First ever Caravan of Love Festival deemed a huge success

The Four of Us on stage at the Caravan of Love Festival on Saturday night

The first ever Caravan of Love Festival held in Gyles Quay over the weekend has been declared a complete success by organisers Niall Ferguson and Stewart Agnew.

The first festival goers began arriving in the peninsula on Thursday evening and despite the torrential rain on Friday night an excited audience were in their seats in plenty of time for top class performances by Stewart Agnew and James Humston while headliner Damien Dempsey raised the roof with a strong performance that had everyone on their feet and singing.

Day two had a family fun element with a Pelican Play Zone for children while music lovers were in the Caravan of Love Marquee for afternoon performances by The Stormers, We the Oceanographers, Paul Bailey Band, Mother Made Us and The Sensations.

Saturday night’s audience were queuing at the door while soundchecks were going on inside Ferguson’s Bar and were not to be disappointed by excellent performances from Cian Connolly and Finnian.

The Four of Us gave an amazing performance and the audience were once again on their feet, dancing and singing along with Brendan Murphy declaring from the stage ‘What an amazing night – What an amazing setting!’

Mundy who had only returned from the US the previous night was, by his own admission, sleep deprived, not that anyone would have known by the amazing set he performed. Of course ‘Galway Girl’ was a huge success as was ‘July’ which moved into Bruce Springsteen’s ‘I’m on Fire’.

The Festival wound down on Sunday afternoon with more performances in the Marquee, this time from Pete & Tara Johnson and Zoe Conway & John McIntyre.

Both Niall Ferguson & Stewart Agnew are more than happy that they invested months of time and effort to create a festival that celebrated not only national music but supported local musicians and enterprise.

Niall said: “This was our first festival here at Ferguson’s Bar and we’re delighted with how things have gone. It’s not just been down to us, we enlisted the help of a number of local businesses and the people in the area have been very supportive, so it has been a very positive experience for the area.

Stewart was also happy. He said: “It’s been a great opportunity to have our own local talent play on the same stage with legendary names such as Damien Dempsey, The Four of Us and Mundy. It was also fantastic to hear our top musicians tell us how much they enjoyed the Festival.”

The Caravan of Love organisers had a number of thanks:

• Diageo
• Stephen Hand, Stage & Lighting
• All Ferguson bar staff, security etc
• Anthony & Anne Ferguson
• Claire Ferguson
• All performers, both in the Bar and the Marquee
• Local residents for supporting a local initiative
• Photospeed.ie & Carroll’s Bookshop
• Ferguson’s Bar Facebook friends
• Pelican Promotions
• Local press including LMFM, Argus, Dundalk FM and Talk of the Town
• And a final huge ‘THANK YOU’ to the audience for supporting Caravan of Love.

Dundalk singer/songwriter David Keenan signs record deal with Vilkas Records

Local singer/songwriter David Keenan yesterday put pen to paper on a record deal with Vilkas Records

The Dundalk-based music label have snapped up Keenan on the back of his recent success with his track ‘El Paso’, which went viral across the world after his performance of the song in the local Maxi Taxi, run by Mark Kavanagh

Keenan has shown his talent with a superb follow up track, The Friary, and we are sure to hear plenty more about him in the months ahead.

Other local artists on the label include Pete Johnson, Gugs and Damien McKenna.

Commenting on the deal, the label said: “Vilkas Records would like to welcome rising artist David Keenan to the label.

“We look forward to working with David in developing his music career.”

Check out El Paso below….

Caravan of Love line-up revealed

The line up for Ireland’s newest music festival, Caravan of Love 2015 was announced at a special launch reception in Ferguson’s Bar & Caravan Park, Gyles Quay on Friday night.

The 4 of Us turned up at the launch event to support concert promoters Niall Ferguson and Stewart Agnew and gave the audience just a taste of what is to come this September.

Caravan of Love 2015 will run from Friday 11^th to Sunday 13^th September. Headline acts will perform in the Ferguson’s Bar venue on the Friday and Saturday with outdoor performances on the Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The weekend event is supported by Diageo.

The line up for the main performances are as follows:

• Friday September 11^th: Damien Dempsey, Duke Special, Zoe Conway & John McIntyre.
• Saturday September 12^th: Mundy, The 4 Of Us, Stewart Agnew

Also performing over the weekend will be Finnian, David Keenan, The Oceanographers and Pete Johnson, with many more acts to be announced.

Speaking at the launch, Niall Ferguson and Stewart Agnew spoke on the potential they see for the Caravan of Love Festival.

“Ferguson’s Caravan Park has been a part of Gyles Quay for many years now and we are currently working on expanding our facilities with modern glamping pods to cater to a new generation of camping enthusiasts,” explained Niall.

“Caravan of Love 2015 is another way in which we are expanding our offering. We have asked our regular customers for their opinions on this and they are fully behind us. In fact they can’t wait for their very own end of summer festival. Working with Stewart we have put together a fantastic line up for our first year and with the generous support of Diageo, we hope that it is the start of a successful event for Gyles Quay.”

Local singer/songwriter Agnew is enthusiastic about Caravan of Love 2015.

“I’ve seen how ideal Ferguson’s Bar is as a live venue. Add to that the location, the end of summer atmosphere and the high calibre of performers and it’s an opportunity I couldn’t pass up the chance to be involved in.

“Aside from the main nightly gigs the outdoor performance is also an ideal opportunity for local musicians to take to the stage and hopefully we get to see them in years to come as headliners!”

Tickets for Caravan of Love 2015 are on sale now from Ferguson’s Bar & Caravan Park, Gyles Quay; Valentines, Carlingford; Photospeed, Long Walk SC, Dundalk and Carrolls Bookshop, Park St, Dundalk.

Day tickets are priced at €35 per day with Weekend tickets €65

For further information on Caravan of Love contact Ferguson’s Bar at 042 9376660.

Your chance to feature in Jinx Lennon’s video for new single Water Meter Man

Local singer/songwriter Jinx Lennon will be recording the video for his new single ‘Water Meter Man’ this coming weekend and is encouraging locals to get involved.

Anyone who would like to be in the video is asked to be outside the courthouse on Sunday morning at 9am. Around 200 people are needed for the video.

You can also listen to Jinx broadcasting live from St Pat’s Mental Institution for the pop-up radio station www.upbeat.ie at 1pm today. He will be talking about mental health on the show and also singing some of his songs on mental health.

Jinx, aka The Free State Nova, will be performing live in The Spirit Store on Friday April 10^th, with tickets now on sale priced €10. He will be supported on the night by Dundalk’s Pete Johnson and Yorkshireman Joe Murphy AKA Sergeant Buzfuz.

You can find out more about Jinx at www.jinxlennon.com

Damien Dempsey, Mundy and Duke Special to headline new Caravan of Love music festival in Dundalk

Damien Dempsey, Mundy and Duke Special have been announced as the headliners for the Caravan of Love music festival in Gyles’ Quay from Friday September 11^th to Sunday September 13^th.

Also set to feature at the event at Ferguson’s Bar and Caravan Park are Newry act The 4 Of Us and a wide range of local performers including Stewart Agnew, Zoe Conway and John McIntyre, Finnian, David Keenan, The Oceanographers and Pete Johnson.

Tickets, priced €35 for a day ticket or €65 for a weekend ticket, will be available from Ferguson’s Bar, Valentine’s in Carlingford, Photospeed in the Longwalk Shopping Centre and Carroll’s Book Shop in Park Street.

The official launch of the festival will take place this Friday night in Ferguson’s Bar at 8pm.

Diageo are the main sponsors with further details available by calling 087 6440384 or 087 6140961.

Pete Johnson releases Dundalk-themed single ‘Lilywhite Lounge’

The success of David Keenan’s recent performance of El Paso has made songs about Dundalk popular again.

Now another has emerged with local singer/songwriter Pete Johnson releasing the track ‘Lilywhite Lounge’ last night.

The first single from his forthcoming album ‘Get On With It’, which was produced by Vilkas Records, the video is definitely worth a look.

While it’s based around the pub at Oriel Park and features many shots at the Carrick Road venue, the video also takes in many other parts of the town.

Check it out above and check out more info on Pete at www.petejohnson.rocks