After a jam packed first day roaming the All Together Now site, even the thundering sounds from Arcadia populating the air until the early hours of the morning couldn’t have kept me from getting a decent sleep. I emerged from the tent ready for another day of great music. I started off the day where it felt like a good percentage of the 35,000 punters did; outside the Something Kind of Wonderful tent eager to catch Christy Moore’s first festival set in a few decades. Unfortunately shooting stills was not possible for this act but as someone who grew up listening to his CDs this was pretty special to witness.
I then took a minor break from music and instead headed to the Well to soak up joy from my other true love; standup comedy. I caught the tail end of comedy powerhouse Catherine Bohart’s set. Crowd work in a club can be a challenge, even in an arena where you are faced with your own audience, but in a festival tent, that is an enormous hill to climb. Yet Bohart soared up that hill like an Irish scout leader up the Sugar Loaf, with what felt like mostly off-the-cuff audience observation and interaction. As a regular punter, she was hilarious, as a self-professed comedy nerd, it was a marvel to witness.
Whoever in Aiken put together this lineup should be applauded because to then follow with iconic NI comedian Paddy McDonnel, powerhouse Aoife Dunne and fan favourite Mike Rice was just a brilliant move which paid off tenfold with not an inch of space to be found to sit or stand in the tent for the afternoon show.
With a pained ribcage and a hoarse throat from all the laughing, I headed for the Something Kind of Wonderful tent to catch Irish band the Sprints who were an absolute sucker punch of energy throughout their set. There was a momentary stint of calmness and chiller vibes during the Ezra Collective set on the main stage before a descent into energetic chaos in the Jameson circle stage for Maruja’s set. The first time I’ve ever been in a mosh pit situation and is one I will surely remember for a long time. A deadly performance by this group and a highlight for me to photograph.
I caught Kae Tempest in the Something Kind of Wonderful tent next and the Gilla Band on the Road to Nowhere stage before taking a short reprieve with a sit-down and snack from the food vendors. The big names of the weekend’s schedule The Mary Wallopers and Kneecap were next on and were going to be massive sets to cover. Both groups put on an absolute beast of performance drawing in thousands of fans donning their t-shirts and specifically for Kneecap an ode to their signature tricolour balaclavas throughout the arena. The hype around these two groups is immense and their performances proved why, the crowd was literally hopping with energy, and I can safely say many a hoarse voice emerged from the arena that night. I closed out my night with a stop to the Road to Nowhere stage to catch Say She She’s brilliant set before heading back to catch some zzs before my final day on the estate.
Sprints photos:
Ezra Collective photos:
Maruja photos:
Kae Tempest photos:
Gilla Band photos:
The Mary Wallopers photos:
Kneecap photos:
Say She She photos:
Photos & Words – Lisa Hamilton @lisahamiltonphotography