Music fans who attended the first large-scale concert in Ireland since the pandemic began described the experience as emotional and surreal.
A pilot concert taking place at Dublins Iveagh Gardens on Thursday evening welcomed 500 fans to witness performances by James Vincent McMorrow and Sorcha Richardson.
It is the first in a series of pilot live entertainment events, employing staggered arrival and leaving times for fans, who remained in pods of up to four people.
Demand for the gig was huge, and tickets sold out almost instantly.
People watch James Vincent McMorrow on stage during Irelands first major live gig since the pandemic, at Iveagh Gardens in Dublin. (Brian Lawless/PA)
Those who managed to get their hands on them couldnt believe their luck.
Tanya Quinn and Orla Ormond, both from Dublin, said it felt surreal to finally attend a concert.
I think back to this time last year and something like this happening, its kind of surreal Orla said.
Reflecting on the scramble for tickets, Tanya said: I had taken on the big task of trying to get the tickets, and fighting with the website for 25 minutes. After a lot of refreshing I finally got the tickets.
And I swanned in then after the hard work was done Orla joked.
James Vincent McMorrow on stage at the Iveagh Gardens in Dublin. (Brian Lawless/PA)
Tanya added: It feels amazing, absolutely amazing. I went to a small gig in March 2020, before everything shut down. I guess my last proper gig would have been December 2019.
Orla added: I cant even really remember. I had a really quiet first few months of 2020, which I regret, obviously. But it was 2019, at least.
Oisin McGramm, from Craigavon, Co Armagh, said the event marked a return to normality.
Its pretty good. 500 people, its not a bad crowd. It kind of feels like its going back to normal, which I think is important. Im just looking forward to a bit of freedom, he said.
He was joined by his friend Claire Murphy from Co Cork, who had managed to snare the coveted tickets for them.
She said: I dont know how it happened. I was just refreshing a lot, clearing my cache. I knew they were sold out, but somehow two showed up. I thought it sold out in three minutes, but I got them 25 minutes after.
Its unreal. Everybody is saying how did you manage to get two tickets? I had three devices going. Its going to be emotional I think.
James Vincent McMorrow. (Brian Lawless/PA)
Dubliner Leah Brennan said: Were buzzing, absolutely buzzing. Were really excited, especially with it outdoors and the sun shining.
I think its about time that theyre finally doing something for the music industry.
Speaking before the show, James Vincent McMorrow described returning to the live stage as magic.
It feels incredible. It is a feeling I havent personally felt in the longest time, he told Newstalk.
Even the last shows I played my expectation was there would be another show, but there wasnt.
Ive been doing this for the last 10 years, so you get a different feeling. You get butterflies but it is not the same. So today I woke up and it feels like, I dont know, like magic.
Crows in their designated pods at the concert. (Brian Lawless/PA)
He described feeling a sense of personal responsibility to fans, many of whom were coming to their first concert in over a year.
He said: There is obviously a weight of expectation that you cant help but feel.
This is the first proper, proper show back in a long time and I want to do it justice. I want to really live up to that expectation and show something.
He said musicians have found the pandemic particularly tough, with many feeling they were at the back of the queue for a return to normality.
If you dont work with music, its very hard to describe it. I assume its comparable to other industries, but this is the only one Ive known he said.
One of my drummers, Paul, described it as, when he found music, he found his tribe, he found his people.
This is a group of people who all live the same life, whether its a guitar tech or someone in my position, or in a band.
for anyone who didn’t manage to get a ticket for the show tomorrow, I’m really happy to announce that we’re live streaming the show in Iveagh Gardens on Youtube!
Thursday 10th June, 7pm (GMT)https://t.co/DRy5ZZy51N@SorchaRichardsn@NCH_Musicpic.twitter.com/xVvs6xSs0I
James Vincent McMorrow (@jamesvmcmorrow) June 9, 2021
Weve all done it because we love it and we understand the sacrifices, but we do it because this gives us our sense of meaning, our sense of purpose.
To see that come back yesterday, when we went down to the Iveagh Gardens to do our first soundcheck was honestly the greatest thing Ive felt in the longest time.
Seeing all these people that I got so used to seeing, and hadnt seen for a year-and-a-half. It was really magical.
