Sea Sessions LineUp
Ziggy Marley, BellX1, The Delays, The Go! Team and Grandmaster Flash to headline Sea Sessions Surf Music Festival Bundoran 24-26 June 2011
Award-winning Sea Sessions Festival makes history announcing first-of-its-kind ASP Speciality Surfing Event in Ireland!
The Sea Sessions 2011 Festival line-up has finally been announced! Following the success of the award winning festival’s 2010 stellar line-up, event organisers have pulled out all the stops to bring you what promises to be this year’s biggest beach party, jam-packed with exciting activities and pumping tunes all in the surrounds of beautiful Bundoran, Co. Donegal!
GET TO THE MAINSTAGE
Fresh from his North American tour, five-time Grammy award winner Ziggy Marley will share his musical love and samples from his fourth solo release "Wild and Free" (2011 Tuff Gong Worldwide) with festival goers at this year's event before embarking on a European Tour. Marley's career began as a family affair 30 years ago. At his father's urging, Ziggy, brother Stephen and sisters Cedella and Sharon formed a vocal group, the Melody Makers. The group was embraced by fellow Jamaicans and, over the next two decades, built an international following. They earned a Best Reggae Recording Grammy for their 1988 major-label debut, Conscious Party, featuring the single, "Tomorrow People." The group garnered two more Grammys, for One Bright Day (1989) and the other for Fallen Is Babylon (1997). Marley brings his live show fueled by a fragrant blend of roots reggae, African percussion and other elements to the shores of Bundoran on Sunday 26th June!
No strangers to a live audience, multi-platinum selling, chart topping alt-rockers BellX1 will take to the main stage and captivate onlookers with hits from their brand new album “Bloodless Coup”. Smash airplay singles from 2003’s “Music in Mouth” and 2005’s #1 Pop Chart album “Flock” are certain to gage audiences, played against the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean!
REPRESENTING THE UNITED KINGDOM
To coincide with the release of the band’s third LP “Rolling Blackouts”, multi-instrumentalist indie-rocking-sextet The Go! Team will bring their legendary live show to the festival playing a raucous set of rock, funk, soul, hip-hop with trumpets, chants, a harmonica, glockenspiel, two drum kits and even a type-writer! Definitely a spectacle not to be missed!
Southampton quartet The Delays will be immersing themselves in local culture having also confirmed a live performance at Donegal’s award winning Sea Sessions Surf and Music Festival. The Delay’s curious career that has seen them go from the indie romanticism of ‘Nearer Than Heaven’, through the psychedelic disco rush of ‘Valentine’, to the all-out pop anthemics of ‘Hooray’ with all the unrestrained playfulness of kids on a sugar kick. Stick around – we think you’ll like them!
KEEPING UP APPEARANCES
Not to be outdone by our neighbours, local Irish talent will be strongly represented again this year with live performances from ROYSEVEN, JAPANESE POPSTARS, FRED , BRIAN DEADY , newcomers KANYU TREE, HAM SANDWICH and returning favourites CODES and O EMPEROR to mention a few.
HEY DJ, PUT YOUR HANDS UP!
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and founding father of Hip-Hop, DJ Grandmaster Flash will hit the decks and grace the main stage with crowd pleasing, hip-hopping, rock-stomping beats! As a teenager, he began experimenting with DJ gear in his bedroom, eventually developing and mastering three innovations - Quick Mix, Clock Theory and Scratching - that are still considered standard DJing techniques today. He was the first DJ to physically lay his hands on the vinyl and manipulate it in a backward, forward or counterclockwise motion. Flash has played for audiences as large as the Super Bowl and as elite as The Queen of England, and plans to release an album later this year!
BBC Radio 2 DJ Norman Jay will also light up the decks with his blend of house music, 70’s & 80s funk, soul and jazz-funk beats from the sunny shores of Bundoran this June!
ONES TO WATCH
Sixty two year old Charles Bradley is no stranger to hard times. Born in Gainesville, Florida in 1948 and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Charles spent the better part of his childhood living on the streets. Slipping off the beaten track, the succeeding years were tinged with tales of m urder, poverty, multiple failures and unimaginable setbacks. “The sort of pain that can only drive a man to greatness or madness. Thankfully, Bradley found the former, at the age of 62, with the help of Gabe Roth of Daptone Records” – LA TIMES. “No Time for Dreaming” is Bradley’s debut album and is steeped in the tradition of classic Stax, Otis Redding, James Brown and Al Green. Tipped as Top Act at this year’s SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas and recommended as one to watch by the LA Times, Charles Bradley should not be missed on the sunny shores of Bundoran this June!
Officially formed in 1964 after playing in studios together all over Kingston, Jamaica, The Skatalites came together to perform live shows all over the island. In addition to the live shows, these musicians were the backing band for every vocalist including Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Toots and The Maytals to name just a few. They are the roots to the tree whose branches include rocksteady, reggae, rap.dub, punk, two-tone, 3rd wave, ska-jazz, ska-core and raggae. Now in their 46th anniversary the international legends of Ska music continue to please crowds while spanning the globe year after year!
AWARD WINNING
Scooping the award for Best Small Festival at this year’s Irish Festival Awards, Sea Sessions returns with a bang in this it’s fourth year with the support of Failte Ireland;
"Failte Ireland have been hugely supportive of what we have created here in Bundoran. They have helped us every step of the way to grow and promote Irelands biggest beach party. The local Council in the town have been really progressive as well. It is only with forward thinking support like this that award winning events like Sea Sessions can thrive" explains event co-organiser Daniel Browne.
MAKING HISTORY
Surf history will be made in Bundoran when the Donegal festival hosts the UK and Irelands first ever Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) speciality event! In just its fourth year, Sea Sessions 2011 is delighted to announce that their annual Surf Expression Session has been recognised by the ASP and in association with Quiksilver will be the first-of-its-kind event to be displayed in Ireland and the UK.
“The Sea Sessions Expression Session has been a popular event with surfers and non-surfers. However, the sanctioning of the event by the ASP and its sponsorship by Quiksilver, one of the biggest surf brands in the world, is a huge vote of confidence in an event which has grown to not only be the biggest surf event in Ireland, but the second largest in the whole of Ireland and the UK” explains festival organiser and co-owner of Bundoran Surf Co. Pete Craig. “It is amazing to see the quality of international surfers who have already signed up to compete for 5,000 euro prize fund".
The Sea Sessions Expression Session will further cement Ireland’s place as one of the world’s best surfing destinations whilst giving exposure to some of the best surfers that ride its waves.
FURTHER ACTIVITY
Not only is the festival offering a varied selection of musical gems to cater to the avid music lover, it will also have a vast range of activities to enjoy. Spectators will experience some of the most exciting, adrenalin pumping action up close and in a beautiful environment.
Sea Sessions 2011 will this year introduce new activities such as BEACH SOCCER, ULTIMATE FRISBEE and will see the return of crowd pleasing favourites TAG RUGBY and the VERT AREA provided by “Relentless”. The spectator activities will be more extreme and bigger than ever as the RELENTLESS TITAN SHOW will be fused with the high octane RAMP RAGE JUMP SHOW . This explosive combination is being crafted especially for Sea Sessions and will be the first of it’s kind in Ireland. TITAN and RAMP RAGE will introduce some insane action to this year’s event whilst testing the limits of top professional BMX, FREESTYLE BIKE, SKATEBOARD and BLADE performers. Expect to see a cast of the finest extreme sports athletes unleashing a show-stopping, must-see exposé!
Those who fancy taking a time-out can wander over to the film festival area were the “GO BIG OR GO HOME” extreme sports film festival will be showcasing the best sport sports films from around the globe. As part of this inaugural addition to the festival we are launching a short surf film competition. The competition is aimed at budding surf movie makers within Ireland with cash prizes on offer for the winners. So for your opportunity to reach this audience and to be part of the “Go Big or Go Home Film Festival” get cracking on those entries! Before submitting please visit the activities section on our website seasessions.com for entry guidelines.
LIFE’S A BEACH!
After last year’s success, Sea Sessions is expanding its Beach Tag Rugby Tournament in conjunction with Ballyshannon Rugby Club and the opportunity to scoop €500 for the winning team! Beach tag is an all-inclusive fun sport with emphasis on having a good time in a chilled out and scenic environment. The competition will take place on Bundoran Main beach directly in front of the festival site.
New for 2011 is the Beach Soccer Tournament. An exhibition match will be played by some of the game’s finest legends and the competition is open to all to join in! Beach Soccer, while relatively new in Ireland, has gained popularity worldwide with super stars such as Cantona and Romario getting involved. Teams are made up of a minimum of five players and the festival is offering a prize of €500 for the winners of the tournament.
2011 introduces the Sea Sessions Ultimate Frisbee Beach Competition debut. The sport is played by thousands the world over and next year will see the world beach championships held in Italy with the Irish national team present to show case this growing sport! Details on how to enter or register your team can all be found at seasessions.com.
