I know what you’re thinking: “Why are Guinness running Arthur’s Day again?” I wondered the same myself and the figures for the marketers have probably been very favourable over the past few years. *However*, I’m positive towards the event for two reasons: first of all they’ve given Irish bands a foot up through the Our Thursday’s competition last year and secondly, all of the money from the gigs goes towards the Arthur Guinness Fund which has funded a lot of social entrepreneurs around the country. Last week Guinness drew down on a further €650,000 from the fund, which was awarded to another ten Irish social entrepreneurs. The ten entrepreneurs with each of their unique projects will not only receive financial support but also professional business mentoring over the next two years. Good stuff.
We were invited along to the launch event for 2011 last week in Whelans, Dublin. Aloe Blacc, Paloma Faith, Cashier No. 9, Ryan Sheridan and Bressie all gave live performances and, as you can see, we grabbed some shots (more here). Live footage of the performances were streamed live to the Guinness Ireland Facebook page. You can see a highlights video here. Ryan Sheridan, who I hadn’t seen before, belted out a couple of tunes for us and said: “What a year… performing for President Obama in May and now for the king of the black stuff Arthur Guinness in September. Arthur’s Day was amazing last year, can’t wait to 22nd! Hoping I’ll be rocking up to one of my old haunts on the night… but for now it’s a secret. To Arthur!” Gigs in venues and pubs will take place on the 22nd September in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Belfast, with full details and tickets available from Ticketmaster on the 4th August. We’ll be around Dublin covering some of the gigs for sure.
The artist list announced included:
Scissor Sisters, Stereophonics, Paloma Faith, Aloe Blacc, Calvin Harris, Ryan Sheridan, Ash, Miles Kane, Ed Sheeran, Royseven, Cashier No. 9, Bressie (see Darragh’s interview here), Keywest, The Kanyu Tree, The Lowly Knights, A Plastic Rose
