Emergenza is the world's biggest festival for unsigned bands, with an average of 6,000 bands participating every year in 200 different cities all over the world. Every year the national finalists gets to spend three days in Germany at the Taubertal Open Air festival, where the world final takes place, with an average of 30,000 people showing up over the weekend. This is where, every year, the best band wins a professional production for their first album and where plenty of other musicians are rewarder for their skills with prizes from the festival's sponsors.

 

First hosted in 1992, Ireland’s most established new band showcase has provided a live platform for scores of up and coming Irish acts over the years. Recent acts to have featured include Fight Like Apes, Declan O’Rourke, Halves and Delorentos to name but a few. Ronan Yourell from Dublin band Delorentos said of the tour “It was an important step in the development of our band as we gained invaluable experience through the gigs and also met some really cool people!” A number of artists will be chosen from the tour to perform in a ‘Best of Showcase’ gig which will take place in Dublin venue The Academy on May 1st.

 

An unknown name has been found in the records of our history. Why haven’t you been told about him? Why was he kept a secret? And who is Fergus Kilpatrick? A re-imagining of Irish history. Theatre, video and stories filled with white lies and conspiracies clash with old footage, old documents, old heroes to uncover new answers, a new company and a new truth – or do they? Winner of the Absolut Fringe Best Production Award 2009.

 

New album "Haunted!". This is a record in love with the possibilities of pop music, taking the listener on a ghost train ride through an eerie interior expanse populated by dancing skeletons, magical animals and celestial bodies. The conventional subject of carnal desire is conspicuous by its absence, and yet the world of the album remains a genuinely tender-hearted one, as the excision of the libidinous allows other forms of love – platonic, commemorative, anthropomorphic – to ripple to the surface. The result has the conceptual rigor of Laurie Anderson, the open-hearted experimentation of Arthur Russell, and the oddly soothing spookiness of The Cure.

 

Nobody has ever seen a living dinosaur, but scientists can give us a good idea of what they looked like and how they moved. We often imagine dinosaurs as colossal flesh-eating beasts that lived on our planet for an incredible 160 million years. Some were indeed gigantic, but many were only as heavy as a Labrador dog and many were vegetarian! Did you know that the Ornithomimus could run faster than an Olympic sprinter? See how the sociable Triceratops lived in herds, caring for and protecting their young. Meet Dilophosaurus, a relative of the first dinosaur found in Scotland. Come face to face with the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex, one of the fiercest land predators ever known. This massive animatronic model, 4 metres tall and 7 metres long, is so lifelike you’ll think it’s the real thing! Walk past the head of a hungry Tyrannosaurus and watch as his terrifying jaws go SNAP!

 

The blurb: "Jack of Diamonds is a brand dedicated to giving you the finest roots music around. We've got mounds and mounds of soul, blues, Folk, Trad, Bluegrass, Country, Rock and more. If it sounds good we got it."

 

A regular fixed on the Comedy Central channel, which is piped into most homes at this stage, Jeff Dunham is an American ventriloquist and stand-up comedian, who is accompanied by a ever-expanding cast of puppets and characters. Describing his characters, Time observes, "All of them are politically incorrect, gratuitously insulting and ill tempered." Sounds like fun!

 

 

Ladlane formed in 2004 in Dublin. The band features Eugene Quinn from Templeogue, Dublin on guitar/banjo/vocals, Ray Dempsey from Ballyduff, Co. Waterford on accordion and Colm Keane from somewhere in north county Dublin on fiddle/vocals.

 

Stand on Dame Street and look up! :)

 

 

 

One Night Only Stage Right Performing Arts School SUN 18 APR - 2.30PM & 7PM Main Auditorium // €15 A highly entertaining production, which showcases the many talented students at Stage Right Performing Arts School. Join them on a journey through your favourite musicals and allow yourself to enter the world of fairytale adventures. Students from as young as three years and up to 18 years, from two centres in Donabate and Firhouse, combine to make this a most memorable event.

 

One Night Only Stage Right Performing Arts School SUN 18 APR - 2.30PM & 7PM Main Auditorium // €15 A highly entertaining production, which showcases the many talented students at Stage Right Performing Arts School. Join them on a journey through your favourite musicals and allow yourself to enter the world of fairytale adventures. Students from as young as three years and up to 18 years, from two centres in Donabate and Firhouse, combine to make this a most memorable event.

 

 

This is an experimental exhibition which attempts to addresses the question of what happens when artworks become part of a collection and are subsequently shown in many different contexts. Working from a potential list of works, the artworks will be changed during the course of the exhibition, with removal of artworks generating absences which call to mind gaps in our memory and point to the partially hidden nature of Museum collections. Additions of works will draw out new and perhaps unexpected associations, and new narratives will emerge within the overall structure of the exhibition. Other strategies such as repositioning works within the exhibition will be used to alter the pace of the exhibition. A list of these potential works will not be disclosed in advance.

 

Houston has had a significant impact on the music industry. According to The New York Times, Houston had "revitalized the tradition of strong gospel-oriented pop-soul singing". A number of artists have acknowledged Houston as an influence. Mariah Carey, who was often compared to Houston, said, "Houston has been a big influence on me." She later told USA Today that "none of us would sound the same if Aretha Franklin hadn't ever put out a record, or Whitney Houston hadn't".

 

 

 

 

Que Pezon! is a Dublin based band. The group is best described as a international musical community who believe in "organic, free-range music".They have been performing tirelessly for the past 7 years. For a true experience of International conFusion check out Que Pezon! in The Mezz, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, every Sunday from 10 pm.