James Vincent McMorrow says it is a “magical feeling” to be getting ready to play Ireland’s first live gig since the pandemic began.
Tickets for tonight’s at the Iveagh Gardens in Dublin sold out in seconds last week, with just 500 people allowed to attend.
McMorrow will be supported at the event by special guest Sorcha Richardson and, if you weren’t lucky enough to nab a ticket, the whole thing is being streamed live on YouTube.
On Lunchtime Live this afternoon, McMorrow said it is an “incredible” feeling to finally be preparing to take to the stage.
“It is a feeling I haven’t personally felt in the longest time,” he said. “Even the last shows I played my expectation was there would be another show …
“I’ve been doing this for the last ten years so you get a different feeling. You get butterflies but it is not the same. So today I woke up and it feels like … I dunno, like magic.
for anyone who didn't manage to get a ticket for the show tomorrow, I'm really happy to announce that we're live streaming the show in Iveagh Gardens on Youtube!
Thursday 10th June, 7pm (GMT)https://t.co/DRy5ZZy51N@SorchaRichardsn @NCH_Music pic.twitter.com/xVvs6xSs0I
— James Vincent McMorrow (@jamesvmcmorrow) June 9, 2021
He said preparing for a show after such a long wait definitely carries an extra bit of nervousness with it.
“There is obviously a weight of expectation that you can’t help but feel,” he said.
“This is the first proper show back in a long time and I want to do it justice. I want to really live up to that expectation and show something.”
“I think music has really just gotten lost in the conversation. Obviously so much stuff stopped and music just got dropped to the bottom of the pile a little bit and I feel like I really want to step it up and show people something – so there is an amount of nervousness but we are very ready for it.”
The build has started. Steady steps forward. @jamesvmcmorrow and @SorchaRichardsn at Iveagh Gardens on Thursday with @NCH_Music & @DeptCulturelRL pic.twitter.com/kZBVO03g4a
— Gary Sheehan (@sheehan_gary) June 8, 2021
He said the most important thing about tonight is seeing so many people who have been out of work for so long getting back together.
“That is a huge thing,” he said. “There are around 40 or 50 people.”
“Like, 20 people within my crew, including band and crewmembers that I would hire if I was playing normally and then there is 20 or 30 people involved on the Iveagh Gardens/National Concert Hall side bringing it all together.
“That is 40 or 50 people that for the last two or three weeks have had their livelihood returned to them.”
Paradise live from Grouse Lodge now up on YouTube.
Was gonna hold this video back, but to celebrate the return of live music, it’s gotta be done! gonna perform the shit out of this and so many others next week. https://t.co/iOiJRVCOpt pic.twitter.com/BfI3sUciaT— James Vincent McMorrow (@jamesvmcmorrow) June 3, 2021
He said for many people working in music there was no question of retraining or finding another path in life after the pandemic.
“If you don’t work in music, it is very hard to describe it,” he said. “I assume it is comparable to other industries but this is the only one I’ve known.
“My drummer Paul described it as when he found music, he found his tribe; he found his people.
“This is a group of people that all live the same life – whether it is a guitar tech or someone in my position or a drummer in a band, we have all done this because we love it and we understand that there are sacrifices and there is a push and pull to it but we are in it because this gives us our sense of meaning; our sense of purpose.”
The all-standing concert will see people placed in a pod alongside those they bought tickets with.
The pods will be socially distanced from all pods around them.
Concert-goers are requested to wear masks at all times other than when they are in their pods.
A contact name and number was also required from all ticketholders to assist with contact tracing in the event of a confirmed case of COVID-19
The gig gets underway at 7pm this evening.
