Latest news with #TheDublinGospelChoir
The Irish Sun
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
The 2 Johnnies announced as headliners for ‘spooky' Irish festival as full line-up revealed & exact ticket sale time
THE 2 Johnnies have been revealed as a headline act at a huge Irish festival this October - and tickets go on sale this Friday. The iconic Puca Festival will take place for a second year in a row in Co Advertisement 3 The 2 Johnnies have been named as headliners for Puca Festival 3 Puca Festival has announced its full line-up 3 Puca Festival will take place this October 30 to November 2 Working in partnership with Irish artists, seanchai storytellers, and the local community, Puca Festival 2025 will offer four unforgettable days and nights of music, myth, food and folklore. And Ireland 's favourite funny lads will be fronting the festival alongside a lineup of impressive acts. Festival goers will also be treated to a stunning performance from The Dublin Gospel Choir in their Moonlight: The Philip Lynott Enigma show. Advertisement READ MORE IN SHOWBIZ As the sun sets and the ceremonial fire is lit on Friday, October 31 visitors will gather at the Fair Green in Athboy to join the Lighting of the Samhain Fire to honour their ancestors. The heritage town of Trim will host four nights of supernatural spectacle, music, and comedy , set against the stunning backdrop of Trim Castle, including the The Púca Procession: The Gathering of the Spirits on Saturday, November 1. And as Halloween historically marked the end of the harvest season, the Puca Festival embraces the quality of the local produce on its doorstep in Boyne Valley. Visitors can expect to indulge in traditional barmbrack, colcannon and baked apples as they immerse themselves in the local offerings at the Harvest Market. Advertisement Most read in Music Exclusive New for 2025, on Halloween night, the Puca Festival Samhain Banquet will also take place at the Darnley Lodge. This year's festival theme is Connecting with Our Roots which draws on the physical and emotional ties to Ireland and our ancestral past during Samhain. Ireland AM hosts dress up for Halloween While Trim and Athboy are serviced by a strong public transport network, there are plans to add a number of Puca Bus services to bring visitors from Dublin, Drogheda and In addition, there will be regular shuttle buses running between Trim and Athboy throughout the festival. Advertisement Many more acts will be added to the line up over the coming weeks, and festivalgoers are advised to keep an eye on for news . So if you're looking to celebrate Halloween in a truly ghoulish style, make sure to nab tickets before they're gone.
Irish Examiner
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Gig review: Qween reign supreme as they roll out a tribute to Freddie and co
Qween and The Dublin Gospel Choir, Olympia Theatre, Dublin, ★★★☆☆ Queen rule and those who claim to disagree are only fooling themselves. Sadly and for obvious reasons we won't see them again, although what remains of the band played a great Marlay Park gig in 2018, so their beloved music is perfect tribute band material. As the Bootleg Beatles, mop topping for forty-something years, and others have proven, there's plenty of interest in this sort of thing if it's done right. Enter, then, Qween who've deservedly sold out several large venues across the country, including Limerick's King John's Castle. There wasn't much wiggle room in the Olympia last Saturday either, and with good reason as Qween put on a proper show. Right from the opening extended One Vision freak out, John Deacon (Eoghan O'Neill, in appropriate O'Neill's GAA short shorts), Roger Taylor (Graham Sheridan), and James McGeehan on keys are tight as a recession budget. To be honest I look more like Brian May than Thomas Brunkard, but that doesn't matter because his guitar is on fire. Tapping the neck one minute, pulling out a slide the next, he gets that sound right on everything from a stately Who Wants To Live Forever to a fierce Hammer To Fall. Qween performing I Want To Break Free. It all centres on Freddie, though, and the marvellous Brian Keville is equal to the task. The moustache he claims is real deserves its own dressing room and he suggestively employs the trademark half mic stand when appropriate (ie all the time). He parades about in drag with Hoover for I Want To Break Free, sports a jacket possibly pinched off Carmen Miranda, and even does the Mercury mouth wriggle. On top of all that, his voice is spectacular, whether he's commanding the histrionics of The Show Must Go On, leading the crowd through Mercury's call-and-response of 'Aaaa-OH!', or making us all weep during These Are The Days Of Our Lives. The appearance of two scantily clad females with suitably ample posteriors for Fat Bottomed Girls is one thing, and they unquestionably do make the rocking world go round, but the addition of the Dublin Gospel Choir is inspired. Providing vocal support throughout, although Keville hardly needs it, they come into their own for an absolutely superb Somebody To Love and the gloriously over-the-top operatics of Bohemian Rhapsody. As it should be, it's a celebration of those immortal hits from soup to nuts, delivered with skill that surpasses mere imitation. Go see them.
