The Blades – still as sharp as ever four decades on - Connacht Tribune - Galway City Tribune

The Blades – still as sharp as ever four decades on - Connacht Tribune - Galway City Tribune

Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell When the Blades first formed in 1977, Dublin and Ireland was on the cusp of a historic period for guitar music.  Thin Lizzy were in their pomp; U2 and The Boomtown Rats were emerging – and the Blades, coming out of Ringsend and spearheaded by frontman Paul Cleary, were right in the mix. Forty years ago, they released their landmark record The Last Man in Europe, which featured celebrated tracks like Downmarket and…

Galway International Arts Festival 2025: Riders to the Sea/Macbeth

Marie Mullen and Marty Rea in Druid's Macbeth. Image by Ros Kavanagh****Some facts land with sobering clarity. Including there are as many years between 1925 and 1975 as there are between 1975 and today. A sobering thought. The year not chosen randomly. 1975 saw a modest theatre company arrive onto the Irish theatre landscape with J.M. Synge’s Playboy of the Western World. Their name, Druid, capturing a sense of mystery, power and tradition. Fro…