Cheebah and all that - Limerick, Ireland

Needing the right mix

Beer company interaction with the city of Limerick provided cheebah base mickey martins with new york don Arthur Baker this bank holiday. This was a fortunate appearance as those who book music and liaise with the corporation on the choice of music acts for these weekenders, have previously been at the mercy of “who is touring england?” and what have mcd left over?. There has been little to no appperance of designing a platform that could create a diverse entertainment roster, that would appeal to locals and non nationals alike. I wonder what polish bands and djs could offer in such a situation? Rumours on the street suggest questions are beginning to be asked along these lines and a broadning of promoter parametres hould be addressed asap.

Anyway, Arthur Baker is touring at the moment and was plucked of a list given to mickeys by cheebahs “I love new york” Tarpey (well, he didn’t have to pay for it). And all was good. A big sound system in the alley and a twisted take on the new york sound of the eighties to present with some straight up rock made for it just right.

Stand outs were his own remixes of some very familiar stuff, the Beastie Boys ‘Fight for your Right’ being a stand out . In the wrong hands it could have been a big beat mess but his cd book was carefully programmed and he played with a freshness that the crowd responded to. Cheebah are claiming it as a success for their agenda of course and on finding out Arthur Bakers age Tarpey realised he has 20 years ahead of him to get it together.

SEAMUS FLANAGAN

Back in the Day

We have promised for years to start putting up some of Paul Tarpeys extensive collection of photos documenting the early days of Irish hip hop. Well we have finally started and hope to put a handful of extra ones every week. Good time as people reassess what it was all  about, interesting piece by Antrophe here.  Check the photos out here. Give props by hitting the comment button.

Shane

Sell out ?

Interesting show from last November on site pop and politics. Was hip hop more political back in the day- late 80s or is conscious rap more pervasive today? That is the question they ask. Little bit basic for my liking but some food for thought, especially for anyone who wasn't around the first time. Plus they are some sharp observations from Jeff Chang.
Ever since that decade and the wapping dispute some of us have stuck rigidly to the boycott and never given the dirty digger a penny. So it was with heavy heart that we followed the rest of the world onto myspace but at least we are not paying him anything. If you around add us. It's not all that bad.

Shane

The Reggae has arrived

On Saturday 20th May Cheebah presents Brother Culture with the Rootical Sound System in the Limerick Boat Club, Sarsfield Bridge. Brother Culture has been a feature on the british scene for over 20 years now. He has worked with many including Jah Revelation Music, Adrian Sherwood, Dreadzone and Zion Train to name just a few. He has a number of quality releases to his name, check this review from John Eden's excellent uncarved and his sound has turned up on a Mr Scruff compilation. His Limerick gig is sandwiched in between gigs in Mexico and France and the week after the boat club he will be supporting Fat Freddy's Drop in Cargo London. He will be alongside the earth shaking Rootical Sound who impressed so much at the cheebah night in Dolans last year. There will also be a number of extras on the night including visuals, more details to follow. Admission will be 7 euro. Roots reggae inna Soundsystem style.

photo of Brother Culture taken from his website
Shane

Limerick Roots and Culture

Feature article of the day on Wikipedia today is an article on the history of Limerick which says  that

"Famous visitors have included ...Che Guevara and ...Haile Selassie I of Ethopia"
Well while we covered the first before here - we have never heard of the Emperor's visit although Arthur Quinlan the retired irish Times Correspondant seems to have written about it. Either way it is as good a time as any to announce that the reggae is arriving this summer in a brand new venue for us with very exciting line ups including the excellent rootical soundsystem and international guests. Keep checking back for more details. First night will be in May.

Shane

Rootical crew stacking up the speakers on their last visit to Limerick with Cheebah in Dolans