Anthony McG

Ryan Sheridan performing at the launch (video courtesy of @darraghdoyle)

UPDATED @ 16:25 05/08 to take account of sold out gigs
Tickets have gone on sale today for the Arthur’s Day 2011 (22nd September) gigs in Dublin, Cork, Belfast and Limerick across studio and pub venues. Earlier today, Guinness announced that, The Enemy, Seasick Steve, DJ Fresh, Labrinth, Yasmin and Maverick Sabre among a host of others have been added to the line up. As well as playing in the studio venues each of the studio artists, such as Stereophonics and Paloma Faith, will also turn up in a pub for a surprise, intimate performance on the night.

Tickets are priced at just €15/£13.50 for studio venues and €7.50/£7 for the pub venues plus booking fee and are available on www.ticketmaster.ie (we’ve got individual links below)

Guinness are also giving bands in Ireland and across the globe the chance to perform on Arthur’s Day. Countries around the world, including Australia, Italy and Germany are currently running their own local talent competitions, supported by national music stars. This amazing opportunity will give emerging talent the chance to share a stage with internationally acclaimed artists like Scissor Sisters, Stereophonics and Spanish pop rock band Pereza in Ireland on 22nd September. Runners up will also be instrumental in the celebrations in their own country, performing in local bars and pubs alongside renowned musicians.

Here’s the full lineup with links to Ticketmaster for tickets:
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I know what you’re thinking: “Why are Guinness running Arthur’s Day again?” I wondered the same myself and the figures for the marketers have probably been very favourable over the past few years. *However*, I’m positive towards the event for two reasons: first of all they’ve given Irish bands a foot up through the Our Thursday’s competition last year and secondly, all of the money from the gigs goes towards the Arthur Guinness Fund which has funded a lot of social entrepreneurs around the country. Last week Guinness drew down on a further €650,000 from the fund, which was awarded to another ten Irish social entrepreneurs. The ten entrepreneurs with each of their unique projects will not only receive financial support but also professional business mentoring over the next two years. Good stuff.

We were invited along to the launch event for 2011 last week in Whelans, Dublin. Aloe Blacc, Paloma Faith, Cashier No. 9, Ryan Sheridan and Bressie all gave live performances and, as you can see, we grabbed some shots (more here). Live footage of the performances were streamed live to the Guinness Ireland Facebook page. You can see a highlights video here. Ryan Sheridan, who I hadn’t seen before, belted out a couple of tunes for us and said: “What a year… performing for President Obama in May and now for the king of the black stuff Arthur Guinness in September. Arthur’s Day was amazing last year, can’t wait to 22nd! Hoping I’ll be rocking up to one of my old haunts on the night… but for now it’s a secret. To Arthur!” Gigs in venues and pubs will take place on the 22nd September in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Belfast, with full details and tickets available from Ticketmaster on the 4th August. We’ll be around Dublin covering some of the gigs for sure.

The artist list announced included:

Scissor Sisters, Stereophonics, Paloma Faith, Aloe Blacc, Calvin Harris, Ryan Sheridan, Ash, Miles Kane, Ed Sheeran, Royseven, Cashier No. 9, Bressie (see Darragh’s interview here), Keywest, The Kanyu Tree, The Lowly Knights, A Plastic Rose

Taken at Oxegen two weeks ago.

Dublin Bus have been rolling out live times at stops over the past few months. There’s been a lot of talk about how accurate the figures are but in my experience, on the 2 & 3 route, they’ve been very good. Displays are gradually being installed at the more popular stops but if you’ve got a smart phone, you can get live times for most routes and stops right now. Just follow the steps:

1) You need the Stop ID for the stop you want the live time info for. It might be printed on the actual stop OR you can get that from the Real Time Passenger Info site here. I’d recommend using a laptop or a desktop for that site as it’s easier to navigate on a bigger screen. Now, zoom in on the stop you want and click it. You should see something similar to the screenshot below. If you don’t, for whatever reason, try the next stop along the route. I’ve had to do that for my outbound journey. OK, so you should have a Stop ID to work with now so….

2) Go to dublinbuslive.com (on your laptop or preferably smartphone) and plug in the Stop ID and submit the form. You’ll should see something like the screen below. You can then bookmark that page and drop it onto your home screen whether Android or iPhone.

I’ve been told there are apps on the way for Dublin Bus Live times but, at the moment, this is the best way to view live times on the move. Well done to Stephen Purcell who created dublinbuslive.com.