The Heineken Green Energy rock festival, now in its fifth year, attracted thousands to gigs around Dublin at the weekend, although its impact was slightly blunted by the rival attractions of the Kilkenny Roots Festival and the monster dance event, Homelands, at the Mosney Holiday Centre.
The centre of attraction was Dublin Castle, which attracted some 4,000 people to a concert by The Cranberries on Saturday night and a similar number for The Charlatans last night. The Dublin Castle shows were marked by good-humoured crowds and a stunning son et lumiere display by Galway Street Theatre troupe Macnas at the end of each performance.
In the Olympia Theatre, trad band Kila jigged and reeled the night away on Friday, while the debonair crooner, Bryan Ferry, provided one of the surprise hits of the festival by selling out the venue on Saturday night and last night.
The Temple Bar Music Centre catered for more independent musical styles with shows by Lou Barlow on Saturday night and the Scottish band, Arab Strap, last night. The organisers of the event expressed satisfaction that all the shows attracted capacity crowds and there were no last-minute hitches.
As two giant bottles of Heineken bobbed away in the river Liffey to remind anybody who still wasn't quite sure that a rock festival was taking place, there was much interest in the Local Band Challenge in which over 20 up-and-coming Irish rock bands battled for a first prize of £10,000. The final of the band challenge, always one of the best gigs of the festival, takes place in the Temple Bar Music Centre tonight at 9 o'clock. Other attractions today include US singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman at Dublin Castle (8 p.m.) and Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros at the Olympia Theatre (8 p.m.).
