All kinds of wonderful at All Together Now
- Dermot Keyes
- Aug 8
- 5 min read
An additional evening’s entertainment, combined with a terrific line-up, revised layout and welcomingly benign weather made this year’s All Together Now (ATN) festival the best edition yet.
Over four nights, 30,000 fans did their utmost to take in the all kinds of wonderful that ATN has become synonymous in offering.
From world-renowned international acts to Ireland’s industry standard bearers and so much more in between, this sixth ‘chapter’ at Curraghmore Estate demonstrated that festival organisers have wholeheartedly committed themselves to raising the bar every August. Everything just felt a few feet higher than the previous heights this festival has attained, delivering a weekend in which the feel-good factor proved unrelenting.
This year’s multi-genre line-up was undoubtedly the strongest yet, with Fontaines D.C. going down a treat with their ever deepening fanbase on Friday night.
Draped in all black, frontman Grian Chatten – not one for small talk with the audience – led the enthused masses, many wearing Bohemians FC jerseys emblazoned with the band’s name, towards the midnight hour.
On Saturday evening, one suspects the glorious Afrobeat of Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 may not have been widely known to many on their picnic blankets when settling in for an hour of soul restoring, saxophone-led tunes.
But by the end of their set, during which the frontman revealed that a baritone saxophone of his had been ‘misplaced’ by Aer Lingus in transit, many who were sitting at the outset of the gig were on their feet, energised, swaying and cheering for more.
While on the topic of energy, the Boomtown Rats were clearly running on something extraordinary during their ground-shaking set in a heaving ‘Something Kind of Wonderful’ tent on Sunday afternoon.
Marking the 50th anniversary of their first gig, held in the Bolton Street College of Technology as the ‘Nightlife Thugs’, the band fronted by Bob Geldof put acts half their age to shame such was the electricity they generated.
Having performed in Germany 24 hours previously, the ‘Rats’ powered through an incredible set of both classic and newer tracks and, led by Geldof, theatrically engaged their audience. Kicking off with ‘Rat Trap’, a superb version of ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ paused to remember the victims of the ongoing devastation in Gaza, a theme of the weekend which was refrained by other artists, including Fontaines D.C. and Bob Vylan.
The latter act, which was subjected to heavy media criticism and several festival cancellations following their berating of the Israeli Defence Forces during their Glastonbury set, thanked the ATN promoters for “having a fucking backbone”.
The punk-rap duo declared: “They could have very really removed us like a couple of festivals did but they didn’t, they stood firm with us and we appreciate that massively.”
Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, more widely known to her devoted masses as CMAT, delivered a comedically laced, fun-filled set on Saturday night, packing giggles galore into an 11-track, 70-plus minute show.
Labelling her group as “the greatest Irish country rock and roll band,” between cries of “Up The Déise”, CMAT left everything on stage, injecting adrenaline into every number, including new single, ‘Euro-country’.
She even took time to jump into the mosh pit during ‘Stay for Something’, firmly established as her live act’s closing number. CMAT’s sense of fun and lack of pretention is undeniable and headier heights surely await her and her self-declared ‘sexy’ band.
A few hours previously, in the company of the Leonard Cohen-like Adrian Crowley, Booker Prize winning author Paul Lynch took his audience through the life-altering impact of that success while interviewed by the enchanting Peter Murphy.
During a 50-minute discourse which digested as well as the culinary fineries delivered in the tent directly opposite the corner occupied by ‘All Curious Minds’, Lynch and Murphy luxuriated us in the balm of their dialogue.
The ‘Prophet Song’ author thanked those present for joining them “because you’re all here to hear music and now you’re stuck in a tent with a writer!”
When asked why he writes, Lynch commented: “I’m going to use a word that’s misunderstood but for me, writing is spiritual – it’s an encounter with meaning. I write because I don’t understand anything in this thing we call life. Writing is a form of sitting down and crafting sentences that if you’re lucky, take on the shape of a character that if you’re lucky becomes an artistic symbol that you can derive meaning from and that you can start to understand things from. This is the solace of writing and reading…
“When you think about what mathematicians and physicists do, they write these equations in the abstract that are true about things in the world – we don’t see them but we know they’re true. The really great writers do the same thing: they’re writing equations of human truth.”
Be it the repositioned (and literally fire-breathing) Arcadia dance/techno hub to the delightful discovery of Grafton Street performer Tilly Cripwell while the Sunday night rain beaded off the Hidden Sounds canvas, ATN left me wanting more.
From music to comedy, from commentary to story-telling, this festival has matured into something truly special; a cultural sensory overload which underlines both the value of all-out fun and an intellectual exchange. All this, in one of the most beautiful locations on this island. Who could ask for anything more?
The Seanchoíche tent, in the shadow of Curraghmore House, draws dozens of storytellers and hundreds of spectators together for a reminder of what entertained previous generations long before summer festivals were ever on our radar. Its simplicity is its beauty. Amidst the beautiful sound and fury of ATN, it’s been very consoling to see this delightful event develop its own dynamism and win back returning audiences year after year. Long may it reign.
Sitting in the Bandstand Arena green on Sunday evening, enjoying a bite to eat while Fizzy Orange belted out some Thin Lizzy covers, a man walked past in a tee-shirt featuring a lyric from Pulp’s ‘Farmers Market’.
To the final strains of ‘Whiskey In The Jar’, the six words emblazoned across that punter’s top hit me like a fresh breeze on a clifftop. ‘Ain’t it time we started living?’
Right then, in a place I’ve known and loved for over 40 years, surrounded by good music and happy people, it wasn’t so much a case of life starting but there was a definite sense of being conscious of that singular, content moment.
On the drive home, as Sunday drifted into Monday, with the ATN playlist pumping through the car’s sound system (led by the brilliant Nelly Furtado), the many joyful moments of a joyous weekend came up in conversation.
Be it the variety of on-stage talent to the chance meetings, surveying Curraghmore’s timeless beauty all while trying to take in as much of the festival as much as any note taker can, All Together Now reached new heights. Just imagine the memories we’ll get to make again 12 months from now? Now there’s a thought. #ATN25
Many thanks to Stef Edwards and her Culture Pop! Team for another amazing ATN!
