Galway Arts Festival Big Top 2008
Live at Fisheries Field, Galway
Set to be one of the best summer getaways this July, the Galway Arts Festival will up the festival fun factor with the addition of a spanking new circus-style Big Top. Festival goers can roll on up and rock on down to a host of great artists and musicians performing during Ireland's leading International Arts Festival.
Headline acts confirmed for this year's festival include:
Friday 18 July - Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Sunday 20 July - Omara Portuondo
Tuesday 22 July - Tinariwen
Wednesday 23 July - KT Tunstall and Tom Baxter
Thursday 24 July - Blondie
Friday 25 July - The Dandy Warhols and Ash
Tickets are on sale now.
Headline acts confirmed for this year's festival include:
Friday 18 July - Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Sunday 20 July - Omara Portuondo
Tuesday 22 July - Tinariwen
Wednesday 23 July - KT Tunstall and Tom Baxter
Thursday 24 July - Blondie
Friday 25 July - The Dandy Warhols and Ash
Tickets are on sale now.
Festival Big Top
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band is the sound of New Orleans. Taking their name from the Preservation Hall, the venerable music venue located in the heart of New Orleans' French Quarter the band are New Orleans' most famous musical sons. The band was awarded the 2006 National Medal of Arts, the USA's highest honour for artistic excellence. Their live performances are a rare uplifting treat with traditional jazz at its very best.
Omara Portundo
Cuban diva Omara Portundo became a global superstar following her show stealing performance in Wim Wender's film The Buena Vista Social Club. Dubbed Cuba's very own Edith Piaf, Omara Portuondo has been thrilling audiences in the cabarets and night spots of Havana with the passionate and moving honesty of her voice for more than half a century. She has long been Cuba's favourite musical sweetheart and her Galway performance in the Festival Big Top on Sunday 20 July coincides with the release of her long-awaited new album.
Tinariwen & Mayra Andrade
Three very exicting Festival Big Top double bills kick off on Tuesday 22 July with one of the most mouth-watering , world music double bills to be staged in Ireland this year when cult Sahara band Tinariwen take to the Festival stage with Cape Verde's new diva Mayra Andrade.
Tom Baxter and KT Tunstall
Another exciting double bill will take place when Tom Baxter and KT Tunstall perform live at the Festival Big Top on Wednesday 23 July. Baxter is no stranger to Galway Arts Festival and is a huge hit with Festival audiences. His album Skybound, released to critical acclaim in the UK earlier this year was number one in Ireland for three weeks and became one of the best selling albums over the past 12 months. KT Tunstall has become a major world-wide star over the last two years with hits such as Suddenly I See and Black Horse and the Cherry Tree. Tunstall has gone on to win three Brit Awards and two Grammy nominations and has become a huge star on both sides of the Atlantic following the release of her debut album Eye to the Telescope and the more recent world-wide hit album Drastic Fantastic.
Blondie
The Festival spirit headlines with the legendary New York City icons Blondie on Thursday 24 July. Having sold over 40 million records and fronted by the iconic Debbie Harry, this Festival appearance comes on the heels of the 30th anniversary of the breakthrough album Parallel Lines. The classic album spawned the singles Hanging On The Telephone, One Way Or Another, Heart Of Glass, and Sunday Girl and catapulted the New York act to global stardom.
The Dandy Warhols and Ash
The final double-bill features The Dandy Warhols and Ash live at the Festival Big Top on Friday 25 July. The Dandy Warhols first came to international fame with their hit single Bohemian Like You and have been slyly dubbed "the best British band to come out of America", but the quartet of Oregonians put forth an intense and complexly psychedelic sound. Northern Irish rock group Ash have enjoyed both mainstream and critical success in their 15 year history. They boast two number one hits and numerous others including Burn Baby Burn, Shining Light, Girl From Mars, Oh Yeah and A Life Less Ordinary. Now based in New York they continue to work on their plan for world domination Ash have proved themselves a must-see live act.
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band is the sound of New Orleans. Taking their name from the Preservation Hall, the venerable music venue located in the heart of New Orleans' French Quarter the band are New Orleans' most famous musical sons. The band was awarded the 2006 National Medal of Arts, the USA's highest honour for artistic excellence. Their live performances are a rare uplifting treat with traditional jazz at its very best.
Omara Portundo
Cuban diva Omara Portundo became a global superstar following her show stealing performance in Wim Wender's film The Buena Vista Social Club. Dubbed Cuba's very own Edith Piaf, Omara Portuondo has been thrilling audiences in the cabarets and night spots of Havana with the passionate and moving honesty of her voice for more than half a century. She has long been Cuba's favourite musical sweetheart and her Galway performance in the Festival Big Top on Sunday 20 July coincides with the release of her long-awaited new album.
Tinariwen & Mayra Andrade
Three very exicting Festival Big Top double bills kick off on Tuesday 22 July with one of the most mouth-watering , world music double bills to be staged in Ireland this year when cult Sahara band Tinariwen take to the Festival stage with Cape Verde's new diva Mayra Andrade.
Tom Baxter and KT Tunstall
Another exciting double bill will take place when Tom Baxter and KT Tunstall perform live at the Festival Big Top on Wednesday 23 July. Baxter is no stranger to Galway Arts Festival and is a huge hit with Festival audiences. His album Skybound, released to critical acclaim in the UK earlier this year was number one in Ireland for three weeks and became one of the best selling albums over the past 12 months. KT Tunstall has become a major world-wide star over the last two years with hits such as Suddenly I See and Black Horse and the Cherry Tree. Tunstall has gone on to win three Brit Awards and two Grammy nominations and has become a huge star on both sides of the Atlantic following the release of her debut album Eye to the Telescope and the more recent world-wide hit album Drastic Fantastic.
Blondie
The Festival spirit headlines with the legendary New York City icons Blondie on Thursday 24 July. Having sold over 40 million records and fronted by the iconic Debbie Harry, this Festival appearance comes on the heels of the 30th anniversary of the breakthrough album Parallel Lines. The classic album spawned the singles Hanging On The Telephone, One Way Or Another, Heart Of Glass, and Sunday Girl and catapulted the New York act to global stardom.
The Dandy Warhols and Ash
The final double-bill features The Dandy Warhols and Ash live at the Festival Big Top on Friday 25 July. The Dandy Warhols first came to international fame with their hit single Bohemian Like You and have been slyly dubbed "the best British band to come out of America", but the quartet of Oregonians put forth an intense and complexly psychedelic sound. Northern Irish rock group Ash have enjoyed both mainstream and critical success in their 15 year history. They boast two number one hits and numerous others including Burn Baby Burn, Shining Light, Girl From Mars, Oh Yeah and A Life Less Ordinary. Now based in New York they continue to work on their plan for world domination Ash have proved themselves a must-see live act.