Sometimes we make mistakes. I thought Ardal O’Hanlon would be a better evening’s entertainment than Howard Marks at the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival last night and booked my ticket accordingly. However, the way things worked out, I called in to see the first half hour of the self-appointed Mr. Nice, just to see the cut […]
Author Archives: Robert McMillen
Lumiere at CQAF
La Dolce Vita. Life is sweet. Despite their short lifespan, I’ve probably seen Lumiere – Pauline Scanlon and Éilís Kennedy – more often than most other acts. The simple reason is that the duo make you realise that the simplest things are often the best. Two stunning voices joined together in holy matrimony by Apollo, […]
West Ocean String Quartet
‘Twas fitting that the West Ocean String Quartet should play at St. George’s Church in Belfast. Between 1817 and 1821, Edward Bunting, the man who recorded the music played at the 1792 Belfast Harp Festival (thereby saving a huge part of the national repertoire for posterity), was organist in this very church. One of the stained glass […]
We are children of the stars
We are stardust, we are golden … Little did I think the line from the Joni Mitchell song about Woodstock could be taken literally! We humans actually are all made up of stars. I’d heard the theory before, a TED lecture probably, but watching the wonderful first programme in the Beautiful Minds series on BBC […]
Agallamh le Edna O’Brien
Foilsíodh an t-alt seo i bhFoinse i mí na Samhna, 2007. Tamall ó shin, scríobh Anne Enright léirmheas ar an leabhar is déanaí ó Edna O’Brien, The Light of Evening. Scríobh Enright gurbh í Edna O’Brien an chéad bhean Éireannach riamh a raibh gnéas aici – roimhe sin, ní raibh ag mná na hÉireann ach páistí. Inniu is doiligh […]
Diversion at CQAF
I love the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival. For the past ten years – 2011 is the 11th festival – it has provided evenings and afternoons that live in the memory to be buffed up and shared on long, dark, wet July (sic) nights. It has everything from the glamour of Glitter and Sparkle to the […]
Aontroim Abú
He no doubt knew it was going to be a bumpy ride when the the Baker decided to shape the future of footballing in Antrim, but he couldn’t have imagined it would have been so exciting. On Saturday night, the senior football squad secured promotion to Division 2 by beating Louth after being in Division […]
A great few days of music
A great week with two great gigs at the Black Box and Down Arts Centre in Downpatrick, both part of the Moving On Music Festival. Moving on Music is a bit of a hidden gem in the avalanche of festivals that Belfast boasts of. Small but beautifully formed, it gives off different light depending on […]
The Absence of Women
Má bhaineann dráma deora asat, caithfidh go ndeachaigh sé i bhfeidhm go mór ort. Bunús an lucht éisteachta a bhí i láthair ag premiere domhanda dráma úir Owen McCafferty, The Absence of Women, ag Halla Elmwood i mBéal Feirste, bhí siad ag cuimilt a súl agus iad ag aithint rud eigin iontu féin a léirigh […]