Dublin folk stalwarts and friends of rabble, Lynched, have had their slot pulled from the RTÉ stage in Temple Bar on Culture Night, because they wished to play one of their own songs.
The song, ‘Cold Old Fire’ was penned by the group and their good friend Cian Lawless a few years ago, and is a reflection on trying to retain a sense of pride and resilience while enduring life on the dole in recession-era Dublin.
Just a while ago they described what happened on their Facebook page:
“It’s a fairly simple but bewildering story. We were asked to do the gig, which we were delighted about. It was a chance to play to a new audience on a large stage in Dublin, while also being broadcast on the radio. A few weeks later they contacted us to ‘suggest’ the three songs from our album that we might play. When we replied that we would rather change one of the three songs on their list to give a fairer representation of what the band are about, we received a phone call strongly urging to do otherwise.”
“A few reasons were given, including the fact that they wanted more upbeat songs that people would know, and that the gig wasn’t about us, it was about Culture Night. After some to-ing and fro-ing we eventually said that we were not prepared to have our setlist chosen for us by a third party. At this point the message was conveyed to us in no uncertain terms that we were removed from the bill.”
Although organisers stated that it was because they wanted more ‘upbeat’ songs that people would know, these events are eerily similar to those in Limerick earlier this year, when local rappers were asked by ‘City of Culture’ event organisers to change the line about “the city looks rough”.
Fortunately you can still catch Lynched on Culture Night at the ITMA on Merrion Square at 19:30pm, where they will be playing whatever the fuck they want. You can read an interview with Lynched here.
Comments
Pity.. gets plenty of play on OpenTempoFM 🙂
So dumb.
Its RTE.. no surprise there.
classic rte
Censorship ….Fuck R T E
Storm in a tea cup or something more
Great band. Typical “event” organisers .. Running around with clip boards and ear pieces.. Wouldn’t know culture if it bit them in the arse..
The other bands should not play in protest. Show these wankers some REAL Irish music solidarity. This is absolutely ridiculous.
RTE as part of the establishment does not want to create any kind of “negative” image or reflect the true reality of life in Ireland today.
Why is the link down???
Nice song..
An absolute shame……a brilliant young group which should be supported and encouraged. ….
Culture curated to be commercially palatable isn’t worth shit. Best of luck to Lynched.
Official Ireland strikes again!
It’s all about the “positive message”……
Unbelievable. Why are no artists getting art jobs? Whoever’s in charge here is clearly about as clued in as the average Labour TD.
They should’ve said grand and played whatever songs they wanted.
hmmm what great inspiration for a new song for them !! best revenge lol -just make sure it sounds upbeat 😉
Enduring the dole. Pft.
Merrion Square it is so.
I posted this earlier so,copy n paste : RTE have been at that for yrs,but I’m surprised they acted that way for a live gig. Some ole bollox is a little over concerned about how RTE is being portrayed. Looks like they might be doing the lads a favour here by giving them the chance to rebel against a conservative organisation who are scared shitless to rock the boat on political and religious matters,or Zeus forbid,tarnish the exemplary name RTE has nation wide. They turned down Fr.Ted originally ,so Dermot Morgan went to channel 4 and it preceded to win best”British” comedy,twice I think ha. Goes to show.So,best British folk band with Dublin accents?…are ye ready lads? Rock it out to the Angelus
Isn’t the whole purpose of “Culture Night” exactly that? Music like art is subjective and may not appeal to everyone. Let the people listening to the music make up their own minds.
RTE need a good ‘shake-up!’ They need to stand outside their ‘box’ and listen to what folk in the real world want. What if it’s a new composed song, they are a traditionally based group so let them air their work. RTE come into the
present and stop living back in the ‘good o’le days’
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They will be playing whatever the fuck they want…………excuse me…….
rise and repeal ……………….as promised by the 1916 leaders/proclamation…………..are you serious ?…………………..lets repeal the right of either a mother or child to life…………………… should be call ed the ‘sick monkies march’………………….the 1916 leaders would have trained their guns on such muppets on behalf of the babies to be aborted…………. these marchers should all wear swastikas as they are no better than the Nazis who slaughtered the Jews!