Arts Festival shows lack of imagination in programming Big Top music events

Anyone who attended the Chic show at the Big Top during last year’s Galway Arts Festival will recall a stellar night, a gig where punters threw shapes and had some unadulterated fun. After a few lukewarm years, it was nice to be reminded that the Big Top could provide a musical show to rival the big draws from the theatre, dance and visual arts world.

It seemed the Festival was on to a winner yet again with the announcement that Grizzly Bear would be coming to the Fisheries Field. They may not be a household name, but the Brooklyn band have a lot of kudos among discerning indie fans. Like Bon Iver’s Arts Festival show in 2009, the Grizzly Bear show could have drawn people from all over the country to Galway.

However, while the Bon Iver show was exclusive to Galway, Grizzly Bear will also be playing Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens this July.

Since The Frames last played the Arts Festival, Glen Hansard has won an Oscar for the film Once and the musical version has also been a massive success. There will a celebratory atmosphere at his solo show in Galway – as there will be for his show in the Iveagh Gardens, Dublin. Meanwhile, Imelda May and Josh Ritter, also set for Big Top shows, are two big-name acts who can draw a crowd. Yet they are also playing shows in the Iveagh Gardens.

So, there is no headline act exclusive to the Big Top this year. That means its music bill can’t really make any arguments for drawing in people who don’t live in, or close to, Galway.

When The National were announced to play The Marquee in Cork, it was their only official Irish date at the time. A ticket to see one of the most acclaimed and popular bands of recent times costs the same as the Arts Festival headliners. The National’s Irish devotees are in their thousands and, for a while at least, The Marquee could lure them with an exclusive show.

Why isn’t the Arts Festival competing for acts like this? The Arts Festival is the largest cultural event in Galway, yet music, a vital part of the city, often feels like an afterthought in its programme.