Fans of live guitar music are in for a real treat when legendary guitarist Albert Lee & his awesome touring band Hogan's Heroes play Forum Waterford on Wednesday, 9th December. Often referred to within the music industry as the 'guitar player's guitar player', make no mistake, Albert Lee is the real deal and so for any discerning guitar fan this gig is a must.

Albert Lee's unique style has influenced an array of famous guitarists who have followed in his distinctive footsteps. He is a country-rock legend, a true guitar virtuoso, and one of the most sought-after and respected musicians in the world. In a career now spanning 40 plus years, Lee's contribution to the world of popular music is immeasurable, he has recorded and performed with the biggest and most celebrated names in the music industry including: Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Emmylou Harris, Glen Campbell, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Joan Armatrading, Ja...
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Twister Vick`s proudly presents Legenardy Irish guitarist Pat McManus on Saturday December 5th 2009, at 11.30pm, free admission.

In 1980 a young 3 piece hard rock band called Mamas Boys (made up by 3 young brothe`s) burst onto the Irish (and later the International) scene. No one had ever seen or heard a band like this, all so young and so very talented. Mamas Boys , Pat, John & Tommy (R.I.P) McManus hailed from a Irish traditional music background in County Fermanagh. It was their introduction to Horslips that turned them towards playing rock music, putting down their Irish traditional instruments.

So quickly did they begin to win over their live audiences that soon they were invited to support almost every rock band that came to Belfast or Dublin. By this time, the brothers had released their first self financed album called "The Official Bootleg". It was really just a demo that had been pressed o...
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Electric Avenue brings back it's 2 most popular rock tribute acts over the next 2 Saturdays, with Knights Of Leon playing this week (5th December) and the Stone Roses Experience next week (12th December). Both acts have always sold out their previous trips to the Avenue, performing 2 hour live shows featuring all the great songs of 2 of the biggest bands of the last 20 years. Doors are at 9pm for both gigs and admission is just €5 before 10pm, and €10 after.

Having only got together at the beginning of 2009, Knights Of Leon are now one of the most successful rock tribute bands on the UK and Irish live circuit. The reasons for their success are obvious. Firstly, if you are going to be a successful tribute band, it helps to...
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Electric Avenue will be announcing it's full Xmas entertainment programme next week, but in the meantime here are details of the venue's Xmas Party on Friday 11th December and it's NYE Party on Thursday 31st December.

Xmas Party (11 Dec)
The Xmas Party is headlined by EA favourites Fight Like Apes, and it's their only Irish gig (outside of 2 homecoming shows at Dublin's Academy) after an amazing 2009. Maykay and the lads made some new friends all over Europe in the summer, with appearances at all of the BIG European music festivals and have even been nominated as "Best Breakthrough Act" for the UK Festival Awards. Their last show at The Avenue in June was a sell-out, and this time around they are bringing very special guests, Channel One, with them. Channel One have just released the best Irish album of the year (in our humble opinion) with "Sound To Light". Tickets (€12) are available in advance at B...
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An ideal Christmas gift with a local connection is now on sale in shops throughout Waterford City. The Spraoi Calendar records eighteen years of parades, fun, faces and places on the streets of the city. It is an ideal stocking-filler for Waterford people at home and abroad.

"The reaction has been tremendous; people love the splash of colour especially on winter days. We have it on sale at The Book Centre and we want to thank all the other shops throughout the city that have it on their counters. At a fiver it's great value and a lovely memento of Waterford," Dermot Quinn of Spraoi told Waterford Today.

The calendar is a 100% Waterford product with both the design and printing having been undertaken in the city. It can also be ordered on www.spraoi.com and already orders have been received from as far away as Australia.

Now in its 77th year, the much loved City of Waterford Brass Band will perform their annual Christmas concert at Christ Church Cathedral on Saturday 12th December at 8pm. Music Director Julie Quinlan will lead the band through a programme of music which includes such favourites as Can't Take My Eyes Off You, Smile, Sway, Tequila, Have You Met Miss Jones, and of course some real Christmas favourites to round off the evening including the ever popular White Christmas.

They will joined in concert by the award-winning Waterford choir Ad Hoc Chorale whose programme of music will include In Dulci Jublio, and Walking in a Winter Wonderland.

Christ Church Cathedral, Saturday 12th December at 8pm.

Tickets e10 from 051 858 958 or on the door.

Gifts At Garter Lane

Treat yourself, your family and friends to a unique locally made gift this Christmas. Waterford Homecrafts is bringing its successful Christmas Crafts Fair to Garter Lane Theatre Gallery.

On dispay will be an extensive range of unusual and specialist items and artworks of high standard. Items range from woodturning to basketry, handbags to hand knits, pottery to preserves, candles and clocks, silk scarves to stained glass. The craft fair is open to the public on the 4th of December and officially opened on Saturday 5th of December. The festive season kicks off at 2.00pm with mulled wine and mince pies at Garter Lane Gallery.

The theme for this year's art exhibition is 'Spontaneity' with the artists challenged to create loose spontaneous paintings in their own individual style. Waterford Art Group was established almost 40 years ago providing a valuable resource for am...
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Brendan is standing up again…Yes, the hilarious Brendan O Carroll is returning to play Forum Waterford on Wednesday December 2nd with his outrageously funny stand-up show "How's Your Wobbly Bits"(Over 18's).

While Brendan's show is full of new material it will of course include a cameo appearance by "Mrs Brown" from the stream of hit plays Brendan has performed and the cranky old "Charlie Smart" who has an opinion of everything (and everyone) Be prepared to have your spirits lifted, your sides hurt, and your sensibilities offended (no one is safe) when the master of stand up comedy, Mr. Brendan O'Carroll, takes to the comedy stage once again.

Now author, actor/director script-writer, playwright, video star as well as stand-up comic, the Brendan O'Carroll story begins very modestly. The youngest of eleven children Brendan O'Carroll was born in Dublin's inner-city in 1955. His mother, Maureen was a Labo...
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Hairspray The Musical

Presented by The David Hennessy Stage School on Thursday December 17th to Sunday December 20th 2009. Nightly @ 8.00pm & Matinees Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th @ 2.00pm at De La Salle College Waterford

Booking now open at Garter Lane Box Office. Enrolments for our new term January 2010 now taking place for kids aged 4 - 18 years.

For further information contact Karen on 086-6642197

Broken Embraces (15A)

After Live Flesh, All About My Mother, and Volver, director Pedro Almodóvar and his muse Penélope Cruz unite for a fourth time with Broken Embraces. Here, Almodóvar delves into film noir style to tell the tale of a blind screenwriter (Lluěs Homar) who used to be a film director working under the name of Mateo. How did he lose his sight? Flash back 14 years to the '90s. Mateo is hired to direct a film and immediately falls in love with Lena (Penélope Cruz), the film's star and the mistress of the producer, an ageing millionaire Ernesto Martel (José Luis Gómez). As Mateo and Lena embark on a passionate affair, Ernesto hires his son to spy on them under the guise of a "making of" documentary. The behind the scenes footage proves what he suspected all along, that Mateo and Lena are lovers and provokes him into planning an elaborate revenge against Mateo. Broken Embraces contains Almodóvar's trad...
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Described by Barra Ó Saghdha in The Journal of Music in Ireland as "a tightly structured homage to the music and the musicians", The Frost is All Over brings together world class Irish artists in a stylish contemporary performance that connects deeply with the rich traditions of this country. Ten42 Productions Presents "The Frost is all Over" at Garter Lane Arts Centre on Friday 4th Dec 2009 @ 8pm. Tickets are available from 051 855038 and on line at www.garterlane.ie

The Frost is All Over is built around solo performances on accordion and uilleann pipe by two of Ireland's finest traditional musicians, Clare man Tony McMahon and David Power from Ring, Co Waterford. Both musicians are recognized as leading voices in their chosen instruments.

Their thoughtful selection of tunes is interspersed with a specially commissioned suite of poems from Poet and Playwright Dermot Bolger. Each finely crafted poem connec...
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It's that time of the year again, the halls are decked with Holly but what are you doing except rushing around trying to find the perfect gift for the person who has everything. This December why not do something different; give the gift of music with tickets for one of the many upcoming shows at Forum Waterford.

Forum Waterford has a range of shows coming up both over the Christmas period and into the New Year which will suit all tastes and ages. December kick's off with Dublin born funny man Brendan O'Carroll's* new stand up show "How's Your Wobbly Bits", then the world renowned Harlem Gospel Choir take to the main stage ably supported by Waterford's Male Voice Choir. The middle of December will see's Bell X1 rock the rafters and for those who prefer the 1950's big band style of show there's the sublime Imelda Ma on December 19th .

Over the holiday period take a trip down memory lane when well known local ...
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Described by The Irish Times as a great place to visit, the Christmas Show in Joan Clancy Gallery is a trove of pure gems with works from some of the established and rising stars of the Irish art world including Katarzyna Gajewska whose talent is much lauded by doyenne Noelle Campbell Sharp. Gajewska's new work in Joan Clancy Gallery is inspired by Vivienne Westwood, Twiggy, Sylvia Plath and other icons.

Ross Stewart's love affair with the Irish landscape is evident in his new semi-abstract works; his animated full length film The Secret of Kells is in the running for the 2010 Academy Awards.

Rayleen Clancy's current work retraces her childhood journeys from Los Angeles to Ring and the remote majesty of Great Basin National Park is a fascinating study painted with oil on canvas.

Classically trained 23 year-old Kit French, winner of the Niccolo Caracciolo Drawing Award at the Royal Hibernian Art...
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Multi-platinum selling artist Liam Lawton has just announced that he will be performing at Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, Waterford in aid of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul Waterford on Tuesday 15th December 2009 at 8.00pm – Doors open at 7.30pm, special guests on the night is the Cathedral Youth Choir.

Tickets cost €25 and are available at the Cathedral Parish Office 11.00am to 1.00pm 051 874757 or the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, Henrietta Street from 9.30am to 4.30pm 051 873128

Liam came to public prominence some years ago when his song 'The Cloud's Veil' was used as part of all memorial services of the World Trade Centre disaster and helped thousands through their grieving process. Since then he has recored three multi-platinum selling albums on the EMI record label and has toured the world over. His music has been translated into six different languages and has been ...
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Leading RTE 2FM DJ and bona fide rock princess Jenny Huston publishes her first book on November 27th through Currach Press. In Bloom – Irish Bands Now celebrates the very best Irish bands and musicians currently rocking the local and international music scenes. It's like the ultimate fantasy Irish music league, all under one cover!

In Bloom – Irish Bands Now is essential reading for music lovers and aspiring bands, the ideal Christmas gift for that difficult music fan in your life. The book features personal in depth interviews with fifteen of Ireland's biggest acts including Bell X1, Mundy, Republic of Loose, Duke Special, Mick Flannery, Fight Like Apes and Lisa Hannigan. In Bloom – Irish Bands Now also features a roll call of hot new Irish acts, a sizzling hit list of new music to whet a multitude of appetites including And So I Watch You From Afar, Halves, Heathers and R.S.A.G. This beautifully de...
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The Forum, Jan 1st, 9pm

Waterford Youth Arts is delighted to announce the launch of a Commemorative Booklet and release of their forthcoming programme of events for 2010 in an effort to honour the work of the organisation. This will take place on January 1st 2010 in The Forum as part of the celebration of Waterford Youth Arts 25th Anniversary in Waterford City.

The years programme will celebrate the hugely influential involvement Waterford Youth Arts has had on the people of Waterford City, both young and old in all of the various art forms, including drama, dance, film, art and creative writing.

The people of Waterford can look forward to an eclectic blend of these genres being presented in a climactic weekend on August 20th – 22nd 2010.

January 1st will see a gathering of ex-members, parents of current members, previous and current staff, directors and tutors of the o...
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Listening to singer-songwriter Sarah Bates songs is like looking straight into her heart and Sarah puts words and music to the things we all feel but cannot express. The clever lyrics on "Lie to me" proves she has a real insight into people`s feelings and relationships. What can only be described as sumptuous backing vocals from Christine Deady, makes "Family" a track you want to hear again and again. Sarah`s CD "Courage" is on release now.

Another gorgeous helping of Jim Croce songs from Paddy O'Keeffe kept the high standard of music going. Haunting vocals on Chris Isaac's "Never fall in love" brought Paddy`s singing to another level, just incredible.

How can you top this one wonders, but Christin Deady, along with superior guitar skills from Graham McCarty, certainly did. I don't use the word unique too often but Christine certainly is. Powerful vocals on "Put The Light On" show that this is someone to wat...
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The Waterford One World Centre, with the generous support of Trôcaire, will host a human rights film event on Thursday, 10 December at the Garter Lane Arts Centre, O'Connell Street, Waterford. This event commemorates International Human Rights Day and marks the United Nations' adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The film starts at 8:00 p.m. and will be followed by a reception honouring the 2009 recipient of the Waterford Humanitarian Award.

We will feature the critically acclaimed Afghan Star which documents contestants in an X Factor like competition in Afghanistan. After years of war and Taliban rule, music and the freedom it represents are quite controversial in many parts of Afghan society. This film looks at gender, religion, politics and of course, music and the quest for fame and fortune.

There is no charge for this event but please reserve seats through the Garter Lane Box O...
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This week sees the Waterford Panto Society take to the stage once more with its annual production.

Aladdin is the show this year, and promises to provide the usual assortment of fun, frolics and laughter for all the family.

As it stands there are still limited tickets available across most of the weeks performances, but these are sure to go very fast once the show opens - so don't delay - contact the Theatre Royal Box Office on 051-874402, as the show is certain to sell out once it opens.

Bryan Flynn once again returns as director along with Michelle Condon choreographer and Wayne Brown Musical Director. The magical set has been designed and constructed by Spraoi, complete with magic carpet that will actually fly. Aiden McGrath provides the lighting, and the Stage Management is in the capable hands of Brian 'The Hoff' Collins. Nomac provide the costumes and make-up is by Mags Keane.

...
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To coincide with the looming 'Budget Day' on December 9th, Barry's Tea announces the first annual Free Tea Day. Dec 9th may see cut backs and tighter wallets but by adding a Golden Moment to the day, thousands of tea fans will enjoy a free cup, compliments of Barry's Tea. Barry's Tea Free Tea Day takes place in Waterford and around Ireland and in advance of the day tea fans are invited to request their 'Free Tea Day' packs of tea from www.facebook.com/barrystea.

Shops, galleries, and universities around the country are already signed up as Free Tea Day Hubs for the day. Hungry tea fans can pop into hubs all around the country to pick up a pack for tea treats on the day. For a full list of 'Free Tea Day' Hubs check out barrystea.ie or request your own pack from the Facebook page.

The Barry's Tea main range, includes Gold Blend; Classic Blend; Original Blend and Decaf. Fruit Infusions; Very Berry, Cranberry a...
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