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Irish Times
04-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
All Together Now 2025 highs and lows: ‘CMAT for president', €8 for two cans of Sprite
HIGHS CMAT's headline set CMAT solidified her place at the forefront of Irish music with her All Together Now headline set . Alongside her powerhouse performance, the Irish country-pop singer also got the crowd to do what she called the 'Dunboyne County Meath Two-Step', in which thousands of fans swayed from side to side, in a trance to her lyrics. They then applauded thunderously for a sign in the crowd that was shown on the main stage's screen: 'CMAT mar uachtarán' – 'CMAT for president'. After the performance she gave at Curraghmore Estate on Saturday night, they might just be right. [ CMAT's powerhouse set could be the best performance at All Together Now 2025 Opens in new window ] Irish artists ruling the weekend The other big stand-out performance was from Fontaines DC , who, like CMAT, drew one of the largest main-stage audiences of this year's festival. How thrilling to see Irish musicians at the very top – and perfectly comfortable there, to boot. [ Fontaines DC: Biggest Irish group since U2 hit ferocious highs at all-conquering homecoming gig Opens in new window ] Relocated Arcadia stage The steam-punk goth arena's new location made it easier to access and increased its capacity – a great innovation if you wanted to rave until 4am to hardcore techno accompanied by theatrical flames spewing from the baroque stage. Ollie, Gavin and James from Dublin arrive on site for All Together Now. This year the campsites were close to the main arena, meaning carrying gear in and out was less hassle than in previous years. Photograph: Dan Dennison Campsites' closeness The campsites' proximity to the main arena was an absolute win. It meant that, during the day, people could gather in the communal areas, get lunch and listen to the daytime acts – something that doesn't feel as viable at bigger festivals, such as Electric Picnic. The Bandstand area, in particular, had crowds sitting on the grass, catching up, having food and listening to acts throughout the day. READ MORE Chilling in the Curraghmore gardens One of the other ways that some of the weekend's 30,000 festivalgoers chilled out was by heading for the gardens of the Curraghmore Estate. Sitting back as a seanchoíche storytelling session unfolded in the background was the perfect way to get a quick respite. Getting a wave from the lucky few staying in the big house was a bonus. Festival look If you were to bottle up the vibes of Drury Street in Dublin and send them on the train down to Waterford, that would be All Together Now 2025. This year's festival look included jerseys, Fontaines DC and CMAT merch, short shorts and ruffled mini skirts, not to mention Pellador jumpers, Bohs jerseys – see Lows, below – and mullets. Also, solidarity to the girls wearing cowboy boots: the blisters can't be forgiving. Ecofriendly festivalgoers and a team of staff kept the area clean, constantly tidying up rubbish. Photograph: Dan Dennison Ecofriendly audience The arena felt very clean – much cleaner than at other festivals. This was presumably in part down to the staff who were constantly cleaning up rubbish, but also down to ecofriendly festivalgoers who made sure to take their waste away with them. LOWS Preposterous cost of food Festivalgoers felt the sting of the cost-of-living crisis at the festival's food trucks. Photograph: Dan Dennison The lowest price for a meal at an Irish festival is now €15 – assuming you don't want to a drink to go with it. Festivals are supposed to be where we go to escape the pressures of every day life, but the cost-of-living crisis was making its presence felt at All Together Now. At Glastonbury three-quarters of the food trucks have a £6 offering , according to the huge British festival. That sounds like an idea well worth emulating. Prices at the 24-hour Londis In what economy is it acceptable for two cans of Sprite to cost €8? In the economy of the All Together Now's campgrounds, it seems. But the flagship shop on what quickly became known as the strip – a string of shops that attracted behaviour similar to what you might see in Albufeira or Zante – was nevertheless a lifeline for many. It sold essentials like a pint of milk and meal-deal sandwiches, possibly sustaining thousands over the weekend. Water waits On the ecofriendly front, many people brought their own water bottles. This is great in theory, but the campsites could have had a few more taps to facilitate refilling them as the queues got pretty long at times. Bohs' Fontaines DC overload Bohemian FC's Fontaines DC shirts are eye-catching – and how great to see an Irish soccer team in the spotlight – but it would have been nice to see some variety around the site. Also, have the hipsters moved on and embraced GAA jerseys as ' League of Ireland is cool' fatigue sets in? The prominence of GAA club tops suggests that may be the case. Rain couldn't stop fans flocking to see Nelly Furtado perform on the main stage on the last night of All Together Now. Photograph: Kieran Frost/Redferns Sunday-night rain You always want to go out on top, so it was slightly disappointing when it began to drizzle on Sunday night, especially after a particularly dry and sunny weekend. It didn't stop the crowds from flocking to Nelly Furtado to round out the weekend, although it did mean the predrinks were rather wet if your group didn't think ahead of time and bring a marquee.
Irish Times
03-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Blindboy comes out on his phone at All Together Now 2025: ‘I'm showing my mum this many people actually showed up'
Festivalgoers are being kind to themselves on the final day of All Together Now after burning the candle at both ends on Friday and Saturday at the Curraghmore Estate, in Co Waterford. Part of that means charging their phones despite an €8 fee, as well as an almost half-hour wait to reach the top of the queue – the price, it seems, of staying in contact with tentmates and the outside world. Loud huffing and puffing is coming from one not-so-happy camper towards the front of the line, who tells The Irish Times that his battery was on 15 per cent when he joined the wait and is now down to 3 per cent. 'It's a bit of an oxymoron' to call it a phone-charging queue, he says. Campers are also flocking to the showers after perhaps not washing for two or three days; others are buying breakfast burritos and iced coffees in a pavilion that, only a few hours earlier, was thumping with beats provided by Groove Armada. READ MORE At noon, as the comedian and podcaster Blindboy takes to the festival's second-biggest stage, in the Something Kind of Wonderful tent, he apologises to the crowd for being on his phone as he came out. 'I'm showing my mum that this many people actually showed up,' he tells the thousands of people sitting in front of him. It's impressive when any act draws such a large crowd, but particularly so when the artist is first up on the day's time sheet and will be talking about social issues such as inequality and the effects of toxic masculinity. He earns chuckles by asking the crowd if they have 'sore heads and sore bums' before reading them his short story I'll Give You Barcelona. The audience are listening to his every word. All Together Now 2025: Blindboy in the Something Kind of Wonderful Tent. Photograph: Stephen Conneely Nelly Furtado , the Canadian singer whose first big song was I'm Like a Bird, in 2000, which she followed up with a string of other hits, will be on the main stage on Sunday night to close out the final day of All Together Now 2025. When she was in Ireland last year, she ended her set at the Forbidden Fruit festival with a mash-up of her song Say It Right with Glue, by Bicep , the Belfast-born, London-based techno duo who headlined Saturday night at All Together Now with strong plays of Glue and other hits, such as Water and Apricots. It was their Chroma line-up – an audiovisual series that harmonises heavy techno with an intense light show – that really stood out. On Sunday afternoon, All Together Now campers are both hoping that Furtado will repeat her remix and eagerly awaiting their chance to scream 2000s hits at the top of their lungs.
Irish Times
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Fontaines DC at All Together Now 2025: Biggest Irish group since U2 hit ferocious highs at all-conquering homecoming gig
Fontaines DC Main stage, Friday ★★★★★ Grian Chatten , the Fontaines DC frontman, must feel he's come to All Together Now underdressed, as he seems to be the only person on Curraghmore Estate on Friday night not wearing a Bohemian FC jersey bearing his band's name. He makes up for the fashion lapse by leading the band through an all-conquering homecoming gig at which the biggest Irish group since U2 hit ferocious new highs. They open with the title track from Romance , their fourth album, a psychedelic onslaught that showcases the quintet's talent for guitar pop that is both feather-light and hard-hitting. Fontaines have defied the convention of flogging one or two ideas to death. The album which they released 18 months ago, is a leap forward full of piercing pop moments that would have stunned anyone who caught the band sharing a bill with Shame and The Murder Capital in 2018. READ MORE They proceed with stately briskness through their hit parade. Beginning with an onslaught of guitar, Boys in the Better Land is The Dubliners if they'd got really into punk in 1977. Nabokov is Yeatsian art-rock with a hint of the surreal in its lyrics ('He's selling insurance, selling clouds in the sky) – Lou Reed's Velvet Underground meets David Lynch's Blue Velvet. Banter isn't their thing. Chatten introduces I Love You by proclaiming 'F*** the far right,' as the video screens proclaim 'Free Palestine'. The singer elsewhere compensates for his lack of loquaciousness by wearing a sort of cyberpunk sarong with shades of Shane MacGowan replacing Keanu Reeves in The Matrix. He is accompanied by a light show of intense pink and green that suggests a trip to a psychedelic sweetshop. [ Fontaines DC's Grian Chatten: 'Romance took a lot out of us. It was like a bomb went off, and then that silence' Opens in new window ] Fontaines DC have been playing festivals through the summer. This show could easily have been just another ticket punched at the end of a busy year of touring. But as they finish with Starburster, a mash-up of trip-hop and nu-metal, they make it clear that they want to leave an impression. At the end of day one of the biggest All Together Now to date, this is the supersized gig with pep in its step.
Irish Times
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
All Together Now 2025: The first day in pictures
Up to 30,000 festivalgoers are expected at Curraghmore Estate in Co Waterford for this year's All Together Now . The festival, now in its sixth year, is taking place over the August bank holiday weekend and boasts several stages of music, spoken word, comedy, workshops, wellness activities and more. Performers include Fontaines DC , CMAT , Wet Leg, London Grammar and Primal Scream. Other Irish music acts include Bricknasty, Landless, Muireann Bradley, Le Boom and Pigbaby. Michael Kiwanuka was due to appear on the main stage on Monday, but his performance has been cancelled on the advice of doctors due to an illness. Tickets for All Together Now 2025 are officially sold out. The organisers have strongly advised festivalgoers to avoid purchasing tickets or camper van passes from unauthorised sellers. [ All Together Now music festival 2025: Stage line-ups and times, ticket information, how to get there and more Opens in new window ] [ Early arrivals at All Together Now: 'If I'm paying €275...I'm getting my money's worth' Opens in new window ] Here's a snapshot of the first day at the festival. Helena Walsh-Kiely at the first day of All Together Now, Co Waterford. Photograph: Dan Dennison Chloe Walsh from Co Cork at the campsite on Curraghmore Estate, Co Waterford. Photograph: Dan Dennison Graham Ross from Co Kildare at All Together Now. Photograph: Dan Dennison The campsite at Curraghmore Estate, Co Waterford. Photograph: Dan Dennison David Hannon from Co Sligo (left) with friends Sinead Brett, Emma Farrell, Elaine Kenny, Niall Mockler and Michelle Sammon. Photograph: Dan Dennison Seamus Ryan (left), aged four, and Rory Ryan, aged two, from Co Tipperary arrive at the festival. Photograph: Dan Dennison Sarah McKeown and Amy Cooper from Belfast at All Together Now. Photograph: Dan Dennison Mary O'Donovan from Crosshaven, Co Cork sets up her tent at Curraghmore Estate, Co Waterford. Photograph: Dan Dennison
Irish Times
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Early arrivals at All Together Now: ‘If I'm paying €275...I'm getting my money's worth'
Some 30,000 festivalgoers began flocking to the Curraghmore Estate in Co Waterford from Thursday afternoon to pitch their tents, switch on their speakers and get settled in for the sixth edition of All Together Now . Fontaines DC , CMAT , Bicep, Primal Scream and Nelly Furtado are among the acts due to perform over the weekend, but for those attending there's a journey to be navigated beforehand. [ All Together Now music festival 2025: Stage line-ups and times, ticket information, how to get there and more Opens in new window ] The luckier ones got lifts from friends, cramming in with all their weekend necessities. Others booked a coach to make the pilgrimage in a more orderly fashion. Some cycled to the camping grounds. People wait on the quays in Dublin for coaches travelling to the festival in Co Waterford. Photograph: Sam Boal/Collins Whatever about the trip to Curraghmore, on arrival they faced a tortuous drag from the festival entrance to the campsites as they lugged several days' worth of food, the maximum amount of alcohol permitted, and outfits to suit whatever weather may come over the bank holiday weekend. READ MORE A good number opted for early entry, allowing them to have their choice of the best camping spots before the attendance swelled. But many who tried to beat the crowds reported heavytraffic leaving Dublin. All of Orlaigh Keegan's friend group opted to come on Thursday. 'If I'm paying €275 for a f***ing ticket, I'm getting my money's worth and going for four days,' she said, winning a chorus of chuckles from her friends. Thursday wasn't all plain sailing, however. Festivalgoers arrive at Curraghmore Estate, Co Waterford. Photograph: Dan Dennison A proud native of Trim, Co Meath, Keegan woke up in her Ballsbridge, Dublin apartment at 7.45am on Thursday to get a 'blow dry for the festival'. She clocked into work at the Loose Canon wine bar in Dublin 2 later that morning. However, by the end of her 10-hour shift, she reported that her 'hair was flattened' after being run off her feet serving customers wine and cheese toasties. Festivalgoers head to the campsite at All Together Now in Co Waterford. Photograph: Dan Dennison She then had to make a dash to her friend Luke's house, also in Ballsbridge, who told her they 'were leaving at 6pm on the dot'. 'I cycled to Luke's house faster than I've ever cycled before, also with a massive bag on my back and an air mattress, too,' she said, adding that this took a further toll on her hair's volume and bounce. When Keegan arrived, she was told another friend was running late and that the departure time had been pushed to 7pm. The group made the trip down to Waterford in two cars, but given the late departure, they feared they wouldn't make it in time for last entry to the Curraghmore Estate at 10pm. Christie O'Connor from Kilkenny at All Together Now. Photograph: Dan Dennison Apart from missing the turn for the M9 motorway, it was plain sailing. 'We were singing along to the All Together Now playlist, bopping along,' Keegan said. They made it in time, had a minor tiff setting up their tent, but then cracked open some cans and enjoyed the first of their four nights on the campsite.
