{"id":1995,"date":"2010-08-25T16:11:02","date_gmt":"2010-08-25T15:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatsonni.com\/blog\/?p=1995"},"modified":"2010-08-25T16:46:52","modified_gmt":"2010-08-25T15:46:52","slug":"spotlight-falls-on-belfast%e2%80%99s-music-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2010\/08\/spotlight-falls-on-belfast%e2%80%99s-music-scene\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotlight falls on Belfast\u2019s music scene"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>The spotlight falls very brightly on Belfast\u2019s thriving and creative music scene next month.<\/h2>\n<p>More than 100 gigs, featuring the very best in local talent, will be staged at some 30 venues across the city as part of the first ever Belfast Music Week, which runs from September 12-19.<\/p>\n<p>Organised by Belfast City Council &#8211; with support from the European Regional Development Fund, through the Northern Ireland Sustainable Competitiveness Programme &#8211; Belfast Music Week will showcase both new and existing bands, songwriters and DJs, across all musical genres.<\/p>\n<p>Among the week\u2019s highlights will be:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1996\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1996\" style=\"width: 186px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.whatsonni.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/musicweek3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996  \" style=\"border: 2px solid black;\" title=\"musicweek3\" src=\"http:\/\/www.whatsonni.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/musicweek3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"186\" height=\"283\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1996\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cashier No 9 (photo courtesy of Bradley Quinn Photography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>live      performances by dozens of top local bands including\u00a0LaFaro, Cashier      No 9, Wonder Villains,\u00a0More Than Conquerors, Farriers, Dutch Schultz,      A\u00a0Plastic Rose;<\/li>\n<li>the      best of Belfast\u2019s songwriters, performing with live bands\u00a0\u2018In The      Round\u2019;<\/li>\n<li>three      album launches;<\/li>\n<li>four      record company showcase nights;<\/li>\n<li>the      launch of a CD called \u2018Oh Yeah Contenders: New Music From N. Ireland\u2019,      comprising 10 exclusive recordings from upcoming acts, chosen by the votes      of local media and industry figures;<\/li>\n<li>the induction      of The Undertones into Belfast\u2019s very own music \u2018Hall Of Fame\u2019, followed      by an intimate gig by the band themselves at the Oh Yeah music centre in      Cathedral Quarter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The week will culminate with the free \u2018MTV Presents\u2026\u2019 concert, featuring Mark Ronson, at the Belfast Waterfront on Sunday, September 19.\u00a0 MTV will also be broadcasting their flagship \u2018MTV News\u2019 programme from the city throughout the week.<\/p>\n<p>Councillor Conor Maskey, chairman of Belfast City Council\u2019s Development Committee, said: \u201cBelfast is one of the great musical cities. Its music receives high international praise and our latest generation of musicians is playing a crucial role in revitalising the city.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is an art form that is defining the new mood of Belfast, and Belfast Music Week will profile Belfast\u2019s reputation as the birthplace of exceptional music.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Councillor Maskey\u2019s comments were supported by local music guru, Stuart Bailie. He said: &#8220;It&#8217;s great to see how everyone has responded to the possibilities of Belfast Music Week. The venues, the bands and the industry people have come behind this quickly and enthusiastically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s a chance to show how our city is alive with music and that we&#8217;re looking forward to sharing it with locals and visitors alike,&#8221; added the broadcaster, journalist and CEO of the Oh Yeah music centre.<\/p>\n<p>David Neely, of CDC Leisure, said that Belfast Music Week could not be happening at a better time, especially in relation to the creative renaissance which the city is enjoying.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.whatsonni.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/musicweek21.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2000\" title=\"musicweek2\" src=\"http:\/\/www.whatsonni.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/musicweek21.jpg\" alt=\"The Undertones\" width=\"187\" height=\"283\" \/><\/a>\u201cNot since the days of the Undertones, That Petrol Emotion and Stiff Little Fingers has the Northern Ireland music scene been so vibrant and exciting,\u201d he commented.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the likes of Ash, Therapy? and Snow Patrol blazing a trail, today\u2019s new pretenders to the throne &#8211; General Fiasco, Two Door Cinema Club, The Answer and And So I Watch You From Afar, to name but a few &#8211; make the live music scene something the \u2018north\u2019 can shout about.\u00a0 Belfast Music Week will literally&#8230;rock!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew Ferris, managing director of Smalltown America Records, added:\u201cI\u2019ve been in the business for 20 years now and, to be honest, I think this is the best time for the local music scene. The bands are producing commercially viable music, but with a punk spirit. They\u2019re not holding back, they\u2019re not waiting for someone to come along with a cheque, they\u2019re just going for it themselves, and that combination of talent and passion is getting them noticed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For more information on Belfast Music Week and for a full listing of gigs visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.belfastcity.gov.uk\/musicweek\">www.belfastcity.gov.uk\/musicweek<\/a> Info is also available at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.belfastmusic.org\/\">www.belfastmusic.org<\/a> or you can download the free Belfast Music iPhone app.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The spotlight falls very brightly on Belfast\u2019s thriving and creative music scene next month. More than 100 gigs, featuring the very best in local talent, will be staged at some 30 venues across the city as part of the first ever Belfast Music Week, which runs from September 12-19. Organised by Belfast City Council &#8211; &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2010\/08\/spotlight-falls-on-belfast%e2%80%99s-music-scene\/\">Continued<\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[368,868,863,447,851,852,418,860,859,855,380,865,856,430,858,854,869,413,862,861,867,857,864,866,853],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1995"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1995"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2004,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1995\/revisions\/2004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}