Neon, Blew, Moby . . . Eh, it's only a launch party for the Heineken Green Energy Festival and the bands are already lining up to rock. The four stars of Neon are in Dublin Castle for the warm-up party to announce details of the festival, which happens in Dublin over the May bank holiday and then in Cork and Galway over the June bank holiday. They are Dubliners John Colbert, Dom Muldoon, Carl Hendrick and A. (short for Adrian) Woods. They've just signed a record deal with Altantic Records, are currently writing songs and are about to start recording. Forming a band is also about girls . . . drugs . . . and wearing denim? Yes, they say, girls and denim are definitely up there, but as for drugs, well "wine-tasting is a much better pastime," says Hendrick.
Torsten Schmidt, a DJ from Cologne, Germany, says his is a legitimate career. People can't have a diploma in DJ-ing but "are making ridiculous amounts of money doing it," he explains.
The drummer and composer with the groups Cruiser and Fink, Vincent Stallon, a Dubliner, is here too. Is that an Irish name then? "No, it's a stage-name," he explains, whispering that his own name is Darragh Shanahan and that he's from Kilmainham. And as for the kind of music the two groups play? It's a cross between funk and rock. The head-lining legend himself, Bryan Ferry, shows up eventually for the launch and poses happily out on the balcony for the photographers.