Latest news with #PillowQueens
Irish Independent
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Five festivals in Laois not to be missed this summer
While Co. Laois is largely known for Electric Picnic and the Ploughing Championships, there is so much more on offer to help you sort your weekend plans for the next month and a half. Forest Fest Music and Arts Festival Forest Fest Music and Arts Festival is set to have five jam-packed stages of Indie music, Dance, Fleadh, International and Irish artists from July 25-28, 2025. Some of the weekend's headliners include Franz Ferdinand, Manic Street Preachers and The Stranglers alongside a major line-up of Irish artists from across Ireland including Pillow Queens, Dylan Flynn and the Dead Poets, Paddy Casey, Qween, Buíoch and Meadhbh Hayes. Tickets are still available with just two weeks to go until the festival, a single ticket for Friday is €85 and a weekend ticket is €150, more information can be found through Ossory Agricultural Show The Ossory Show promises a fun-filled day out for the whole family at the Ossory Showgrounds, Coolfin Rathdowney, Co. Laois on Sunday, July 27 2025. Attendees can expect an outing for the scrapbooks with over 300 competitive classes, vintage shows, live music , a truck show and much more. More details can be found at 61st National Steam Rally The countdown is on for one of Ireland's oldest and most loved heritage festivals as the 61st National Steam Rally makes its return to Stradbally, Co. Laois. There will be much to see and do over the bank holiday weekend kicking off on Saturday, August 2 with the Steam & Vintage Parade at 7pm. ADVERTISEMENT The rally has much to offer from majestic steam engines and vintage tractors, to music, crafts, trade stands, family attractions and more. Live music will take place throughout the weekend with the line-up set to feature Michael English, Robert Mizzell, Brendan Shine, Declan Nerney, Louise Morrissey, Olivia Douglas, Shawn Cuddy, and many more. There will also be a special gathering of International tractors, working displays, miniature steam, and live demonstrations, funfair rides, heritage exhibits, and family entertainment Whether you're a steam enthusiast, a music lover, or just looking for a great family day out, there's something for everyone at the National Steam Rally. Tickets are available at Laois Forest School Wellness Festival Attendees can looking forward to experiencing rejuvenation amidst nature's embrace at the Laois Forest School Wellbeing Festival over a weekend of holistic wellness including foraging, yoga, storytelling, and more, all set against the backdrop of the lush Doire Seoige oak forest on Saturday, August 9, 2025 Rosenallis Festival of the Mountain and Vintage Rally The Festival of the Mountain & Vintage Rally returns on Sunday, August 17, 2025 to Glenbarrow, Rosenallis, Co. Laois. Organisers have been busy behind the scenes as the festival field is said to have had an upgrade over the winter and is now significantly larger to host even more fun this year. From dog shows to free face-painting and amusements, there is something for everyone.
Irish Daily Mirror
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
Pillow Queens gearing up for huge Dublin show for Pride
Dublin indie heroes Pillow Queens are gearing up for a huge Pride show this weekend - their first gig of the year in the capital. The three-piece will play the Just Eat Pride Event at the Grand Social, with support from Derry singer-songwriter, SOAK, after this Saturday's Dublin Pride Parade. 'We are excited about it,' Pillow Queens bass player and co-vocalist Sarah Corcoran told the Irish Mirror ahead of the show. 'It's nice to be playing a venue like the Grand Social again, because it's been a few years since we did something like that. 'We're having a great time. We're trying to get a set together that's just like the hits, the festival bangers. Just so everyone's in good form for Pride, so we need to make sure we keep it that way!' For Pillow Queens, Pride is 'an opportunity to check in with how far' the group have come, and 'how much progress' there is still to make - alongside celebrating the LGBTQ+ community. 'I think Pride is an individual thing, generally speaking,' Sarah said. 'But I suppose for the band, I think we see Pride as an opportunity to check in with how far we've come and how much progress we've still yet to make, as well as celebrating our community. 'Because I think the Queer community in Ireland is a really special one, so it's a really nice chance to get to go and join the march, and then go and do our sound check and then just sort of party the night away.' All proceeds from ticket sales for the event will go towards Irish charity Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre. 'I think resources are still very, very necessary,' Sarah explained. 'Not everybody has a supportive community in their direct vicinity, so they need to be able to reach out. And Outhouse is one of those organisations that offers those resources. 'Whether it's education you're looking for, community or support, or just an ear to listen, the Outhouse is just incredible for doing that. 'It also provides a space for the LGBTQ+ community to just come together in Dublin City, which is incredible. And their coffee is really good too.' 'It's really special,' Sarah added, talking about her own experience with Outhouse. 'It's been going for years and years, and I remember being a teenager and going in and just picking up leaflets, and it being very informative to me, coming to terms with my own identity. 'Then just meeting people there as well. They host events, they host exhibitions... Always been a great support to not only the LGBTQ+ community, but also the Irish music scene, as well, which is amazing.' Pillow Queens are currently working on a new album, with the band getting stuck into writing new tunes and making demos. 'Tunes are still getting written, we are going to keep writing tunes until we have no energy to write anymore. 'Because it's fun, and we haven't really had the opportunity to do it before, because for the last three albums we've been in a contract with a label in North America, so there was a bit of an expectation that we'd release an album, then tour, then just go straight in and release another album. 'Whereas now we're out of contract with that label, so the pressure is completely off, and we can sort of change the speed, the direction, a little bit, the style as well, and just sort of go wherever we want to go with it. 'We're in the middle of doing demos at the moment. 'Our lovely friend Darragh is playing drums with us, he's also our producer and engineer, so he's helping us put together a demo, which is amazing because we've been learning those skills little by little over the years, but we're nowhere near as good as he is, so it's great.' Pillow Queens will be supported on the day by Derry singer-songwriter SOAK, who they previously toured with. Sarah shared: 'We toured with them in 2018, I want to say, around Europe. That was our first foray into the tour bus life, and we haven't witnessed it since, that was very exciting for us. 'They took us under their wing and took us around Europe, so it's exciting to get to share a stage with them again.' Pillow Queens and SOAK will play the Just Eat Dublin Pride Event at The Grand Social on Saturday. All proceeds from ticket sales, as well as a €20,000 Just Eat donation will be given to Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre. The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week
Irish Examiner
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Doing the right thing: Pillow Queens on putting principles before success
The last time you'll have seen indie outfit Pillow Queens perform, the likelihood is that you'll have seen a quartet, not a trio. The darlings of the Irish musical scene – fans include James Corden, Phoebe Bridgers and Damien Dempsey – have entered a new phase of Pillow Queendom, one in which three sets of eyes stare back at me as we speak, not four. Back in November, long-term drummer of the band, Rachel Lyons, decided to step away to pursue another career. Things are amicable, and it's opened up the band to work with another excellent drummer, Darragh Tibbs. But the transition has not been easy. 'We were four from the very beginning,' band member Sarah Corcoran says. 'And like, a really tight-knit four as well. So, yeah, it's definitely been a weird transitional period, but it feels good that we get to keep going. In many ways, it would have been easier to just call it a day. And it was sort of like a series of long conversations, like, do we keep going? And we're like, yeah, this is still bringing us joy, so like, let's keep going. I think when we get to releasing another album, it will start to feel a bit more normal. But because it's kind of… just happened in the grand scheme of Pillow Queens, we're still getting used to it.' The band, co-lead vocalists/bassists Pamela Connolly and Sarah Corcoran and guitarist Cathy McGuinness, has steadily grown in power since their inception in 2016, with their first gig, a dog rescue benefit, announcing their presence on the Irish scene as an authentic force for good. They joined forces from other bands when they decided they wanted to perform as a singular, queer outfit. But this presence tended to backfire when presented to a national audience. 'It used to annoy us [that we were always considered the queer band] because it became the focus, so the music wasn't the focus anymore,' Corcoran says. 'But at a time when the regression of rights for trans people is happening… we're happy to be out and proud, because that representation is very much needed.' For some music fans, Pillow Queens became a kind of generational guardian angel, a flash of hope in an era defined by profit over people. They regularly decline opportunities that don't align with their interests, and often pay the price. Have they ever felt like their morals have gotten in the way? 'The only thing that stands out is Bono,' Corcoran smiles. 'I've always wanted to meet him, and now I don't even think I'd say hello,' she adds in response to his silence on the situation in Gaza. Sometimes, these things work out. Like when they pulled out of the Suffolk festival Latitude due to one of their partners, Barclays, being on the Israeli boycott list. (The bank provides financial services to groups which supply defence forces to Israeli soldiers.) Latitude listened, removed the partner, and asked the band to return. 'That was great,' member Cathy McGuinness says. 'They saw the problem, got rid of it, so we said yes.' This isn't the only instance that captures their essence. Back in 2022, when the band was at SXSW, an Irish politician, one who didn't share their views, tried to get in a photo with them. 'We were just like… that's absolutely not happening,' Connolly laughs. (Just one year earlier, the band responded to former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's resignation post, one where he wished they'd play an event he co-signed, with 'Off you fuck.') 'But it's also a tough one,' Corcoran chimes in. 'Because we were sent off the back of Arts Council funding, and so are we supposed to shake his hand to say thank you for that?' Without resources from groups like Culture Ireland, 'there would be no Pillow Queens,' the band say in unison. 'There are entire tours of ours that could never have happened without even a little bit of Culture Ireland funding,' Corcoran says. 'It's a resource that we should really, really protect. Especially because we can see the outcomes; bands like Fontaines DC, acts like CMAT… they're all people who have probably hugely benefited from touring help.' In the meantime, the band are writing music ('We're getting the cobwebs off'), enjoying being in one place at one time ('No matter how many things are put up against it, culture always finds a way to pierce through in Ireland') as well as working with a record label that doesn't pressure them to TikTokify their music. 'Would we benefit from that? Probably,' McGuinness says. 'Are we being pressured to? No, thankfully.' 'We do understand that it would be hugely beneficial,' Connolly says. 'But if you're writing with the frame of, 'will this do well on TikTok?', the intention of why you're in a band has kind of gone away. So we just kind of try and stick to our guns as much as possible.' Pillow Queens play Forest Fest, Co Laois, July 25-27, joining headliners Franz Ferdinand, Manic Street Preachers and Travis. Tickets are available from Read More Tom Dunne: Rory Gallagher still rocking Cork 30 years after his passing
Extra.ie
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Villagers announced as headliners at major Irish festival
Villagers are set to headline the upcoming Hibernacle Festival, set to take place from July 4-6 at Orlagh House in Rathfarnham, Dublin. The three-day music and arts gathering recently announced its second wave of programming, featuring a blend of established artists, rising talent and immersive experiences. Led by songwriter Conor OBrien, Villagers will perform a special acoustic set at the festival. The performance comes on the heels of OBriens sixth studio album, That Golden Time , released in 2023. The festival's current lineup includes a diverse range of Irish artists such as Pillow Queens, Lisa Hannigan, Ye Vagabonds, Wallis Bird, Jape, Ailbhe Reddy, Grinne Hunt, ine Tyrrell, George Murphy & Players and DJ Sally Cinnamon. Additional secret guests and collaborative performances are expected to be announced closer to the event. New additions to the weekends programme include late-night 'Sitting Room Sessions' in Orlagh Houses drawing room, featuring traditional ballads and singalongs led by George Murphy & Players. DJ Sally Cinnamon will curate nightly sets in the main indoor hall, spinning indie, soul, disco and electronic music. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Old Orchard Inn 🍏🍎 (@theoldorchardinn) The festival will also feature 'Secret Garden Sessions' and pop-up performances across the estate grounds. Belfast-based artist Dani Larkin is among the confirmed performers, along with emerging acts such as Were Not Together and Ballymun singer-songwriter Eddie Winston. Beyond music, Hibernacle will offer spoken word performances, including a reading by poet Emmet OBrien. 'Whisht: A Quiet Gathering,' curated by Deirdre Creasey, will provide a reflective space in Orlaghs gardens for movement and mindfulness practices. For more information on line-up and tickets click here.
RTÉ News
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Hibernacle: New boutique music festival for Dublin announced
Pillow Queens, Lisa Hannigan, and Ye Vagabonds are among the acts who will play Hibernacle, a new boutique music festival in Rathfarnham, Dublin this July. Wallis Bird, Jape, Ailbhe Reddy, Gráinne Hunt, and Áine Tyrrell and an as yet to be announced headliner will also appear over the weekend of 4 to 6 July at Orlagh House, a Georgian mansion built in 1790 set on 50 acres of grounds in the foothills of the Dublin mountains. Tickets go on sale on 6 May here. Hibernacle promotors say the weekend "is the perfect antidote to the larger, more chaotic festivals out there. It's a relaxed, "grown-up" festival experience with classy food vendors, great drinks, and no stress - just music, people, and memories". The weekend will also feature late-night after-show sessions on both Friday and Saturday evenings inside Orlagh House.
