How was it for you? The Irish Examiner's Eoghan O'Sullivan picks his 2023 cultural highlights
Eoghan O'Sullivan: CMAT and Spider-Man among his 2023 highlights
Young Fathers have been the best live band of the past few years but it’s great to see their show creeping up in size. The Olympia at the start of March, to mark the release of their brilliant album Heavy Heavy, was high octane, exemplified by Kayus Bankole climbing up to special guest Tilda Swinton in the box-seats.
It has been a joy to follow CMAT’s inexorable rise. Playing four nights at the Olympia in November/December, let’s hope the CMAT Christmas Panto becomes an annual tradition. The only question is how much bigger she is going to get.
We didn’t have much luck with the summer festivals, enduring deluges at the couple of events we attended, including the boutique (under 2,000 capacity) Another Love Story in Killyon Manor, Co Meath. But a joyous pop-heavy DJ set by Louise ‘LouBru’ Bruton (Love Story! Padam Padam! It’s Raining Men!) helped get our spirits high on Friday night and set the tone for another brilliant weekend.
I feel like everyone I’ve met since Feist’s shows at Cork Opera House and Dublin’s National Stadium have been raving about them, whether it’s musicians saying it changed the way they think about a gig or fans still in wonder at what the Canadian artist achieved.
I got to interview Ciarán Murphy for Examiner Sport around the release of his book about the GAA, This is the Life - what a treat to get to do it in the Second Captains office. Hopefully he didn’t notice me fanboying.
I loved Reach for the Stars by Michael Cragg, chronicling pop’s heady 10-year peak from 1996 to 2006. Full of ridiculous stories and Louis Walsh. Two sports books stand out, both related to the GAA: The Grass Ceiling by Eimear Ryan feels like an important book, about being a woman in sport; and Ciarán Murphy’s This is the Life is about the 99% of players who might not reach the higher levels of the GAA.
As Marvel and superheroes in general seem to be in decline, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse stands as a sensational visual achievement. The sequel to Into the Spider-Verse, it’s a tour de force, one that has me incredibly excited for how the third and final part could possibly surpass it.
The best show of recent times wrapped up this year. No, not Succession - Reservation Dogs (Disney Plus). A coming of age tale featuring four indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma, it finds them struggling to come to terms with a friend’s death, their place in community, and what to do with their lives. More emotional and funny than you could imagine.
Richie Sadlier, in his various guises, has been one of the most impressive voices in media in the last few years, cemented by the interviews on the debut season of Episode. His chat with Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley, whose son was diagnosed with leukemia in 2022, will have you holding back tears.
Rachael Lavelle released her debut album Big Dreams in November. I’ve been calling her every Irish musician’s favourite musician for a few years now - I’m glad everybody gets to savour her dreamworld now. The album of the year.
The creep of surge pricing for gigs is a worry. Like fans are being punished for their love of an act.
Galway’s NewDad are the most exciting band around right now, with debut album Madra out on January 26 and a couple shows at the Button Factory a month later. I can’t wait.
