The good old days that many local musicians reminisce about where young bands took the stage in the old Zoo Club on Parliament Street may very well be returning according to Andrew McGuinness who said ‘young people need this outlet more than ever and now we have finally found a venue’.
In a passionate plea to ‘give young people a chance’, Andrew McGuinness called on local venue owners to come forward to allow for all ages, non-alcoholic, music events for young people. Local publican Tommy Hackett answered the call and plans have been set for a 2024 Battle of the Bands contest. After an absence of almost 15 years, Kilkenny’s Battle of the Bands is finally back.
The new venue is upstairs in Hackett’s Bar, Irish Town, where a professional stage, sound and lighting system will be installed. The contest will be a non-alcoholic event open to all ages. Bands will be divided into heats, depending on the amount of bands that enter and the winning band will receive recording time to complete a professional demo.
The call is out now for bands to enter but also for local sponsorship for prizes. Bands can enter by simply emailing their contact details to battleOfTheBandsKK@gmail.com
“I’ve been searching for a venue since we held the Zoo Reunion before Christmas because that event just brought it all back for me and showed me how, even after all these years, that era had such an impact on so many young musicians and now there’s a generation of young musicians that simply don’t have anywhere to play music. Young people need this,” said organiser Andrew McGuinness.
“At the same time a young local musician, Leila Brands, was also trying to set up gigs for young people. Local bar owner Tommy Hackett, who is a great supporter of local music, connected the two of us and offered the upstairs of his venue. So I guess I have the experience, Leila has the youth and Tommy has the venue and between us and with a little help from the local music community and musicians that came up through The Zoo era, we are hell bent on relighting that old flame and getting a scene for young musicians alive in Kilkenny again.”
“Leila is a fantastic musician herself and in a great band so she will enter the Battle of The Bands and then come on board with me to help organise regular all ages gigs after that. We have lots of great ideas and we would love young people to come forward if they are interested in photography, Youtubing, reviewing gigs and so on. There’s a lot of ways young people can get involved even if they are not musicians.
“Id hope that we can not only bring back the Battle of the Bands but also regular all ages gigs for bands, a singer songwriter contest and a whole scene for young musicians. Back in the day it always started with a Battle of the Bands contest and so this will be no different.
“Right now we are looking for bands to enter. The contest will begin at the start of July in the same format as the old days. I’m calling for bands that want to enter to email their details to BattleOfTheBandsKK@gmail.com. We will then have an event where bands will be drawn from a hat and divided into heats, depending on the number of entries,” concluded Andrew McGuinness.
