Ahead of Snow Patrol’s third Ward Park extravaganza, we thought we would give you a run down of the other musicians making up the bill.
Kitt Philippa
There aren’t many that can convey beauty and grace is music so effortlessly but Kitt Philippa is one of them. Songs that make you think, reflect and contemplate may often be heavy when an artist performs them but KP takes those emotions and gently breaks them down into beauty and striking honesty.
Winning ‘Single of the Year’ at the Northern Irish Music Prize with ‘Human,’ KP won over audiences with a skilful lyrical and musical ability. With ‘Broken to be Rebuilt’ being released in 2013, Kitt has grown and taken us from the majestic ‘Hosanna’ and ‘Nightingale’ to a powerful new strength and self belief with ‘Grace.’
ROE
Described as “A genre-defying, acerbic yet also jubilant gem of a song from an extraordinary artist.” by Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody, ROE burst onto the scene as the winner of ‘Best Emerging Artist’ at the 2018 Northern Ireland Music Prize, ROE is a force to be reckoned with. 20 year old Roisin Donald hails from Derry and has already had one hell of a ride, fast becoming an inspiration for young female musicians. Leading the way to be unique in your musical ability.
Bringing us the infectious ‘Hey Thomas,’ ‘Cheek, Boy, and the melodic ‘Down Days,’ ROE is a breath of fresh air who is set to go from strength to strength, showing you can set your own way and your own style regardless of age and gender.
Wood Burning Savages
Hailing from Derry, The Wood Burning Savages epitomise the city with their edgy riffs and no nonsense lyrics. Having been likened to The Manic Street Preachers and Queens of the Stone Age, the band have played the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury as well as hitting the European festival circuit. Their debut album ‘Stability’ won NI Music Prize for Best Northern Irish Album of the Year in 2018, beating competition from Ash, Bicep and Snow Patrol. They also won Northern Ireland Live Band of the Year on the same night.
JC Stewart
Callum, with a natural gift of music began to play guitar at just aged 12 and within a year was songwriting. Taking every opportunity to perform, Callum honed his skills which led to him being spotted by Irish based, US producer, Tre Sheppard, who took him under his wing and they began writing and and recording together in any free time Callum had out of school. Having been named on The Unsigned Guide’s “Ones To Watch” blog, the future is busy for Callum with gigs such as Leopalooza and supporting Vance Joy later in the summer.
Brand New Friend
Probably the smiliest band in the universe, Brand New Friend have been together since 2016 and come from Castlerock. The North Coast the four-piece released their debut album ‘Seatbelts for Aeroplanes last year, a resounding punch of indie-pop rock tunes and with that, found themselves opening for Snow Patrol on their Northern Irish tour to look forward to.
What began as Taylor Johnson on his own turned into a full band with his sister Lauren joining on vocals and keyboard and Aaron Milligan on bass and Luke Harris on drums. With a pure talent for song writing the band found themselves whittling down a mammoth 116 songs for their album and the band recently announced that Logan Johnson will be the official 5th member of the band. Catch them on the Main Stage at 15:00.
Jealous of the Birds
Portadown local Naomi Hamilton is one of those talents that tempt you in with her eclectic style of not quite conforming to any particular style. Her debut, ‘Parma Violets’ saw her get instant airplay from BBC Radio 1, giving her a massive platform to play to.
With constant comparisons to Cat Power and Laura Marling, Naomi is set amongst some of the wonderful female singer-songwriters out there, with ‘Plastic Skeletons’ from her ‘The Moths of What I Want Will Eat Me in My Sleep’ EP being inspired from her trip to SXSW in 2016. Her new album, ‘Wisdom Teeth’ is available now. Catch her on the Main Stage at 15:45
SOAK
Bridie Monds-Watson is no stranger to performing with the Snow Patrol fellas. With her childhood heavily influenced by her parent’s music, she took inspiration from Joni Mitchell, ABBA, and Pink Floyd albums. At the age of just 13, she learned the guitar and began performing with friends. Taking the plunge and deciding to perform solo, SOAK took on the local Derry music scene. In 2012, she released debut EP, Trains, followed by Sea Creatures.
Invitations came thick and fast with bands such as Chvrches inviting her to record for their Goodbye Records label, releasing Blud in 2014, leading to a signing to Rough Trade. In June 2015, SOAK released her debut album, Before We Forgot How to Dream which reached the Top 20 in Ireland and the Top 40 in the U.K. SOAK recently released new album Grim Town and will also be playing Glastonbury later in the summer. Catch her on the Main Stage at 16:30
Ash
Hailing from Downpatrick, Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray AKA Ash released their first studio album ‘1977’ in 1996, crashing into the indie rock scene with a vengeance. Charlotte Hatherley joined later for a further 3 studio albums ‘Nu-Clear Sounds’, ‘Free All Angels’ and ‘Meltdown’ and left the band in 2006 who went on to record and release ‘Twilight of the Innocents.’ Ash took on a mammoth task of releasing an A-Z series which saw the band release a single every fortnight for a year. With Bloc Party’s Russell Lissack joining the band on stage since 2010, Ash are well known for their energy and world class riffs and with ‘Kablamo’ coming 8 years after their previous release, the band gained a new generation of fans, taking them from strength to strength. Catch them on the Main Stage at 17:30
Foy Vance
Foy knows his way around a main stage having toured with Ed Sheeran, Josh Groban, Elton John and Snow Patrol. With his first EP being released back in 2006, Foy is a national treasure with his undeniably unique voice and lyrical ability leave audiences captivated. His first album, ‘Hope’ was realised in 2007 and saw songs featured in Greys Anatomy and Great Ormond Street adverts.
His second album, ‘Joy of Nothing’ had instant success in 2013, winning the first ever Northern Ireland Music Prize for Best Album, beating off competition from Tired Pony, Girls Names and Two Door Cinema Club. Catch him on the Main Stage at 18:40
Two Door Cinema Club
Bangor and Donaghadee lads, Two Door Cinema Club formed in 2007 with the 3 members: Alex Trimble, Sam Halliday and Kevin Baird. TDCC released their debut album, Tourist History in March 2010 on French independent record label Kitsuné Music. The album was such a success that it was selected for the Choice Music Prize for Irish Album of the Year that following year. Following on from this success, the band’s second album Beacon was released in 2012, sailing straight to number one on the Irish Albums Chart and reached number two in the UK Albums Chart.
With worldwide success in hand, their eagerly anticipated third album ‘Gameshow’ was released in2016 with “Are We Ready? (Wreck)” featuring on Annie Mac’s Hottest Record on BBC Radio 1. The new album ‘False Alarm’ is due out at the end of the month. Catch them on the Main Stage at 19:50
