This is a summary of the year 2008 in the Irish music industry.
Summary
January On Wednesday January 9 the nominations for Irish Album of the Year 2007 were announced. The winner received the Choice Music Prize on Wednesday February 27. On January 11–12, Cathy Davey, Republic of Loose, Si Schroeder and Halves will be amongst the acts representing Ireland at the Eurosonic Festival in Groningen in the Netherlands. On Saturday January 19 Primordial recorded their performance at The Button Factory (formerly Temple Bar Music Centre) for inclusion in a possible concert DVD On Tuesday January 22 it was announced that the low budget Irish movie Once had been nominated in the Best Original Song category at this year's Oscars. The song nominated was "Falling Slowly", written by the film's stars Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard. On January 28, doubt was expressed as to the song's eligibility for the award but the matter was later resolved. On January 27, Dolores O'Riordan received an EBBA Award in Cannes for her debut solo album, Are You Listening?.
February On Monday February 4, tickets for Eric Clapton's performance at Malahide Castle in June went on sale at €76.25. On Tuesday February 5 at 9 a.m. tickets for The Kooks and Radio Soulwax performances at the Heineken Green Energy festival at Dublin Castle in May went on sale. On Saturday February 9, whilst playing a free gig in Dublin, Frank Black was bundled away in a squad car. He had planned to play a short set at the bandstand on St Stephen's Green before his Vicar Street headliner but instead was bundled into a Garda car and whisked away. Smashing Pumpkins returned to Ireland for the first time since their 2007 reformation. On Saturday February 9, they played the RDS Simmonscourt in Dublin and on Sunday February 10, they played the King's Hall in Belfast. They were supported on both occasions by Concerto For Constantine. Also on Sunday February 10 the 50th Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California in the United States. Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, his co-star in Once, were up for two nominations; "Best Compilation Soundtrack Album" and "Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media" for the track "Falling Slowly" from Once. However they won neither. On Friday February 15, R.E.M. were confirmed to headline Oxegen 2008, the second act to be announced following Kings of Leon in November 2007. Also on Friday February 15, The Chalets announced their split via blog on their MySpace, whilst Hooray For Humans announced they had parted company with lead singer, Aine Mangaoang. February 29 saw Hooray for Humans's new members Jen and Matt being confirmed via a MySpace post, although this didn't prevent a cancellation of a series of Irish appearances (apart from a March 13 appearance in Dolan's of Limerick) as their new lineup got up to speed. Later on Friday February 15, the 2008 Meteor Awards took place in the RDS Simmonscourt. Duke Special won the Best Irish Male award and Cathy Davey won the Best Irish Female award. Aslan won Best Irish Band and Paddy Casey's Addicted to Company won Best Irish Album. Other winners included Ham Sandwich, The Blizzards, Damien Dempsey, Mundy and Sharon Shannon, Westlife and Ray Foley. On February 19, Kaiser Chiefs, The Raconteurs and Ian Brown were officially announced for Oxegen 2008. This announcement was followed by three more on the following days; The Fratellis, Interpol and Counting Crows (February 20), Hot Chip, Justice, The Chemical Brothers, Aphex Twin and Alabama 3 (February 21), and Sunday night headliners Rage Against the Machine (February 22). Also announced for Oxegen in late February were The Verve (February 24), Stereophonics, Seasick Steve, The Courteeners and Future Kings of Spain (February 25) as well as The Prodigy, The Feeling and Panic! at the Disco (February 26). On February 22, U2 released their much-anticipated 3D concert film, U2 3D. The film was the first digital 3D, multi-camera, real-time production, with nine digital 3D cameras being used to capture over 100 hours of 3D footage. Directed by Catherine Owens and Mark Pellington, the film was shot in Buenos Aires during the South American leg of the band's Vertigo Tour in 2006. On February 24, the 80th Academy Awards took place in the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California, with "Falling Slowly", from the low budget Irish movie Once and written by Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The song was performed by the duo on the night. The Choice Music Prize for Irish Album of the Year 2007 was awarded at Vicar Street to Super Extra Bonus Party for their album Super Extra Bonus Party LP on Wednesday February 27.
March On Monday March 3, Editors, The Hoosiers, Lightspeed Champion, Róisín Murphy, Battles, Richard Hawley, Kate Nash, Scouting for Girls, The Zutons, Newton Faulkner, Pendulum and Bowling for Soup were announced for Oxegen 2008. On Wednesday March 5 at 8 a.m., tickets went on sale for Prince's performance at Croke Park on June 16, priced at €66.50. On Thursday March 6, the first issue of State appeared on Irish shelves. By October it was being given away for free. Also on Thursday March 6, Oxegen 2008 was officially launched with official confirmation of appearances by Amy Winehouse, The Pogues, The Charlatans and The Swell Season, featuring Oscar winners Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. A breakdown of the acts was also revealed for the first time. This was in preparation for Friday March 7, when tickets for the festival went on general sale at 8 a.m. On Monday March 10 at 9 a.m., tickets for Neil Young's Malahide Castle show on Sunday June 29 and his performance at the Marquee in Cork on June 30, priced at €81.25 standing, went on sale. On Wednesday March 12 at 9 a.m., tickets for Lou Reed's performance at the Marquee in Cork on Monday June 23 went on sale, priced between €54.80 and €65.70. On March 12, a new website offered free festival tickets in exchange for sperm donations. On Thursday March 13, there was "uproar" and "bewilderment" as it was revealed that R.E.M.'s new album Accelerate would be accepted as "Irish music" by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. As the album was recorded in Grouse Lodge Studios in County Westmeath it qualifies as "Irish". BCI chief executive Michael O'Keeffe confirmed this was to be the case. "It's supporting the Irish music industry," he said. Kylie Minogue, who recorded a number of tracks for her album Fever in Dublin's Windmill Lane Studios, including the title track and the hit single "Love at First Sight", would also be considered "Irish". Irish musicians openly condemned the position. Steve Wall said that it was "the first time I heard that". "It sounds ridiculous. Shame on them", was the view of Concerto For Constantine bassist, Gavin Fox, calling it "just another excuse for stations not to get behind Irish music". Kíla's Colm Ó Snodaigh referred to how "we used to have Def Leppard and Lisa Stansfield living here as tax exiles, does that mean they'd count as Irish too?" and stating that R.E.M. "certainly don't need the extra airplay". Julie Feeney called for "a bit of imagination and persistence from a DJ who's willing to take the jump and play Irish artists." Louis Walsh called it "crazy" and criticised Irish stations constantly playing United States acts such as Timbaland, Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, making the point that Snow Patrol's success came largely out of their music appearing on a US TV show and emphasising the difficulties faced by potential future U2s. Music directors at local radio stations Red FM (Cork) and Phantom 105.2 (Dublin) said that they would not include international artists who had recorded in Ireland as part of their required "Irish music" output. On Friday March 14, the Apple iPhone was launched in Ireland, available on the O2 network only. Churchtown student Philip Cosgrave (21), was the first person in the country to purchase the phone. The iPhone was made available in eight and 16GB models, but these were criticised for their price, retailing in Ireland for €399 and €499 respectively. Also on Friday March 14, tickets for Leonard Cohen's June 14 and 15 dates at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham went on sale, priced from €88.50 to €115. The shows were Cohen's first Irish dates in twenty years. Tickets for a third date (June 13) went on sale on Wednesday March 26 at 9 a.m. On Sunday March 16 at approximately 01:15, the Dublin nightclub and music venue, The Village on Wexford Street caught fire. Over 800 people inside at the time were evacuated safely within seven minutes. The fire affected mainly the front of the premises and the damage to the building was not extensive. The fire was blamed on an electrical fault. Meanwhile, Bell X1's tour bus caught fire outside the hotel where they were staying in Medford, Massachusetts. Paul Noonan and David Geraghty were on board the vehicle at the time and raised the alarm after smelling smoke. Fire fighters were called to the scene shortly after 3.30 a.m. and took 90 minutes to put out the blaze, which started in the bus' ventilation/air-conditioning unit and caused an estimated $50,000 worth of damage. On Saint Patrick's Day they appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, a move that led to their Chicago show selling out. On Wednesday March 26 at 6 p.m., the line-up for Electric Picnic 2008 was announced. On Thursday March 27, promoters MCD revealed to the Herald that The Killers would be playing Marlay Park in August, adding that tickets for the event would go on sale on April 4 at 8 a.m. On Friday March 28 at 9 p.m., tickets for Electric Picnic 2008 went on sale. Weekend tickets – there were no individual day ones – cost €240 including camping, with the various sites opening at 9 a.m. on Friday August 29. Camper van access cost €60.
April On Friday April 4, tickets for The Killers and Bloc Party at Marlay Park on August 21 went on sale, whilst at 9 a.m. tickets for Paul Simon's July 3 show at the Marquee in Cork also went on sale. On Saturday April 12, Bud Rising Street Party took place outdoors at George's Dock on Custom House Quay in Dublin, with Mix Master Mike, DJ Morgan and live graffiti man Maser as well as headliners, The Streets. On Tuesday April 15, Down played the Ambassador. On Friday April 18, tickets for Metallica and Tenacious D's August 20 date at Marlay Park went on sale, priced at €74.50. On Saturday April 19 at 9 a.m., tickets for Muse and Kasabian at Marlay Park on August 13 went on sale, priced at €69.50. On Friday April 25, tickets for the August 19 appearance of Lenny Kravitz, Alanis Morissette and OneRepublic at Marlay Park went on sale.
May Heineken Green Energy took place at Dublin Castle from Saturday May 3 until Monday May 5, marking the beginning of the festival season in Ireland. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds opened the 2008 event with a sold-out show on May 3, supported by David Graney; Radio Soulwax and 2manydjs headlined on Sunday May 4, with Riton DJ Set and Das Pop; The Kooks headlined on Monday May 5, supported by The Coronas. All support acts began at 6 p.m. with headliners taking to the stage at 9 p.m. Phantom FM transformed Thomas Reads on Parliament Street into the Heineken Green Energy Festival HQ for the weekend. Win tickets On Wednesday May 7, it was announced that all tickets for Oxegen 2008 had sold out, as 40 new acts joined the bill. These included Manic Street Preachers, The Kooks, The Stranglers, Feeder, Echo & the Bunnymen, Bell X1, Groove Armada, Vampire Weekend, The Ting Tings, Black Kids, MGMT, The Coronas, Concerto For Constantine and Delorentos.