MacD on Music: 2023: A Year in Preview

So, last week we kicked the year off with the brilliant Michelle Dowd (I hope you all went a and got her single, ‘Healing’, by the way. If you haven’t, go do it now. Don’t worry, I’ll wait). Back? Good. Now we can start.

We’re officially into 2023, and that, of course, means a whole lot of new music and all the things that go along with it. This week, I’m going to take a look at some of the highlights of the upcoming musical calendar, some local, some not-so-local, and some semi-local (you’ll see when we get there). Now, let’s see what’s in store:

New Music

2022 was a brilliant year for the local music scene. It gave us the debut and follow up singles from groups such as TRAMP and Parker (who also released a follow-follow up). This year promises even more new music, including the debut album from Parker (release date/title/everything about it TBA).

Other groups to look out for this year are the always brilliant Touts (probably a sentence you never thought you’d see), who also hope to release their debut album, and Cherym, one of the greatest live acts the city has to offer. 

Some other groups to keep an eye on: 

Dose: They showed great potential at Rock For Choice, so hopefully this year brings more from them.

Tessio: A band on the rise. 2022 saw them open for the 4 Of Us and Hothouse Flowers, as well as a headline show in Bennigan’s over Christmas.

Cora Harkin: Blowing people away with her voice since first belting out ‘Let It Go’ at the age of six, Cora has been making a name for herself in the years since. On the 27th of this month, she’s playing the Oh Yeah! Centre in Belfast with Virgins, TRAMP and the Anomalys.

Gigs

Obviously, because it’s only January, there’s a lot of gigs yet to be announced, so I’m just going to look at some of the best ones that have. Starting chronologically, there’s the previously mentioned Cora Harkin, TRAMP, Virgins and Anomalys, but 2023 also sees the much anticipated return of Bruce Springsteen. Bruce Springsteen is going to be, without a doubt, the show of the summer (or late-Spring, depends how you count May). He’s playing the RDS this May and, for first-timers, this will ruin all subsequent concerts. For the rest of us, well, we know how good it’s going to be.

This year also sees the return of the Stendhal Festival. A first-timer myself last year, I can’t recommend it enough. Although the lineup has yet to be announced, you can be sure it’s going to be another great one, and will probably be seen in these pages closer to the time.

Now, onto the semi-local. As you may remember, from my world exclusive last year, Gemma Doherty, of Saint Sister, was playing with Bono on the tour to support his book ‘Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story’. For those who didn’t make any of the shows (and are willing to travel), it’s coming back, this time for a residency in New York in March/April this year (a bit out of the way, I know, but I hear it’s a great show, so probably worth the effort).

Record Store Day

Derry is a town of many, many great musicians but only one true record shop: Cool Discs. Cool Discs has been a staple of the Derry music scene for over 25 years, and has helped the careers of many of Ireland’s greatest artists, including Damian Dempsey, Glen Hansard, and, of course, countless of our own local musicians. 

This year sees the return of Record Store Day, which is essentially Christmas for record shops. Taking place this year on Saturday 22nd April, Record Store Day 2023 will see many limited edition albums and singles. The list has yet to be announced, but there will be a piece in this fine column closer to the time.

So, that’s it for this week. Now, time for the Instagram links (got a few today):

Parker: @bandcalledparker

TRAMP: @thisistramp

Touts: @touts_band

Cherym: @cherymofficial

Dose: @_doseband

Tessio: @tessio__

Cora Harkin: @coraharkinmusic

Virgins: @bandofvirgins

Anomolys: @anomolysband

Bruce Springsteen: @springsteen

Stendhal Festival: @stendhalireland

Gemma Doherty: @gemma_doherty_

Saint Sister: @saint_sister_

Bono (U2): @u2

Cool Discs: @cooldiscs

Record Store Day: @recordstoreday