Off The Record
by Mike FarragherRSS 
Recent Posts
- An open letter to the Catholic League on rant against David Bowie video “The Next Day” - VIDEO
- All-star benefit for great Irish musician Mickey Finns’ Ray Kelly who died tragically
- Amen to Rend Collective Experiment - VIDEO
- Finally some new U2 music from Bono and the boys?
- The Jersey Shore is back after Hurricane Sandy - The Irish Festival kicks off
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David Rooney from Reuters wrote, “With producer Julie Taymor serving as scapegoat, U2's Bono and The Edge, who wrote the forgettable music and lyrics, have been largely exonerated for their role in this $70 million folly.”
Ouch! Based on the lackluster reviews, this music has inspired me to see the show before someone “turns off the dark” on the star-crossed production.
I JUST unpacked the last bag from the school band trip down in Wildwood, New Jersey.
You would have thought I was going to the Garden of Gethsemane for a weekend of pre-crucifixion suffering the way I carried on to my wife last Friday about the long car ride alone with a gaggle of girls, the crush of crowds in the sweltering sun around the parade route, and the boring band parents in this communal adventure that I shared little in common with.
That belly-aching came to a screeching halt and a lump rushed to my throat as I watched my stunningly beautiful eighth grader board the school bus to the parade route with her clarinet and sheet music for the last time.
They are set to continue their push for world domination by returning to Northern Ireland and headlining the first day of the resurrected Tennent's Vital Festival in Bangor's Ward Park on August 23, according to Hot Press.
They will also appear at the massive Oxegen Festival while over on the auld sod before they return to the U.S. in the autumn for a 31-city tour. And in between all that, there's the small matter of a headline date at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin next month.
Damian McGinty, the youngest member of the troupe, has been selected as one of the Top 12 contenders out of 40,000 hopefuls who competed for a coveted spot on The Glee Project. The winner of the show will be cast in a seven-episode guest role in season three of hit show Glee on Fox.
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READ MORE:
Celtic Thunder hits the wrong note with new album
Open letter to Celtic Thunder fans
‘Glee’s’ Lady Gaga-based anti-bullying episode causes protests - VIDEO
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Congratulations and a tip of the hat to our good friend Joe Hurley for winning the Audie, widely considered to be the Academy Award among audio books awards!
Hurley, who narrated the critically acclaimed Keith Richards’ autobiography Life with Richards and Johnny Depp, accepted the prestigious Best Audio Book of the Year Award at the 2011 Audie Awards Ceremony in New York.
According to NJStage.com, Hurley took the stage to accept the award and through a surge of emotions, told the story about seeing the Rolling Stones in London, his first rock concert, and now turning to this great privilege in his life which he simply described as a "helluva joy ride."
A trad party? Whoa -- wait a minute! Not so fast!
The instrumentals that make up Jameson’s Revenge’s new disc, While Yer Up, break the mold of traditional Irish music. That is by design, according to singer and vocalist John Walsh.
You can call Gavin Friday many things, but a Catholic? On his first album in16 years, Friday nicks the capital “C” in the title to make catholic, a gorgeous album that honors and challenges the religious beliefs of love and loss.
“The Roman Catholic took the name ‘catholic’ from the Greeks, which means universal for the common man. This is in contrast to what Pope Benedict does at the moment,” Friday explains during an extensive interview with the Irish Voice.
