Where will YOU be this weekend?

Care to venture a guess about what will be Ireland's musical highlight of the summer? U2 last weekend? Oxegen? Bud Rising? Slane (Oh, please)? You'd be wrong, friend! In actual fact, the most hotly anticipated musical event of this year will be taking place THIS weekend in the South East, in the picturesque seaside town of Tramore, County Waterford. That's right, it's the Trafest time of year!

A major date on any music lover's calender, this year is shaping up to be the best yet!* The full line-up for Trafest 2005 is available at musiklab.net and let me tell you, it is thrilling. I swear, I have literally never heard of ANY of them. Except the Saw Doctors, who are Ireland's best loved Western rednecks.

Some advice for Trafest virgins: It really doesn't matter where you go this weekend, you WILL end up in the Baldy Man by the end of the night. C'est inévitable. You will also almost definitely end up eating a kebab on a dirty street corner and singing Beyonce songs. (Or is that just me...) So you should just choose a music venue near it. Because Tramore is pretty much one square mile in it's entirety, proximity to other places is pretty much a given, wherever you are. C'est tres logical. Also, Tramore has almost no street names, at least none that anyone uses so you should just refer to different parts of it by mentioning a pub nearby.

Tonight I am going to Murphs to see Kyzer Soze, but this is just because they don't mind me roaring along to all the Chilli Pepper covers they do. If I had any sense I would go to see Robert O’Connor and The Bearded Ladies in the Shanty. Mainly because I am a huge fan of facial hair on women but also because local rag the Munster Express said that they:

'are forging an upward path in the Irish music industry with a sound that is uniquely their own.'

Mega.


*Blatant lie.