10 talking points from the world of Arts & Culture in 2022
Talking points
Ed Sheeran was the first major star to tour Ireland in the post-Covid era, the concerts in Dublin, Cork and Limerick served a reminder of the joys of live music. Sheeran’s circular stage was also a welcome innovation for stadium gigs, allowing more people to get closer to the action than the conventional set-up. Other live highlights of the year included hip-hop’s man of the moment Kendrick Lamar at 3Arena; Nick Cave at All Together Now; a rainswept Electric Picnic; and a rejuvenated Guinness Cork Jazz Festival.
Of course, one of the main gripes through the year was the price of attending concerts, even if ticket prices in Ireland are more on par with other countries than some realise. It’s a particular bugbear for anyone from outside of Dublin travelling in for the big gig, as the spiralling costs of hotel rooms in the capital add another hefty chunk to the budget.
If Vladimir Putin ever had Monaghan in his sights, he probably missed a trick by not invading in the week from September 9. About a sixth of the Drumlin County’s population were estimated to have bought tickets for Garth Brooks’ shows in Dublin, part of an incredible 400,000 people who signed up to see the American star over five gigs at Croke Park. Those who did attend seemed delighted with what they saw, as Brooks belted out his hits such as ‘Friends in Low Places’, and also performed covers from the likes of Queen, Don McLean and Bob Dylan. For the American star, as well as fans and organisers, it was the ideal way to banish memories of the 2014 debacle.
Cue millions of knowing nods from parents around the world as their hip kids suddenly started raving about the brilliance of Kate Bush. The inclusion of the British star’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ as an integral part of Netflix series sparked a huge revival of interest in her music. And yes, many of those tracks stand the test of time. Another surprise soundtrack inclusion during the year was the presence of a tune from Rory Gallagher’s Taste in Sky series Irma Vep.
Two of the most eagerly awaited TV series of the year were Game of Thrones’ prequel, ; and the incredibly expensive . In a year when TV seemed to struggle with a post-Covid hangover, surely both of those would provide plenty of entertainment. Afraid not. George RR Martin’s creation did at least split opinion, and it was definitely better than the final series of its predecessor, but we still expected more from a show that particularly plodded in its early episodes. As for the JRR Tolkien adaptation, there really are better things you could do with a billion dollars. It’s not a good sign that the main talking point was the awful Oirish accents of Lenny Henry and co as the Harfoot Hobbits.
If you ask Cork people of a certain vintage about their best ever theatre experience, many will mention Disco Pigs in the early 1990s. Playwright Enda Walsh and director Pat Kiernan cast Eileen Walsh and Cillian Murphy in their breakthrough roles for a piece that also helped establish Corcadorca as one of the country’s leading companies. Unfortunately, in October, the Cork theatre-makers brought the curtain down after 31 years. No particular reason was given, but it felt like the principals had just reached the end of the road in terms of the constant cycle of creative renewal, and increasingly burdensome administration behind the scenes. It’s a huge loss to Leeside, but hopefully, others will pick up the mantle and prove that you don’t have to be part of the Dublin scene to produce great work.
Perhaps 2022 marked the highpoint of celebrity culture, and next year we’ll all stick to stories on economics and impending environmental catastrophe. As if. In May, apparently the entire world was divided into Team Amber and Team Johnny for the televised defamation proceedings between Heard and Depp. In July, we were grabbing the popcorn again for Rebekah Vardy v Coleen Rooney, brilliantly billed as ‘Wagatha Christie’. And just when you thought the year couldn’t offer up any more voyeuristic fun, Meghan and Harry dished the dirt on their fellow royals in a two-part Netflix series. Climate change is just so lame in comparison.
There was always a feeling among those who encountered Cathal Coughlan that he should have been a bigger star. But then again, the Microdisney singer who passed away in May, was never one to do things the conventional way. Since emerging from Cork’s music scene in the early 1980s, the hugely-talented Glounthaune man retained his air of punkish irreverence through Fatima Mansions and the numerous other musical projects he was involved in up until his death at the age of 61. A flurry of activity in recent years had seen Coughlan reform Microdisney with Sean O’Hagan, as well as getting involved in Teilifís, a quirky collaboration with uber-producer Garrett ‘Jacknife’ Lee that gave us fine two albums in 2022.
Inevitably, it was quite a year for the deaths of other music stars, with the likes of Coolio, Meat Loaf and Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie also departing this mortal coil. Terry Hall of The Specials was a late entry to the RIP list, with tributes pouring in for the Coventry-born singer who fronted one of the best ever British bands. From the acting world, Angela Lansbury’s death at 96 brought plenty warm tributes from Ireland, where she had resided for many years. Lansbury had moved to Conna, Co Cork in the early 1970s to get away from California, where her son had developed a drug habit, and her daughter had fallen in with the Manson family.
One of the silver linings of the Covid pandemic was the efforts it sparked among people involved in culture and entertainment in Ireland to get organised to prevent the sector’s total decimation. This networking and lobbying coincided with the presence of a progressive minister, Catherine Martin, in the relevant department, and one of the outcomes has been the trialling of the Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) pilot scheme. A total of 2,000 artists and creative arts workers are now being paid €325 a week. The scheme increases the chances of retaining people in a sector that had an exodus to steadier jobs during the Covid era, and also guarantees them at least some level of income for work that that often has far more value than the profit it might generate.
And finally, would you like to hear what I had for breakfast? Too boring. Perhaps you fancy seeing my holiday snaps? Yawn. But of course you’ll be enthralled to see how I got on in a daily word puzzle. Wordle became the new wild swimming in 2022. If you did it, you had to share it on social media. In fairness, the early-year craze was an addictively simple concept developed by Josh Wardle. Each day, you had six attempts to guess a five-letter word. Within a couple of months the Welsh software developer had reaped the benefits of the idea when the paid him a seven-figure sum for the puzzle.
