Now in its fifth edition in Waterford’s Curraghmore Estate, All Together Now Festival returned this weekend with an electric mix of electronica, intricate R&B, Cincinnati soft-rock and hardcore breakbeat; all under the shining southeast sun.
Whilst headliners The National, The Prodigy and Jorja Smith drawing diverse crowds, it was the second tier acts such Future Island, Glass Beams, Paul Kalkbrenner, Confidence Man and Declan McKenna that really stood out among the rest.
McKenna, donned in an Irish soccer jersey, was an unexpected smash of the opening night. Beginning with ‘Sympathy’, the biggest hit from his latest album ‘What Happened To The Beach?’, he played a blistering set including the likes of ‘The Kids Don’t Want To Come Home’, ‘Mulholland’s Dinner And Wine’, ‘British Bombs’ before finishing off with ‘Brazil’, as the ever-threatening rain clouds department midway through. It was a brilliantly introductory set for the uninitiated and all those who had just arrived on site.
The weekend-stealing set of the weekend took place the following evening, as the one and only Natasha Bedingfield took to the stage and drew in one of the biggest mainstage crowds of the weekend. As the sun reached its height, Bedingfield opened her set with ‘Love Live This’ before leaping gleefully into ‘Pocketful of Sunshine’ to the delight of all in attendance. A short, nine-track set which included covers of Coldplay, Prince (“I’m feeling Sinead O’Connor, I’m feeling her power” she added as the final chords of ‘Purple Rain’ ran out) and The Weeknd; Bedingfield wowed throughout before bringing the party to a close with ‘Unwritten’, which was sung back with enthusiasm. “I’ll always have a soft spot for Ireland” she smiles, “you guys gave me the first number one of my career and for that I’m forever grateful”.
She was followed later by the evening’s main stage headliners The National. The New York formed five piece played tracks from across their ten-album discography. Opening with ‘Sea of Love’ from 2013’s ‘Trouble Will Find Me’, their chill rock aesthetic stood out in comparison to the brashness and colour of previous acts. In particular, they struck an odd chord when compared to the following night’s headliners The Prodigy; which is volume personified; as Maxim leapt across the stage with the energy of a man far younger than his 57 years.
The Prodigy, as is always the case, played as though this was the last show on earth. Crowd favourites of ‘Invaders Must Die’, ‘Firestarter’ and ‘Omen’ went off a storm as per, whilst some of the lesser-known hits such as ‘Poison’ and ‘Get Your Fight On’ were met with wild cheers from patches of the crowd.
Away from the main stage, one of the true joys of the weekend was the Kabin Crew, a group of nine to twelve year olds from a youth group in Knocknaheeny in Cork City, who had seen their song ‘The Spark’ go mega-viral earlier in the year. The track, which has attracted over 350 million views across TikTok, YouTube and Spotify, is in-arguably one of the songs of the summer alongside the likes of Sabrina Carpenter, Kendrick Lamar and Chappell Roan. Similar to the world settling down every night this month to watch athletes from across the globe achieve their dreams in Paris; it’s a nice reminder how fun it can be to see people enjoy themselves; and its little doubt that Kabin Crew were having the time of their lives.
Ireland’s rock movement is alive and well with West Cork’s Cardinals kicking off the Lovely Day’s stage on Friday evening, one of the many Irish acts to impress across the three days. Belfast’s Chalk proved why they are the latest talk of the town, whilst Sprints and NewDad continued to pick up steam on Sunday following the release of their debut albums in January and February respectively.
Waterford’s very own Alex Gough played a rare Irish set following his move to London, singer-songwriter Rachel Lavelle wowed The Circle playing tracks from 2023’s ‘Big Dreams’ as well as a haunting cover of ABBA’s ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’, Zimbabwean-Irish artist Shiv delivered with tracks from her own upcoming album, whilst indie’s own EFÉ proved she’s not to be forgotten easily. Elsewhere, fast-rising indie folk outfit Kingfishr and Dublin creative Kojaque played to packed tents on Friday and Saturday, whilst local lads King Kong Company fittingly stepped up to the plate as last-minute replacements to close out the main stage on Saturday night.
Joy (Anonymous), Ross from Friends, Floating Points, Kiasmos and The Wailers also proved highlights of the weekend, each bringing their own unique vibes to festivities. With a lovely mix of everything from comedy to cooking, weaving to reading, and podcasts to comedy roasts available in the curious minds tents whenever your feet became too heavy; all in the lovely surrounds of a gorgeous estate, there’s little more you could ask for.
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Words: Cailean Coffey
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