MacD on Music: The Grandest Stage Of Them All

Another year, another phenomenal Stendhal line-up. This year featured some of the finest (mostly) young acts from Ireland and beyond. Acts such as Red Eye Pariah, The Gatefolds, TRAMP, Cara Dillon and, of course, the Wailers graced the stages of this year’s festival and I spoke to a few of them over the course of the weekend.

Red Eye Pariah

The first act I spoke to was Red Eye Pariah, a group that I first met at last year’s festival. Speaking about their second appearance, Alex Close (bass player) said “It feels like the Wrestlemania of Irish festivals, the grandest stage of them all. There’s such a good energy about it. Regardless of the weather, everybody’s here having the best time of their lives. There’s a real sense of community.

"That’s really important when you’ve got artists, it might be their first time playing a festival, and then their first time playing Stendhal. There’s support on every stage. We were down at Adam’s Arch watching Baroda at half twelve, and they had a crowd and it was their first time playing, which is fantastic.”

Jason Feenan

Next up was Jason Feenan, probably the busiest musician at Stendhal. Jason (drummer for Touts, as well as around 600 other bands around the town) was playing with Polar Bolero, Oscar Jennings and Waldorf & Cannon at this year’s festival. Speaking about this year’s event, he told me “I saw a couple of interesting acts. That Sprints crowd, and just the general kind of vibe of the place is lovely. I love the kind of mix of people here for a real festival experience, and this is the first year that people I know have their own kids that are coming. It’s cool to see them still able to get out and enjoy themselves.”

Speaking about playing with three different acts, he said “it’s fun. Hope to be back next year with thirty. It’s been exciting preparing for it, trying to organize rehearsals and stuff, along with all the other stuff I have going on. I really enjoyed playing with Polar Bolero. It was my first gig with them and it was great craic. They’re some outfit.”

Waldorf & Cannon

On Friday night, myself and my lovely assistant caught two of Jason’s three gigs. First was the brilliant Oscar Jennings, followed by an electrifying set from Waldorf & Cannon.

I caught up with Oisin Cannon afterwards to talk about the festival: “We came up last night and the weather was pretty miserable, so it was good to see the sun coming out today. It’s a whole different festival when the sun’s out.” Speaking about their own set, he said “It was our first gig since March 2022. It’s good to be back out making some noise.”

Ethan Hollan

On Saturday, I caught up with Ethan Hollan, who’d made his Stendhal debut earlier that day: “It feels great to be asked by the Nerve Centre to play the Wooly Woodland stage. It’s a beautiful spot and the ideal spot to play a song like ‘Forest’. This was my first time being at the festival and my first time playing as well. It’s great, a lovely wee spot.”

Boy M5

Later that day, I caught up with the incredible Boy M5, following their brilliant set on the Air Stage. Speaking about the festival, lead singer Kyle said: “It’s my first time at Stendhal and I can’t believe it.

"I wish I was here every year. Best festival I’ve been to. Got soaked Thursday night and spent the rest of the time drying. We saw Cora [Harkin]. She was really good. All the Nerve Centre kids are really, really good. Got to see Newton Falkner yesterday, who’s one of my heroes. Going to see Bell X1 this evening and then just see where the evening takes us.”

TRAMP

The final act of the weekend were the always brilliant TRAMP, making their Stendhal debut on the Henry McCullough stage on Saturday night. I was chatting to Siânna (vocals/guitar) at the close of the festival.

“It felt very surreal. We were very excited in the first place, but we didn’t know we were going to be the last on until we got here on Friday. Watching other acts, the excitement built and built and built and then playing when it was dark outside was just crazy.”

And that’s it. After another brilliant, musical weekend, that’s Stendhal for another year. For more information about the festival, find them on Instagram @stendhalireland or stendhalfestival.com. As for the acts featured here, they can be found @redeyepariah (Red Eye Pariah), @jason_rlrr (Jason Feenan), @oisin.cannon or @waldorf_and_cannon (Oisin Cannon and Waldorf & Cannon), @ethan_hollan (Ethan Hollan), @boy.m5 (Boy M5) and, of course, @thisistramp (TRAMP).