Review: Quarter Block Party

Elastic Sleep – TDC/Quarter Block Party

Socks knocked off at the Block (Party)…

As Dublin jangle-rockers Women’s Christmas crashed into the last song of their BDSM set on Saturday night, a quick scan of the room confirmed the following: loads of folks turned up, all the bands played searing sets and everyone had a great time i.e. the first ever Quarter Block Party was a huge success. January being as dreary as it so often tends to be, the newly christened South and North Main Street festival truly sprung Spring into life. From The Altered Hours’ colossal Vision Centre showing to the relentless energy and bounce of ApocalypsE in the TDC, the three days of music, theatre and talks expertly etched itself into the Cork music live calendar for the foreseeable future.

Being a newly hatched chickling of a festival there were always going to be some oversights (some initial queuing confusion, minimal toilet options here and there) but no major disruptions were to be found with all of the focus on good-times and quality bands. The only genuine lowlight being a personal failure to attend every single event on hand, the hazy memory zips to excellent sets from Tandem Felix (cool floaty indie-rock) and Fierce Mild (hooky funk punk) in BDSM to a superb new set from Elastic Sleep and a frenetic Friday finish from the outstanding Twinkranes in TDC. O Emperor, Hags, Shookrah, Partisan Crowds – I could pretty much list everyone who played but it’s best to keep these things brief, which many of my conversations with a wealth of lovely people over the few days were not. Sunday wound down perfectly with Siobhán Kane’s wonderful Young Hearts Run Free crew presenting TDC chat Life Has Surface Noise introducing all the enthralled to the tragic story of Joe Meek, adoration for hip-hop king Rakim, the joy of “loving every note”, and many wise words from Morrissey. There was even time for a beer and a slice of cake in Gulpd as Stevie G’s Vinyl Love-in reached climax. All that’s left to ponder now is if that carefully placed Creme Egg will still be nestled undisturbed amongst the miniature buildings of the model of Cork in the Vision Centre when we return same time next year.

For more on Quarter visit: 

– Quarter Block Party took place from 6-8th February 2015 in various venues throughout Cork