Full-time venue would be music to my ears

ALL Corkonians are quick to boast Cork is the best place in the world (it really is!).

The Dubs are then quick to put us down by calling us boggers, etc. but in fairness when it comes to festivals, we really know how to kick butt, to be honest.

Just take a look at Live At The Marquee. We got Sting, The Boomtown Rats, The Coronas, Passenger, Olly Murs, Little Mix and Elton John, and in previous years we had the likes of Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Anastacia, Bob Dylan, Christy Moore — do I need to continue?

This has raised a very simple, yet complex question, do we need a permanent concert venue? Do we need, like, a miniature O2?

To be honest, we probably could do with it for very simple reasons: money, tourism, boost the local economy and so on. But should we fix something that really ain’t broke?

We know the Marquee is ridiculously successful: it has been running since 2005 and has attracted 750,000 people.

As a 17-year-old, when my favourite bands announce gigs and all I see is ‘Dublin, O2’, a part of me genuinely dies.

What? A three-hour journey to Dublin for a concert that is over at 10.3pm?

And what really kills the buzz is the idea of battling the Dublin traffic, which could add an hour to your journey before or after the gig. Realistically, I wouldn’t actually be home until about 2am then.

So I’m really grateful we have a wonderful summer festival thing going on here. But I think it’s time places like Cork, or even Donegal or Galway, got a proper concert venue that could potentially challenge the O2. Imagine the beauty of being home at a reasonable time? Of being able to get up to go to work energised, simply because you were in bed before dawn.

Back to Live At The Marquee and its massive success. I really do think Cork is well able to throw a party. Not wanted to sound overly smug, but it is a well-known fact that artists enjoy the Marquee. The Coronas admitted they love the intimacy of playing in a marquee venue, while Brian Wilson said he loved how he could wander around for a drink and stuff, before and after his performance.

For now, though, I’m really excited about the potential acts Live At The Marquee could attract in the future and, more notably, I’m very excited about the plans for a compilation album.

Already, I’m looking forward to next year’s line-up.