Aug 13: The Belfast Fleadh

I've been reading about the Fleadh which has recently finished.

Belfast hosted the Comhaltas Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, the world’s biggest celebration of Irish music and culture, for the first time in 2026. 

The city welcomed 1.65 million people between Sunday 2 August to Sunday 9 August 2026, more than doubling the estimated 800,000 visitors.

Apr 14: Moya Brennan - RIP

Very sorry to hear of the passing of Moya Brennan: the singer and harpist with Clannad, and the vocalist who provided their signature sound to so many albums.

I featured the band in an early post on the blog.

I saw them in the early 1980s a number of times and was also present at their final ever gig at the Royal Albert Hall. 

I describe that in the post. 

I also had several of Moya's solo albums.

I liked this track with Davy Spillane on pipes...

And this one, with Bono on vocals as well as Moya...

And the track that introduced me to her voice: the theme from Harry's Game.

Condolences to Moya's family and friends...

Feb 22: U is for U2

An A-Z of bands from Spotify, based on the algorithm which suggests the best match to each letter of the alphabet.

I've listened to U2's music since 1983-ish. This goes back to their live album at Red Rocks. 

 

My first U2 experiences were back in the 1980s with albums like Boy. I remember bringing in the New Year in a holiday cottage in Wales in the late 1980s with 'New Year's Day'.

There are a few favourite songs of mine, including a live version of 'City of Blinding Lights'.

I saw U2 play in Sheffield on their 360 degrees tour in August 2010. I was in the city for another reason.

This was an outdoor concert, and their first in the city.

U2 started out in the city of Dublin in 1976.

Brendan shared a U2 story

Best concert: 

U2 at Wembley on Friday 12th June 1987, the day after the general election result. U2 were at the peak of their powers. Support included The Pretenders, Spear of Destiny and World Party. We’d tried to get tickets but it was sold out so we thought we’d go and listen to it from outside. We then realise that there was a hole in a wall above a fire escape so we managed to shin up and climb through the hole where it opened up on the roof of toilet block, which wasn’t very promising. However, we jumped down without injury and just ran before anyone could catch us and dived down one of the stairwasy onto the pitch just as everything was starting. For ‘Bullet The Blue Sky’, Bono changed the lyrics for the spoken section at the end of the song, saying ‘and they run and run, into the arms of…Margaret Thatcher’. The place erupted.


Bono has been involved in a great many political campaigns to some degree, and their shows are also very political.

I remember his involvement in the Make Poverty History campaign. A lot of us wore white wristbands for a while. There was an apocryphal story about an incident at a gig which is explored here at Snopes.

U2 Discography - AI generated.

What 'U' bands does your algorithm throw up?

What are your favourite U2 memories or tracks?

Update

Since I scheduled this post, U2 received a new EP - their first music for a long time, called 'Days of Ash' with a song called 'American Obituary'.