The seeds of this unique day first germinated when Ballina Punx legend, Conor Hickey, realised that two of his friends had independently, and unknowingly, been planning the same event.
The pair, John Breslin and Patrick Hallinan, both wanted to bring some fringe sounds to their home county, with a day of boundary-pushing music from local and extralocal alternative artists, a space to celebrate the DIY values shared among those artists and a chance for some good craic while doing so.
A brand new music festival event will take place as a one-day, independent music festival set on the shores of Lough Conn, Co Mayo, called the Conncert on Saturday August 3rd at The Lodge in Cloghans Co Mayo
The three have since assembled the following lineup of acts to perform on Saturday, August 3rd: Belfast’s 3 time Northern Ireland Music Prize winners, Junk Drawer, Poor Creature (featuring members of Lankum & Landless), Fixity from Cork, Hands up who Wants to Die & Cobra Truth from Dublin, Rún (like Poor Creature, from Sligo), Y0P (representing Ballina Punx) and John of the Apocalypse from Dublin via Ballina. Sound will be monitored and engineered by Patrick Cullen of The Altered Hours.
The Conncert crew all spent their formative years in the local underground and punk community in Ballina, with each bringing this influence to other musical ventures – Community of Independents in Dublin and Cushty Gamut in London (Breslin), Ballina Punx (Hickey) and Inner Ear and The Voice & the Verse in Galway (Hallinan).
In keeping with the spirit of co-support and independence, the gig is arranged so that all proceeds from ticket sales will go directly to the artists and sound engineer on the day.
Hallinan said: “We’ve such a rich vein of interesting music in Mayo and beyond, so it feels good to do something supportive and to bring folks together to enjoy this.”
And Breslin, who went to national school only a stone’s throw from The Lodge, said: “It feels great to bring these brilliant and weird acts so close to home.
“I’ve done a bit of touring around the DIY community in Europe and the US and have always been blown away by how well we’re looked after.
“So the plan is to bring a bit of that to the Conncert and hopefully show the players and attendees a fantastic time,” he added.
The Conncert takes place in The Lodge, Cloghans, Lough Conn, Co. Mayo (F26 XY81) on Sat, Aug 3rd 2024 from 3pm. Tickets can be bought here for a very reasonable €20. Camping will be available beside the pub.
Links to all acts performing at this event.