This year’s edition of the Liverpool Irish Festival boasts some of the regions most-lauded up-and-comers and a special Gaelic Halloween gig in the Palm House.
This Autumn sees the 12th edition of the annual Liverpool Irish Festival, and with it a welcome stray away from the traditional approach to it’s musical contingent.
Though various pubs including Peter Kavanagh’s and Kelly’s Dispensary will still be holding their fair share of Irish folk events, and Leo and Anto of The Saw Doctors and The Waterboys will be playing a two-hour acoustic set at St Michael’s Irish Centre, this year’s highlights are all about Ireland’s impressive new breed.
On October 29, The Static Gallery hosts punk-poet and performer Jinx Lennon, and multi-instrumentalist and virtuoso drummer Rarely Seen Above Ground. The former is one of Ireland’s most uncompromising folk artists, while the latter is pushing all manner of boundaries with an intense blend of rhythmic rapture.
Later that week on October 31, Sefton Park’s Palm House is hosting a special gig to celebrate Samhain, the ancient Gaelic ceremony to which Halloween traces it’s roots. Instrumental hip-hop artist SertOne and electronic producer Boxcutter have already been confirmed for the gig, which is set to be an atmospheric affair.
Meanwhile a contemporary take on Irish folk is still on offer – acclaimed folk outfits Moxie and We Banjo 3 are both set for gigs at St. George’s Hall, on October 23 and 30 respectively. Irish ‘supergroup’ The Gloaming also play on November 2.
