More about: All Together Now

Despite Friday’s torrential rainfall, making trekking the site a near treacherous activity in and of itself, Waterford’s All Together Now did enough to remind everyone why it is one of Ireland’s best new festivals and continue to rise up all but the most ardent nay-sayers estimations.

After a history of controversies including six hour traffic delays, the wrongful booking of anti-LGBTQ+ speakers and unconvincing headliners, all eyes were on Curraghmore House and it provided a weekend to remember. With headliners Loyle Carner, Caribou and Iggy Pop, there was something for everyone across the weekend.

By the time the majority of campers had arrived and set-up their makeshift homes for the weekend, it was almost time for Carner to take to the stage, but as he opened up with the first track from his latest album Hugo, the heavens followed suit and winds picked up perfectly to create a typhoon of rain, coming in from each and every direction. Dressed in a pair of cargo pans, a hoodie and a cap, he was unflustered by the surrounding wet. Some punters, however, were not as well prepared and as his band, featuring a drum, guitar, bass and two keyboards played through hits both new and old, watchers on began to drift to the shelter of the nearby tent. Carner was keeping the atmosphere as joyful as he could, messing with his vocal pitching for tracks such as 'Plastic' before deciding on far more upbeat arrangements for the likes of 'Georgetown'. 

Next door, under the shelter of a tent, Overmono were putting on an exhibition. Opening with the incredible 'Feeling Plain', they jumped between tracks from across their near eight year career. The beats hit hard, but more than anything it was the remarkable light show that caught everyone’s eyes, as blue beams shifted across the roof in time to tracks such as 'Gunk'. Towards the end of their send, they brought out Irish artist For Those I Love to play their collaboration 'I Have A Love' and end day one on a high.

Saturday saw The Sugababes and The Scratch reign supreme, both putting on sets to remember despite notable sound issues, which became a consistent issue across stages as the weekend progressed. The Sugababes brought the hits in abundance, attracting one of the biggest crowds of the weekend bested only by Lorde the following night. The Scratch, meanwhile, brought their trademark skill and energy in abundance and had everyone dancing their feet off. Similarly, Caribou set the main stage ablaze later in the evening, before Jamie XX capped off a day which saw the return of the much-needed sun. It’s difficult for organisers to expect such a downfall on the first evening, however a few more batches of wood chippings on a site which is naturally a hilly terrain would have been a great help, especially during the busy night periods.

Across the weekend, two murals stood either side of the mainstage, to stage left was one indebted to the Aslan frontman Christy Dignam and on stage left a beautiful piece dedicated to the great Sinead O’Connor, two Irish music heroes who have passed within the last year. Throughout the weekend, it was nods to the later than garnered the biggest cheers, with the likes of Villagers and Saint Sisters from the main stage playing covers of 'Nothing Compares 2 U' and 'Mandinka' respectively to rapterous applause.

As always with All Together Now, it was the Irish acts that proved some of the biggest stars, with the aforementioned Saint Sisters passing the main stage to Biig Piig, who was a joy to behold and undoubtedly a future headliner in the making. Last here in 2018, it’s been a big few years for Biig Piig and the happiness and delighted in her face as she ran through songs such as 'Only One', 'Picking Up' and the set closer 'Kerosene', was a wonder to witness.

Elsewhere, Kojaque, Negro Impacto, Lankum ('The Wild Rover' live will always be truely magical to experience) and Travis x Elzz continued the Irish emergence, with the latter in particular experiencing a golden moment and marking themselves as one of the most exciting sets to bear witness to throughout the weekend.

As is always the case, however, ATN left the best til last and New Zealand superstar Lorde proved why she’s so adored with a reel of her biggest hits, including opening with international megahit 'Royals'. Huge lights, monochromatic screens (“This is the nightvision version” Lorde remarked), and remarkable instrumentation and production made you feel as though you were watching a wizzened veteran of the stage. Tracks such as 'Tennis Courts' and 'Homemade Dynamite' sounded as though you were listening through headphones rather than in a field with 25,000+ others. The majority of her set came from Melodrama, her as-yet unmatched masterpiece, which gave everyone a solid grounding, but Lorde still blew it out the park when the opening notes of 'The Louvre' and 'Supercut' kicked in. The set ended on a high with 'Green Light' and sent everyone packing with a smile on their face. What could have turned into a mudbath of a weekend became something much more wonderful.

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More about: All Together Now