The people of Cork can look forward to some ‘Magic Nights By The Lee’ throughout August and September, with the announcement of a brand new series of live music and entertainment shows presented by The Good Room and Cork City Council, as part of the Local Live Performance Programming Scheme.
The Good Room in association with Cork City Council Arts Office today revealed the new series of free to attend open air live music and entertainment shows which will take place across the city in a variety of its beautiful local authority maintained parks.
‘Magic Nights By The Lee,’ which refers to the well known John Spillane song ‘Magic Nights in the Lobby Bar’, will take place throughout August and September with five nights of live music, an afternoon showcasing up and coming musical talent, and a fantastically fun ‘Mockie Ah’ drag show evening. Events will be staged across the city in Fitzgerald’s Park, The Glen River Park, Ballinlough Park and Ballincollig Regional Park.
Each event will be free to the public but attendees will need to register online in advance for tickets. Only 200 patrons per show will be able to attend these very special fully seated socially distant shows for a line up that includes The Frank and Walters, John Spillane & Lorraine Nash, The White Horse Guitar Club, Mockie Ah, An Evening Of Classical & Pop Music, and ‘Stevie G presents,’ an event which will see some of the best up and coming musical talent that Cork has to offer performing.
The live events are supported by Cork City Council with funding from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Local Live Performance Programming Scheme and produced by The Good Room.
Commenting on the importance of staging the live music events on Leeside, Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr. Mary Rose Desmond, said, “Cork City Council is delighted to support ‘Magic Nights By The Lee’, funded through the Government’s Local Live Performance Scheme. Continuing the Council’s work to animate our public realm and the safe reopening of the City, this exciting programme of seven free concerts in four parks across the City, not only supports Cork artists and events crew, but also gives the citizens of the City an opportunity to experience some of the best music the City has to offer for free and safely.”
Events kick off on Friday 20th August in the fantastic surroundings of Ballincollig Regional Park, which will play host to White Horse Guitar Club, an eleven piece guitar group who formed upstairs at The White Horse music venue interpreting songs of the Americana & Roots songbook. The group have built a strong, dedicated following and have performed all over Ireland & beyond in the last 7 years, selling out tours in France, Germany, Italy and Holland.
The following evening, Saturday August 21st, John Spillane and Lorraine Nash will perform in Ballinlough Park, behind the Gus Healy Swimming Pool, known to many in the area as the Japanese Gardens. Needing no introduction in Cork, John Spillane will play songs from his recent album ‘100 Snow White Horses’ as well as many of his classics, while 21-year-old Kerry multi-instrumentalist Lorraine Nash plays a mixture of folk, country and “sometimes trad”.
The Frank & Walters open up a bumper weekend at Fitzgerald’s Park on Friday 27th August. The best known band to have come out of Cork will play many hits from their back catalogue. The following afternoon, Saturday 28th August, Red FM DJ Stevie G will present a line up of up and coming music talent from Cork, with performances by singer songwriters and electronic producers with RnB, dancehall, rap, afro, soulful jazz & pop music from seven young artists.
Speaking ahead of the event, DJ and host Stevie G, said, “I can’t wait to present these wonderful young artists, who have all been blossoming musically throughout the pandemic, to the Cork public. I’ve played a lot of their music on the radio and I just can’t wait to host a live show in one of Cork’s finest settings at Fitzgerald’s Park.”
Later the same evening, Ireland’s biggest drag family and queer perfromance collective, Mockie Ah, will bring a full-on glittering and eccentric show of music, comedy and performance to the bandstand stage, led by drag queen Candy Warhol.
Sunday 29th August will see Fitzgerald’s Park showcase the traditional music of a distinct part of Ireland, The Sound Of Sliabh Luachra, led by fiddle player and Sliabh Luachra artist in residence Eoin ‘Stan’ O’Sullivan.
The final evening of ‘Magic Nights By The Lee’, Saturday September 4th, will see a huge lineup of artists performing classical pieces and baroque inspired pop music at The Glen River Park. Artists include singer-songwriter Jack O’Rourke, opera singer Sinead Ní Mhurchú, and Keith Pascoe of the Vanbrugh Quartet with an array of young and local talent taking the stage throughout the evening.
Tickets for all 7 shows are available to book online here: http://magicnightsbythelee.
Magic Nights By The Lee Line Up
Friday 20th August, Doors 7pm, Show 8pm – Ballincollig Regional Park
THE WHITE HORSE GUITAR CLUB
The White Horse Guitar Club is an eleven piece guitar group which started out at The White Horse music venue in Ballincollig, interpreting songs of the Americana/Roots songbook. The band evolved from an open club environment into a fully-fledged musical touring group of friends over the past 5 years. A passionate bunch from widely varying backgrounds, bound by a common love of playing guitar and singing music that is deeply rooted in the fine tradition of songwriting that flourishes in the Southern states of America, particularly in Kentucky & Tennessee where the Scots/Irish influence is strong. The group proudly interpret the songs of John Prine, Darrell Scott, Tim O’Brien, Buddy Miller, Townes Van Zandt, Willie Nelson.
Saturday 21st August, Doors 7pm, Show 8pm – Ballinlough Park
JOHN SPILLANE & LORRAINE NASH
John Spillane is a musician, songwriter, performer, recording artist, storyteller, poet and dreamer. Rooted in people, place and story, his music transports the listener and his live performances captivate audiences around the world. Inspired by his travels around Ireland, John recently released his new album ‘100 Snow White Horses’. The new songs on his first independent album in twenty years are full of poetry, Irish mythology and wonder.
With the independent release of her debut EP ‘Wildflower’ last year, multi-instrumentalist Lorraine Nash quickly became one of the most played female artists on Irish radio. However, it was with her follow up single Winter Sun that she really announced herself, with the track being a regular on the playlists of several national stations. Her live-streamed set at Cork Opera House in December led to the Kerry singer-songwriter signing with FIFA Records with whom she has released the current track, Sing With Her, the first from her impending debut album.
Friday 27th August, Doors 7pm, Show 8pm – Fitzgerald’s Park
THE FRANK & WALTERS
The Frank and Walters’ career spans over 30 years with hit singles such as “After All” and “Fashion Crisis Hits New York.” They have appeared on Top of the Pops and many TV shows in all corners of the globe as well as playing throughout the world on planes, trains, boats and famous rooftops. “After All” became a hit again when it featured centre stage in the Young Offenders BBC 3 TV series.
Saturday 28th August, Doors 2pm, Show 3pm – Fitzgerald’s Park
STEVIE G presents…
Cork DJ Stevie G proudly presents a local based line-up of up and coming music talent. AbbiLee (Oluchi) is a young soul & RnB artist who shows great promise while 16 year old guitarist & producer Sam Healy is getting lots of attention following the release of his own ‘Cherry Cola’ EP as well as featuring on a number of collab tracks. Jena Keating is another newcomer making big waves with a slew of stunning singles in 2021. The multi-talented Blakkheart produces & sings on her own unique soul & electronic landscapes. King Koko and Minnie Marley bring attitude to the mic with everything from dancehall, rap, afro & drill and Meghan Murray, who recently finished studying here, returns to Cork to perform her own blend of soulful jazz & pop.
Saturday 28th August, Doors 7pm, Show 8pm – Fitzgerald’s Park
MOCKIE AH
Mockie Ah is a bonkers, eccentric, glittering, camp, queer, progressive, inclusive and loving family of performers and artists based in Cork. Ireland’s biggest drag house and queer cabaret show was founded by Candy Warhol in August 2017 as a response to the lack of queer spaces in Cork City. The troupe are now coming into their fourth year. With an ever expanding lineup, the collective have gone from strength with regular national sell out cabaret shows, club nights, festival appearances and gigs in Amsterdam and Edinburgh.
In late 2019 they were the subject of a morning pride special for Ireland AM for national broadcaster TV3 and in June 2021 a TV documentary, Kin Of Kweens, was broadcast on RTÉ. The documentary follows several of the Haus members from gig to gig over their last year together before the pandemic.
Sunday 29th August, Doors 5pm, Show 6pm – Fitzgerald’s Park
THE SOUNDS OF SLIABH LUACHRA
Sliabh Luachra is a distinct area which lies between the North Cork, Kerry and Limerick border, that is home to a style of traditional Irish music, exclusive to the area. This concert celebrates some of the best purveyors of that tradition. It will be presented by Eoin ‘Stan’ O’Sullivan and feature West Limerick’s own Maura O’Connor, Emma O’Leary of Scartaglin as well as Jackie Daly and Matt Cranitch, all acknowledged masters of the rich musical tradition of Sliabh Luachra. Maura & Emma both will showcase music from their recently released albums on the brand new Sliabh Luachra label.
Saturday 4th September, Doors 7pm, Show 8pm – The Glen River Park
AN EVENING OF CLASSICAL & POP
with Jack O’Rourke, Keith Pascoe, Sinead Ní Mhurchu and more
The final evening of ‘Magic Nights By The Lee’, will see a huge lineup of artists performing classical and pop pieces at The Glen River Park. Artists include singer-songwriter Jack O’Rourke, opera singer Sinead Ní Mhurchú, and Keith Pascoe of the Vanbrugh Quartet with an array of young and local talent taking the stage throughout the evening.
All events will comply with Covid guidelines. Tickets are free for all shows but need to be reserved in advance. All tickets available from this link https://www.eventbrite.ie/o/
