In Bono's Country!

'On the Street'
An oil painting from 1987, the year of 'The Joshua Tree' featuring the band U2 
standing outside Freebird recordshop on Grafton street in Dublin, Ireland.

I just thought I'd do a quick blog about a rock concert I attended on this day, June 27th back in 1987.

It was U2's concert at Croke Park in their hometown of Dublin, Ireland. They were touring with songs from their album 'The Joshua Tree' which had become a huge hit on the American market. 

I've never been a huge fan of U2. In fact this was the only U2 concert I'd ever been to. Indeed, I have bought plenty of their music over the years and I liked their sound a lot. I still have my old vinyl release of their debut album 'Boy' as well as other early albums and a few singles. I also have a few recent cds. I have met 'real' fans of the band over the years and some can be a bit too fanatical in my opinion. I prefer to be a relaxed and moderate fan myself. Maybe it's the fact that some of the band grew up where I come from. They feel like old neighbours or school mates who did alright for themselves. 

  

Here's a BBC radio excerpt all about U2 introduced by Huey Morgan from the Fun Lovin' Criminals. 

I recommend you give it a listen! 

I honestly don't rate 'The Joshua Tree' as one of my favorite albums by U2. I personally prefer the 'Boy' album, or even 'War' or 'Achtung Baby'. 

Back in 1987 U2 were not my favorite band. That title was reserved for American band R.E.M. 

... Besides, as any Dubliner will tell you - it's not cool to like U2!! (something the Irish like to pretend is true!)

But having said all of the above I can honestly say that the Croke park concert of 1987 was one of the best concerts I ever attended and what a performance!!!

Here is a photo of my battered ticket from that concert. I keep it on my wall here in Finland alongside the rest of my small ticket collection. I never actually made it up to my allocated seat due to the packed crowds dragging me along to every single sway of the music. I made it through the entrance with my cousin, but within 10 minutes I had lost him. I eventually met up with him 4 hours later somewhere outside, at least I think it was him!!! 

I ended up jumping about and chatting with lots of strangers while listening to the support acts. At one point I even got into the VIP area upstairs with the help of my Dublin bus-pass id. Honestly, the things we used to do to impress a good-looking girl!!  I suppose those few bottles of cider I drank earlier down by the canal might have helped a little too. 

'Don't believe for one minute that it's all glamour and champagne in the VIP camp, it's not. Once I was in there I got very bored very quickly! It was actually harder getting out the place than getting in! .... Indeed the ordinary punters out on the pitch always have the best fun!

Anyway, here's a reminder of that great gig in Dublin. One of those times in life where you find yourself in the right place at the right time. ...Yep, this was certainly one of them!

        

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- Alan 

                     

#bono #U2 #crokepark #gaa #dublin #rock #larrymullenjr #adamclayton #theedge #hoganstand #famousconcerts #thejoshuatreetour #thegreatestbandever #hotpressmagazine

Hogan's Heroes of Music - The Beatles

"Most of the posts on this blog are art-related somehow. And I wanted to include a regular posting dedicated to music, another art form which is very important to me. I don't play any musical instruments as such, but I do love to listen! This series of blog posts will cover just a few of the musicians and bands whom I have admired and listened to over the years. I won't be listing my favorites in any particular order, but I just thought that I'd start off my list with the The Beatles as they have been the most influential band in my life and probably many others. Some of you reading this will most likely have your own opinions and views on the bands mentioned. And some of you will have your own favorites which I may not list. But for now, as it's my blog I am just going to list off a few of my personal faves. You are welcome to add any comments below after reading." 

- Alan Hogan 

The Beatles

One of the greatest forms of art is of course music. And music is very important to me. I would find my daily life very boring and uneasy without listening to some form of music during the day. It's a form of relaxation, inspiration and sometimes a vent for frustration. I've had it with me throughout my life. In fact I can honestly say I've been listening to music since before I was born. I believe there's a truth in the practice of mothers trying to relax their unborn babies by playing music to them.

However, I think the music I heard was by coincidence rather than intentional. Luckily for me it happened to be a generation for great music, and finding a radio playing loud at home wasn't at all unusual. Maybe it was a sign of the times, but for some reason I can remember the sound of The Beatles playing even before I was born.

The song in question that I seem to remember being played way back then was 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'. 

I later heard this song again and again on the radio while growing up back in Ireland. 

The Fab Four played at the Adelphi Cinema in Dublin 1963. This was the only concert they ever played in Ireland. Three aunties of mine went to the show and met the band briefly afterwards. They were tipped off that the band were exiting secretly through a back entrance due to crowd worries. And before being ushered away in an old newspaper van to the Gresham Hotel the band stopped to say hello to a few of their fans.

Twenty years later I borrowed a few of my aunt's Beatles records and start listening to their music properly. Still in school at the time, I had just gone through a phase of listening to British new wave sounds and began listening to another favourite band of mine called REM. But none of that could ever compare to Beatles albums such as 'Help' and 'A Hard Days Night'. Here's a little clip from 1963 taken from 'The Beatles Anthology' dvd with a short intro by producer George Martin.

I like to think I have good taste in music, even though I don't listen to too much of any one style. I will of course get bored if I listen to the same music genre for too long. After too much listening I even get turned off great bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones. I purposely make a break from listening to bands because I know that when I return to their music it will amaze me all over again. The same can be said for more modern greats like U2, Springsteen, REM and Metallica.

Of all the bands and musicians I know, I think The Beatles have endured the longest, mainly because of their wide range of music and the crossover of genres made by the band in such a short period (10 years!). From early sixties beat-music, to psychadelia, to heavy blues and to the perfect ballad, they had it all. This is why I find their music very difficult to put away, I always seem to have one or two of their cds or a vinyl album sitting somewhere nearby. Their music is timeless for me, and it can sometimes feel like a breath of fresh air after a drive in the car listening to whatever the regular radios stations are throwing at me. I certainly hope their music will be around for as long as I live, and I hope more young people listen to it. Maybe it will keep inspiring more and more musicians to write better songs and music into the future.

The Beatles

Thanks for reading my blog and please share it with all your friends.

You can receive my blogposts direct to your email or facebook profile by pressing the follow button at NetworkedBlogs  and you are welcome to visit my art page on Facebook by clicking the 'Like' button under my signature below.

-Alan 

Read more Hogan's Heroes of Music

Manic Street Preachers

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Top Hat In Bloom

Due to missing images this blogpost has been reposted with updates. You can now read this at this link. 

Kurt Cobain

(February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994)

If he were alive today he would be celebrating his 43rd birthday. Unfortunately on April 8, 1994 Kurt Cobain was found dead after committing suicide by shooting himself at his home in Seattle. While not a huge fan of the singer and his band Nirvana, I did enjoy their sound and I witnessed the impact it had on people such as my younger brother in the early nineties.

Kurt Cobain and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth

Dublin, 1991

One concert I recall hearing about while living back in Ireland was their support gig to Sonic Youth at the 'Top Hat' venue in Dublin on 21 August 1991. I recall this gig as I was more a fan of Sonic Youth at the time, and it was a concert I really wanted to be at, but I just couldn't get a ticket. This concert at the Top Hat was held just one month before Kurt Cobain's band Nirvana released their biggest album called Nevermind and it was the first time Irish fans got to hear their biggest ever hit Smells Like Teen Spirit. That moment must have been really special I reckon.

Here's an advert for that concert which

I kept from a magazine at the time.

(looks like the magazine printed the wrong date!)

Nirvana played support to Sonic Youth at a gig the previous night in Sir Henry's Pub, Cork before heading to Dublin.

Here's an audio clip of their song 'About a Girl' from that gig.

Read also..

http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2007/08/21/smells-like-top-hat-spirit/

You can receive my blogposts direct to your email or facebook profile by pressing the follow button at NetworkedBlogs  and you are welcome to visit my art page on Facebook by clicking the 'Like' button under my signature below.

- Alan 

                     

                                                                      Click here and join our Facebook group!

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