We sat down with well-known Wexford musicians who will be taking to the stage on the Gig Rig this week as part of the Fleadh Cheoil…
The 2024 Fleadh Cheoil is well underway and going down a storm in its host town of Wexford. Ireland’s biggest traditional music festival boasts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, with approximately 600,000 people attending last year’s Fleadh in Mullingar. This year’s Fleadh is making Wexford history as it is the first year that Wexford Town has hosted the festival since its inception in 1951.
As part of this week’s celebrations, music can be found on any and every street corner in Wexford Town. Pubs and pop-up bars all over town are hosting some of the very best of what Wexford’s music scene has to offer. But perhaps the most sought-after venue of all is the iconic Gig Rig which has been the center stage of many Fleadhs gone by.
The monumental stage has been set up on Wexford quay where it has been attracting capacity crowds eager to soak in the music and entertainment. Ever since the Fleadh Cheoil was announced for Wexford Town, spots on the Gig Rig have been highly sought after with applications opening earlier this year in March.
This week we had a chance to speak with Chris Berry, Paul Doyle and Paul ‘Spooner’ Cullen who will be taking their spot on the Gig Rig this Friday August 9th at 10pm with bandmates Andrew Berry and Evan Butler for a much-anticipated show.
How did this opportunity come about?
Chris Berry: “It was a whole application process. I think I saw that George Lawlor posted it on Facebook. So, I just sent in the application and here we are. It was originally supposed to be me and a band, but I didn’t have a band, so I created a band about three weeks ago. And now we’re good to go.”
Are the nerves running high?
Paul Doyle: “You will get nerves. Nerves are essential. Nerves mean that you give a damn. If you see a fella without nerves, I think it’s off-putting.”
Spooner: “I’m excited at the moment but nerves will kick in closer to the time, I’m sure.”
Apart from the Gig Rig, where are you most looking forward to playing during the Fleadh?
Spooner: “The Coal Bunker as The Kilkennys are on the same night (as us). There should be a few around for that.”
What can the audience expect from your performance?
Paul Doyle: “I’m not gonna divulge the playlist but there’ll be a few rock songs. We’ll be doing some Celtic versions of popular songs. Everything will be either an Irish artist or an Irish writer. If you blend (Irish instruments) well with other music, it sounds absolutely lovely.”
The interview closed with a meaningful message from Chris Berry about what the Fleadh means to them.
“You’ve got the RTÉ cameras and the TG4 cameras coming so there’s no better opportunity to get yourself seen. That’s why we’ve put so much work into it to make sure that we’re as close to perfection as we can be. When all eyes are on you, you’ve gotta put on a show. We owe it to the people for asking us to play at the festival. We owe it to them to give the best show we can give and that’s exactly what we plan on doing.”
Luke Bradley
Luke is a student and a lover of all things Wexford. His favourite topics include Wexford history, entertainment and local events
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