Confidence Man, The National, trad sounds, singalongs: Nine talking points from All Together Now
All Together Now 2024: Confidence Man, Natasha Bedingfield, fans enjoying the music.
It must be the Glastonbury effect, or maybe simply ensuring they can be easily found by friends, but while Palestinian flags were flown by the wide-ranging crowds over the weekend, there were also plenty of other items waved about on a stick: A lit-up Bosco, a spinning duck, lamp shades, and various other paraphernalia. An interesting, unexpected sight.
With Lankum earning worldwide renown, we’re very much in a golden era for trad music and that was evident in the lineup at All Together Now. Lankum’s peer John Francis Flynn plays to a packed tent on Sunday evening, while the day before, the relatively new, 11-piece, all-female band Biird show off their country and western take on proceedings. There are trad raves and céilí across the bill plus the Mary Wallopers earning a prominent main stage outing. The Scratch, who sound like a doom-metal Horslips, are something else entirely.
We’re not quite sure of all the ingredients necessary to make a perfect festival band, but the Australian four-piece Confidence Man might be as close as we get. Theirs is a mix of Venga Boys-esque beats David Guetta highs, with lyrics about being a “cool party girl in a cool party world” and just seeking a good time; new song ‘So What’ features the refrain: “Slap myself awake, come on, come on!” They’re led by Janet Planet and Sugar Bones, who both look incredible, flipping, hand-standing, and high-kicking their way through a sensational set on Friday night in front of a heaving crowd.
Having a good time is the order of the weekend, with a lot of singalongs guaranteed. Of course that’s the name of the game at Sing Along Social, which is a fixture at all kinds of festivals across the weekend but takes to the main stage on Saturday afternoon. You could try to resist, but their karaoke-en-masse of Ronan Keating, Riverdance, and Shania Twain will get you in the end, with dozens of Craic Mechanics, drag queens, and line dancers on stage by the end. On Sunday, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra had the help of the likes of Spider Stacey and Susan O’Neill to help them through a set paying tribute to the music of Shane McGowan, Christy Dignam, and Sinéad O’Connor. Following them, the Wailers put on a sensational hour of hits, on the 40th anniversary of Bob Marley’s Legend.
If it’s fun you were after, the Kabin Crew and Lisdoonvarna Crew at the Belonging Bandstand on Saturday had everybody smiling ear to ear for their hour-long set. They’ve made one of the songs of the summer in ‘The Spark’. Their penultimate track here, it’s sheer, unadulterated joy. With the Kabin head honcho GMC egging them on, the youngsters who rap their way through self-penned tunes of self-love and self-belief, as well as pride of place, look like stars of the future.
They’re the biggest names on the poster and while Jorja Smith, the National, and the Prodigy may not be the most exciting acts we can think of, they know how to put on a show. Matt Berninger, in particular, has the art of being a frontman down to a tee, heading into the front rows of the National’s devout crowd within the first 30 minutes of their two-hour set. Roisin Murphy was a late scratch from the bill, pulling out of her Saturday night show due to illness, which left a hole that King Kong Company tried to fill.
The bespoke Arcadia and new Immerse by AVA stage look and sound amazing, filled with banging techno over the weekend. Around midnight each night, it felt like that was all you could find find, with a couple of housier acts like Gorgon City on offer and Donal Dineen and pals holding it down until who knows when at the Cambium Club. We know there were a couple of bands playing late into the night too, but a few more wouldn’t go amiss.
On Saturday evening, you could find Gemma Dunleavy at the Lovely Days stage, Kojaque in the Something Kind of Wonderful tent, and the Mary Wallopers having fun on the main stage. All playing at the same time, it’s a sign of how many great Irish acts we have to choose from at the moment. On Sunday, Sprints, who have won acclaim around the world this year, blow the minds of thousands while NewDad show they’re one of the hottest names in one of the hottest genres (shoegaze). Cork’s Cardinals were on early on Friday, but look primed for a similar rise.
There were weather warnings and so much mud at All Together Now in 2023, and even though it’s a glorious week of weather heading into the weekend, organisers again didn’t have the sun gods shining on them. Thankfully the sprawling site - we clocked up over 28,000 steps a day - held up a lot better than last year.
