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Irish Examiner
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
B-Side the Leeside: Rory Gallagher and the eventful Irish Tour of 1974
Joe Dermody casts a view back on Rory Gallagher's outrageously brilliant 'Irish Tour '74' double album recorded in Belfast, Dublin and Cork. With the death toll from The Troubles soaring in the 1970s, the notion of a star-bound guitarist from Cork bringing the blues to the youth of Belfast was at best unlikely, borderline reckless. Rory Gallagher's outrageously brilliant 'Irish Tour '74' double album was recorded in Belfast, Dublin and Cork in the weeks just after Christmas 1973 and into January 1974. It was the only window really when the then 25-year-old blues guitarist could probably rely upon there being a break from the killings. More than 250 people had been killed in 1973 alone. Donal Gallagher, Rory's brother, still clearly recalls the buzz among music circles and his own trepidation walking along in the light rain, with his thumb out on Lower Road, Cork, starting out on his long hitching journey from Cork to Belfast. It was also a personal fork in the road, and felt like the moment that his own definite career path was chosen. Music it was. 'We were staying in the Europa hotel in Belfast,' recalls Donal, stage manager and general tour manager. 'But those days you were never sure the hotel would still be there when you'd get back after the show.' The hotel, which has changed names several times over the decades, is widely known as 'the most bombed hotel in Europe'. Having opened in 1971, the hotel endured 33 bomb attacks during The Troubles. Defying Logistical Obstacles Logistics were a big challenge for Donal. As well as concerns for the safety of the fans, the vehicles carrying the film and sound equipment were subjected to extra security checks, nobody would take the risk of insuring the mobile studio for a trip into a war zone. So many logistical challenges, along with the political upheaval at the time, it's remarkable that the album ever came to be recorded at all. Promoter Jim Aiken advised Rory to play his northern show just south of the border, and bring his fans down by bus. Donal recalls Rory refusing point blank. He was a rock fan himself. In those days, most people didn't really have money. The internet didn't exist, of course. Most people just didn't buy tickets in advance in those days; instead, they scraped the money together at the last minute and turned up at the door, pockets full of coins, haggling for tickets, pushing to get in. Add the cost and complication of a bus trip south, Rory didn't want that for his fans. Rory Gallagher performing in 1974. (Picture: Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns) A southern guitar icon taking his tour north of the border, Rory's Belfast show more than raised eyebrows. Everyone understood the dangers. News of the show reached England. The Ulster Hall show was filmed by Tony Palmer, founder BBC Four's Kaleidoscope radio programme. Palmer also nearly fell foul of the security forces when filming scenes in downtown Belfast. The Irish Tour '74 album also contains great tracks from the Dublin and Cork shows. In fact, the Cork shows were incredible, by all accounts. But Rory's insistence on playing Belfast just after Christmas was the one that still has a strong resonance even now. All about commitment. Music before politics. Rory really was taking a big risk. Of course, while born into a Catholic household, Rory Gallagher wasn't really political. He didn't talk about it, and people just instinctively knew he was all about the music. In fact, he had a huge fan base among Protestant communities in Belfast. 'In an Irish tour, I always try to include Belfast and the North of Ireland,' Rory says in the Tony Palmer film. 'After all, I lived there for a while and I learned a lot playing in the clubs there, so I've a sort of home feeling for the place.' Rory's Legend grows globally Rory wasn't entirely switched off from politics; he was just totally switched onto music. And the music world was already totally switched onto him at this time. By the time the 1974 Irish tour came about, Rory's name was by now a byword for virtuosity. Rory was a legend among 'true' music fans. He wrote great songs, but he eschewed fame. He only released albums, never singles. He played the blues like a swamp legend from the deep south, which in Irish terms is exactly what he was. Everyone knew that Rory walked the streets of Cork, regularly going to the cinema, always happy to stop and sign and autograph, but also moving fast, walking at speed like he was going somewhere. Which, of course, he very much was. Rory was a legend among his fellow musicians too, particularly since his band Taste had played support for Cream's 1968 farewell concert in Royal Albert Hall, and again at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, where Taste had shared the four-day bill with Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Doors, Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell and others. At the Isle of Wight, Taste took the stage just before Tony Joe White, the Louisiana country blues guitarist who wrote 'Rainy Night in Georgia' and 'Polk Salad Annie' (famously performed by Elvis). Rory's 'Irish Tour '74' album was dominated by electric power blues, but it also includes a mellow and moving cover of White's country ballad 'As The Crow Flies'. While Rory died in 1995 of liver failure, aged 47, modern guitarists from Johnny Marr to Slash still credit him as an influence. Joe Bonamassa's debut album, A New Day Yesterday, contains a cover of Rory's 'Cradle Rock', one of several of Rory's self-penned songs which he captured brilliantly on 'Irish Tour '74'. Slash pays his respects 'Rory's genius on the guitar probably always overshadowed his own talent as a songwriter,' says Donal Gallagher, noting that his fellow musicians were very alert to Rory as both a writer and a musician. Slash was particularly awe-struck in Rory's presence, as Donal recalls: 'Slash was a big fan of Rory's. He came to a gig Rory played in Los Angeles in the 1990s. He came backstage before the show and Rory said 'Hi Slash, how are you doing?' 'Slash was really surprised. 'How do you know my name?' he said. Rory just said 'Well, I've got your albums, Slash, I know who you are'. Slash just wanted to say hello and probably get an autograph. Rory said 'Catch you later, if you're hanging around'. 'Towards the end of the show, Rory nodded over to me to give Slash a guitar and have him come up on stage for a jam. I went over and grabbed his arm and asked him to go up and play with Rory. Slash nearly lost his life. As cool a dude as he is, he was scared. ( Scared, but Slash did jam with Rory, as he later told the Old Grey Whistle Test). 'I met Slash again two years ago at a show in Dublin. The BBC were interviewing him about Rory's 1974 Ulster Hall show. The BBC said it would be a good idea to bring Rory's guitar along [the iconic battered 'sunburst' Fender Stratocaster he bought in the now closed Crowley's Music Shop in Cork] to Slash's Dublin show in the O2 or Three Arena or whatever it was called then. 'The BBC were expecting Slash to plug the guitar in and play it, but when he came into the room he just looked at the guitar sitting there. Realising that it was Rory's guitar, it completely spooked him. He was uncomfortable even holding it. 'They took a photograph of the two of us, and he's just holding the strap. He said to me 'This is so scary'. This is the kind of respect he had for Rory.' Joe Bonamassa, however, was less shy. Joe's then girlfriend, blues singer Sandi Thom, asked Donal to bring Rory's Strat to his shows in London's Hammersmith Odeon and Royal Albert Hall. 'Joe wanted me to come along to the shows. Of course, I realised it was really the guitar that he wanted to see, not me,' notes Donal. 'He just wanted a rub of the relic, I suppose. He was in his element.' At Bonamassa's show in the Royal Albert Hall, Donal was seated next to Nigel Kennedy. The violinist has also cited Rory as a rock icon and a good model for how a soloist should perform, always connected to the music, always ready to improvise. In Royal Albert Hall, Kennedy sat there 'gobsmacked' staring at the sunburst Strat in Donal's hands. Audience is energised When you listen to 'Irish Tour '74', you can hear how engaged and in awe the audience is. In 2014, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the album, a box set of unreleased material from the tour was compiled. The selections were curated by Daniel Gallagher, Donal's son. He had enough material to fill seven CDs from the gigs in Belfast, Cork and Dublin — complete with 43 individual tracks that have never been released before. The songs on 'Irish Tour '74' were captured on multitrack tapes using the mobile studio owned by ex-Small Faces member Ronnie Lane. For the box set, Daniel also had access to the original Nagra tapes that provided the audio for Tony Palmer's film. Daniel recalls how the crowds were different in each city: 'Dublin are the most boisterous and cocky, and Belfast has everyone screaming like they're so happy to be there. 'The tapes were still running when the band went off the stage and it's lovely hearing the crowd screaming for so long because they really didn't want it to end. In Cork, the sound is the best of the three concerts.' Donal Gallagher recalls that the two Cork City Hall shows were packed to capacity. Some privileged fans were actually piled into the area behind the band, normally reserved for the orchestra. Rory also turned and addressed them from time to time. Fairground attractions As for the songs that made it onto the album, Donal has a personal fondness for 'Tattoo'd Lady', a song Rory wrote about the travelling fairgrounds that once visited Cork. 'To me, Tattoo'd Lady is very much a song about Cork. It's all about the fairgrounds. As kids, Rory and I would go up to the Mardyke, where they used to have the travelling fairgrounds. Or we'd go to Crosshaven or down to Youghal. 'There were fairground references in the song, like you could 'push the penny if you've got any'. Of course, back then we very often didn't have a penny to push. That to me has all the echoes of that childhood in Cork. 'Then there's the mystery of how you'd go up there the next day and that whole carnival would be stripped down and gone. The song was paralleling Rory's own lifestyle where, as a travelling musician, you tend to set up your gear, then a night or two later you're gone. 'There's all the excitement of the fairground with its exotic characters coming to town. At the time, it was an unusual thing to see a Tattoo'd Lady.' Rory's cover of the Muddy Waters song 'I Wonder Who' also has a resonance for Donal. The Mississippi-born "father of modern Chicago blues" was, like Rory, both a talented musician and a fantastic songwriter. 'The song is Rory paying homage yet again to his teacher and master, if you like, Rory having done an album with him just a couple of years earlier for the London Muddy Waters Sessions ('72), when he was 71,' Donal recalls. 'Then there's 'Back On My Stompin' Ground', which was from the after-hours jam sessions in Cork. It's Rory really saying that's where it is. He wrote those songs in those couple of days about being back on his home turf, which is Cork. 'Then the album fades out with a short instrumental, a signature goodbye which he titled 'Maritime' [listed as 'Just A Little Bit' on the album credits], named after the blues club up in Belfast that Van had founded, which had by then become his residency.' It's hard to single out individual tracks on such a master work. A double album, it only has ten tracks. For many, the 11-minute 'Walk On Hot Coals' is the barnstorming standout moment. For others, it's the relative peace of 'A Million Miles Away'. What seems evident is that, confounding the many dangers and logistical obstacles that stood in the path of this epic album being made, the Gods really must have wanted Rory Gallagher to record 'Irish Tour '74'. And we mortals have the Gods to thank for that kindness. * The 25th anniversary of Rory Gallagher's death takes place on June 14
Time Out
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
How to watch Glastonbury 2025 live, including this year's TV schedule
Yes, you could be at Glastonbury festival right now, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of strangers in a field for days, with no showers and probably lots of mud. But do you know what you could also be doing? Curling up on the sofa with a nice cup of tea and a packet of chocolate biscuits, enjoying all the action live but without any annoying crowds, or having to sleep on the cold, hard ground. If you're looking forward to catching the action from Worthy Farm this year, where headliners The 1975, Neil Young, Olivia Rodrigo and Rod Stewart will be taking to the Pyramid Stage, we have you covered. This is everything you need to know about watching Glastonbury 2025 live on TV. What channel is Glastonbury 2025 on? The BBC has exclusive coverage of Glastonbury on the TV and radio. The festival will be shown live on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four and BBC iPlayer. Glastonbury 2025 TV schedule Here is the full daily TV schedule for Glasto 2025, including the time and channel. Thursday, June 27 10pm: Glastonbury 2025 Live, BBC Two Friday, June 28 12pm: The Glastonbury Channel, BBC iPlayer 7pm: English Teacher and Wet Leg, BBC Four 7:30pm: Glastonbury 2025 Live, BBC One 8pm: Glastonbury 2025 Live (continued), BBC Two 8pm: Supergrass and Blossoms, BBC Four 9pm: Glastonbury 2025 Live, BBC Two 9pm: Franz Ferdinand and Wunderhorse, BBC Four 10:30pm: The 1975, BBC One 10:30pm: Loyle Carner, BBC Four 12am: Glastonbury 2025 Live (Late Night), BBC Two Saturday, June 29 5pm: Glastonbury 2025 Live, BBC Two 7pm: John Fogerty, BBC Four 8pm: Gary Numan, BBC Four 9pm: Amyl and the Sniffers and Beth Gibbons, BBC Four 9:19pm: RAYE, BBC One 10:10pm: Glastonbury 2025 Live, BBC Two 10:10pm: Charli xcx – BBC One Sunday, June 30 5pm: Glastonbury 2025 Live, BBC Two 7pm: Celeste, BBC Four 7:15pm: Rod Stewart, BBC One 8pm: Cymande and Black Uhuru, BBC Four 8:45pm: Glastonbury 2025 Live, BBC Two 9pm: Snow Patrol and St Vincent, BBC Four 9:45pm: The Prodigy, BBC Four 10pm: Olivia Rodrigo, BBC One How to live stream this year's festival All the Glasto 2025 coverage will be available online via BBC iPlayer. The Beeb has its own Glastonbury Channel on iPlayer, which will be streaming live from 12pm to late every day from Friday through to Sunday. Can you listen to Glastonbury on the radio? You sure can. BBC Radio 6 Music hosts Glasto content all day every day from Wednesday through to Monday. There will also be broadcasts from BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 4. You can also listen on the BBC Sounds website and app.
Edinburgh Live
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Live
Scottish star's life after quitting acting 30 years on from debut
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Daniela Nardini, who became a household name as lawyer Anna Forbes in the 1996 BBC2 hit series This Life, is now barely recognisable from her days on screen. The actress, who also graced episodes of the Scottish crime drama Taggart, was close to quitting acting before securing her role in the acclaimed sitcom. This Life, which spanned 33 episodes and 11 years, followed a group of aspiring law graduates navigating their careers at a London law firm. The show enjoyed two successful series and a sequel TV movie in 2007 titled This Life +10. Daniela's portrayal of Anna won her a BAFTA at the age of 57, but she later chose to leave the limelight and now runs her own cognitive behavioural therapy practice in Glasgow. Her second BAFTA came in 2009 for her performance in the BBC Four drama New Town. Daniela's career also included roles in Vera, Waterloo Road, and The Fades, until she stepped back from acting in 2019, reports the Express. Pursuing a new direction, Daniela trained as a mental health professional, offering support to individuals dealing with depression, anxiety, behavioural issues, and those affected by cancer and addiction. Three decades after her breakout role, Daniela has transformed remarkably, embracing a fresh chapter in her life. In a Psychology Today profile, she reflects on her extensive acting career, stating: "I have worked as an actress for over 35 years. (Image: BBC) "This has been an invaluable education for me to study what it is to be human and how we can all suffer at times and feel misunderstood and lonely. "I myself have struggled at times. My practice involves helping you gain insight, clarity and believe it or not humour at times. I don't shock easily so I won't judge." Speaking with the Daily Mail in 2020, she shared her personal tribulations saying: " went through a very dark period. Sometimes I wonder if it was all the emotional stuff I was going through that caused my cancer.'" She added: "A couple of years down the road, I now feel as if I've emerged stronger and a better person, really. Anna would be proud."
Daily Record
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Taggart star looks unrecognisable 30 years after quitting acting
Daniela Nardini has undergone a huge transformation since her time on the show, as she's now quit acting altogether Daniela Nardini, who shot to fame as lawyer Anna Forbes in the 1996 BBC2 hit series This Life, is barely recognisable today. The actress, who also graced screens in the Scottish crime drama Taggart, was on the brink of abandoning her acting career before securing her role in the BBC2 sitcom. This Life, which spanned 33 episodes and 11 years, chronicled the lives of law graduates sharing a house while chasing their ambitions at a London law firm. The show enjoyed two successful series and was later followed by a sequel TV movie in 2007 titled This Life +10. Daniela, now aged 57, not only won a BAFTA for her portrayal of Anna but also claimed her second BAFTA in 2009 for her role in the drama New Town on BBC Four. Her other notable appearances include roles in Vera, Waterloo Road, and The Fades, before she took a step back from the spotlight in 2019. Pursuing a new direction, Daniela trained as a mental health professional and now runs her own cognitive behavioural therapy practice in Glasgow, aiding individuals with depression, anxiety, behavioural issues, and those coping with cancer and addiction. Three decades after her breakout role, Daniela has transformed remarkably, having embarked on a fresh journey in life, reports the Express. In a Psychology Today profile, she reflects: "I have worked as an actress for over 35 years. "This has been an invaluable education for me to study what it is to be human and how we can all suffer at times and feel misunderstood and lonely. "I myself have struggled at times. My practice involves helping you gain insight, clarity and believe it or not humour at times. I don't shock easily so I won't judge." Following "the worst five years of her life," which included her father's death in 2015, a cancer diagnosis in 2018, and a divorce, she chose to embark on this career path. Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2020, she revealed: "I went through a very dark period. Sometimes I wonder if it was all the emotional stuff I was going through that caused my cancer. "A couple of years down the road, I now feel as if I've emerged stronger and a better person, really. Anna would be proud."
Metro
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
British TV legend ditches showbiz after starring in iconic 90s BBC show
She starred in a hit BBC drama alongside future household names Andrew Lincoln and Jack Davenport, but these days, BAFTA-winning actress Daniela Nardini is a qualified and practising psychotherapist. The Scottish actress originally played ambitious lawyer Anna Forbes in the BBC Two series This Life, which first aired in 1996. Its story followed the fortunes of law graduates and housemates as they attempted to launch their careers in a London law firm. Anna starred opposite future Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln and Pirates of the Caribbean actor Jack Davenport, along with Amita Dhiri and Jason Hughes. The show received a second series in 1997, followed by a sequel TV movie in 2007 titled This Life +10. Daniela, 57, won great acclaim (and a Bafta!) for her role as Anna, but these days spends her time running her own CBT practice in Glasgow, Scotland. Prior to scoring her breakthrough role in This Life, Daniela appeared in three episodes of Scottish crime drama Taggart. She was on the verge of giving up acting when she was cast as Anna in This Life – a role for which she won the first of two BAFTAs. 'That character made such an impact. We hadn't really seen many young women like that portrayed on television. I don't think people of my generation have ever really let go of that,' she told the BBC in 2020. The second BAFTA followed in 2009, for her performance in the BBC Four drama New Town. She went on to appear in episodes of Vera, Waterloo Road, The Fades, and Bob Servant Independent, with her last credited acting role coming in 2019, with the short film Duck Daze. Taking a break from acting, she went on to become a practising artist while studying for her future career as a mental health professional. These days, Daniela's life is quite different – working as a qualified and practising psychotherapist at her own CBT practice. At £50 a session, her top specialities include Depression, Anxiety and Behavioural Issues, as well as other issues, such as Cancer, Divorce and Addiction. Her profile on Psychology Today begins: 'I have worked as an actress for over 35 years. 'This has been an invaluable education for me to study what it is to be human and how we can all suffer at times and feel misunderstood and lonely. 'I myself have struggled at times. My practice involves helping you gain insight, clarity and believe it or not humour at times. I don't shock easily so I won't judge.' These struggles include the death of her father in 2015, followed by a divorce and her cancer diagnosis in 2018. In 2020, she told The Daily Mail how she had endured 'the worst five years of her life,' adding: 'I went through a very dark period. Sometimes I wonder if it was all the emotional stuff I was going through that caused my cancer.' 'A couple of years down the road, I now feel as if I've emerged stronger and a better person, really. Anna would be proud.' While Daniela decided to 'take a break' from acting, her co-stars from the show are keeping their hands in. After starring as Jason Hughes, Warren Jones went on to star opposite John Nettles in Midsomer Murders for eight series before appearing in episodes of Death in Paradise and Marcella. Following This Life, Jack starred in the cult sitcom Coupling before heading to Hollywood for roles in Pirates of the Caribbean and Kingsman: The Secret Service. More Trending Amita Dhiri, meanwhile, recently appeared as housekeeper Mrs Khanna in the Netflix hit Bridgerton. As This Life's most successful alumnus, Andrew went on to appear in the 2003 romcom Love Actually (contributing its most iconic scene) and as Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead. Reflecting on his role in the Richard Curtis-directed romcom, Andrew said: 'I got to be this weird stalker guy. View More » 'My big scene in the doorway felt so easy. I just had to hold cards and be in love with Keira Knightley. And that was my own handwriting on the cards. Thank you for noticing.' Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: 'I'm the first trans man on a UK gay dating show – I feel validated' MORE: Doctor Who fans in disbelief over 'disrespect' of iconic star Jenna Coleman MORE: 'I had to snort pure glucose': Inside BBC's outstanding 80s crime drama
