As the Irish festival season draws to a close after last weekend's Electric Picnic, photos of rain, mud and festival frolics take me back to a few weeks ago when Cave Ghosts played Castlepalooza. I kept a ‘behind the scenes’ diary of our festival adventures at the time, which I thought might be fun to share. We were kept pretty busy; squeezing in a show, two acoustic sessions, four interviews and about a thousand beers in one short weekend. We’re still recovering. If you ever wondered what it’s like to play an Irish festival, you’re about to find out. Enjoy!

Words by Jen Connell

Photo: Ruth Medjber

SATURDAY

Summer festival, they said.. it’ll be sunny, they said. Now, we’re all aware that Irish summers are unreliable at best, but even the most sensible of festival-goers were not prepared for the incessant rain at Castlepalooza. However, it did mean we were met by pretty cool B-movie style mud monsters on our arrival. Remembering we had somehow had the sense to rent a house for the weekend, we secretly high-fived each other and continued on to the house.

Back at the ranch, we stockpiled our supplies of beer and bacon for the weekend. Our doorbell rang and we greeted and were promptly hugged by probably two of the nicest people we’ve ever met. Yes, you’ve guessed it, they’re Canadian! The lovely Candace and Lorne Webber of Calgary’s Stampede City Sessions were kind enough to call in to us and film an acoustic version of “When You Go Away”; as you can see in the video below, we totally nailed that couch symmetry. They also gave us an awesome Canadian flag tray, which we plan to use for pizza (obviously).

Our next stop was at the festival for yet another acoustic session, this time with AerTV & Vodafone Black Cab Sessions. After “taking shelter” under a tree branch, we were thoroughly soaked by the time the black cab came to collect us. We ooh’d and aah’d our way through an acoustic rendition of ‘All My Life’, all the while bombing it through the forest to the castle. Pretty dramatic really.

Charleville Castle. Without a doubt one of the most magical places we’ve ever been. The beautiful architecture.. yada yada.. but, is there anything more enchanting than a feast of free beer, cupcakes and chips enjoyed under giant crystal chandeliers? We felt incredibly fancy. The not-getting-wet part was also really sweet. We hung around until our interview with AerTV where we giggled our way through inevitable questions about the weather and our gig the following day.

Cave Ghosts on AerTV.ie

The rest of the night was spent sourcing corndogs and avoiding the rain as much as possible. We managed to catch O Emperor on the main stage, who were amazing as always. Rory from Bantum informed us of his Prince set in the castle so we finished the night off by busting a move to some awesome 80s cheese.

SUNDAY

It was like Christmas morning when we woke up and realised it had dried up a bit. After an insanely massive breakfast, we backcombed, applied lipstick, grabbed instruments and pulled our muddy boots back on and headed back to the festival. We unloaded the gear and managed to catch some of Little Xs for Eyes’ set as we nervously awaited our turn on the main stage.

Aoife backstage with her Diana F+

The gig itself was surreal. Firstly, it was amazing to get the opportunity to play a gig overlooking a medieval castle. Then there was the unexpected miracle of the clouds parting as we took to the stage. The sun must have lifted everyone’s spirits because the vibe of the crowd was incredible. We did have one casualty however *bows head*. My poor 60s organ gave up mid-set which meant we had to make some last minute changes, but I’m happy to say she’s in synth hospital where she’s expected to make a full recovery. The organ excitement (that’s what she said) also meant we got to play a few of the songs including ‘Hideaway’ with the ukulele, which was really fun. Overall, the show was ridiculously fun and we can’t wait to come back next year.

Backstage after our set at Castlepalooza

We hung around the main stage area and saw Land Lovers and Sisters do that thing they do. After watching Carriages’ fine set inside the castle, we decided to brave the mud and waded our way to the Metro Herald Tent to catch Enemies, followed by Tvvins. Brilliant stuff to round off the festival; we were really impressed by both bands! All in all, we had a fantastic weekend. Castlepalooza could just be our favourite festival, let’s hope the weather is a little better next year.

Oh HAY, Tullamore!

And what’s on the agenda for Cave Ghosts in the future, I hear you ask? Well we are currently working on songs for our debut album which will be released in 2015 and planning our first UK tour for next year which will include Wales Goes Pop Festival in Cardiff. Which we are very excited about. There are also some other top secret projects that we are working on which we can’t share with you yet, but keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter and Instagram so you’re kept up to date! And in the meantime enjoy our latest music video, a cover of Kylie Minogue’s ‘Come Into My World’.

 - Jen, Cave Ghosts x

 

Header image by Ruth Guest