) is an American great.
And speaking of American greats: Bob Dylan and his cowboy band are back in town. Dylan, who previously played the festival in 2006 and again in 2011, kicks off the European leg of his Never Ending tour on 16th June, Live at the Marquee. Recent setlists have seen Dylan play fan favorites as well as draw heavily from 2012's excellent Tempest. A cover of Frank Sinatra's 1945 hit 'Full Moon and Empty Arms' was recently released through Dylan’s site and an album from the 72 year old songwriting genius is due later this year. The plot, as always with Dylan, thickens.
Having just released A Letter Home, an album of cover versions co- produced with Jack White and recorded in a refurbished 1947 Voice-o-Graph vinyl recording booth at White's Third Man record store in Nashville, Tennessee, Neil Young shows no signs of slowing down. The Canadian musician, 68, will take to the stage at the Marquee in Cork with Crazy Horse, with whom he released two albums- Americana and Psychedelic Pill- during 2012.
'Summer of ‘69' hitmaker Bryan Adams, Young's fellow Canadian, dusts off his plethora of hits from the 80’s and 90’s for a sold out show on 28th of June.
When not answering 12 questions every hour of every day about a possible Led Zeppelin reunion- not helped by the recent and excellent Led Zep reissues of the band's first three albums- Robert Plant sings with his band The Sensational Space Shifters, who play Live at the Marquee on 25th of June.
Busy on promotional duties with Tribal, described by the Guardian as fresh, ferocious rockabilly that feels alive and compelling, Imelda May plays on the 21st of June. Closing the festival on the 15th of July with a sold out show is Lana Del Rey, whose eagerly awaited new album, produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, promises to be one of the year’s best.
And if there aren't enough distortion pedals and crashing drums in any of the aforementioned, comeback kings and godfathers of alternative rock Pixies play a sold out show Live at the Marquee on 30th of June. The Boston band, who seemed to ooze great songs in the 1980's, influencing everyone from Nirvana to Arctic Monkeys, released Indie Cindy, their first studio album of new songs in 13 years, last April.
Two bands who certainly drank from the same wellspring as many of Pixies successors are Biffy Clyro and The National. Biffy Clyro's loyal fanbase will no doubt flock to their 27th June gig at the Marquee, as will that of The National, who are still touring 2013's excellent Trouble Will Find Me as well as tunes from their excellent back catalogue, most notably 2005's Alligator, 2007's Boxer, and 2010's High Violet at their 14 July gig.
Bringing it all a step further, of course, are The Prodigy, who play Live at the Marquee on the 2nd of July. Undoubtedly one of the best live acts of the 90's, Liam Howlett & Co. will, perhaps, draw from their forthcoming sixth album, tentatively titled How to Steal a Jet Fighter, as well as hits from era defining records Music for the Jilted Generation and The Fat of the Land.
Bringing it all back home, though, is Christy Moore. Having played every Live at the Marquee gig since the festival’s inception, Christy is to Live at the Marquee what Billy Bragg is to Glastonbury: a permanent fixture and one who, perhaps, personifies the spirit of the fesetival.
Live at the Marquee's record breaking 22 shows run from Monday 9th June to Tuesday 15th July.
