All Together Now 2024 | Live Review (2024)

All Together Now returned for its fifth lap around the sun this year, proving that Irish music is having its moment in the spotlight. Entering the site through dusty wheat fields and the backdrop of dusky skies, the grounds of Curraghmore Castle emerge, placing the festival as an enchanting liberation from everyday life. This year’s line-up boasted a particular Irish stronghold, bolstering both emerging and well-established acts.

With early access granted to all guests for the first year, Thursday afternoon saw the opening of the campsite and the weekend’s first acts. Donegal’s Aonair, Waterford’s own King Kong Company and Dublin’s Anamoe Drive took to various stages, acting as the perfect openers for early arrivals.

The festival’s stages included the Belonging Bandstand, which hosted everything from a Tommy Tiernan comedy set to a Dolly Parton tribute show. Arcadia and the newly introduced AVA stage brought dance tunes from the late afternoon into the early morning for dance lovers. Hidden Sounds was another new addition adorning a woodland alcove with nature inspired decor and acoustic sets, while The Circle made a return, hosting stand-out acts such as Shiv with special guest James Vincent McMorrow, Lemoncello, Rachael Lavelle and Chalk.

With twenty-two stages intricately woven throughout the grounds, All Together Now’s 2024 schedule kicked off its first full day on Friday. Dublin-based seven-piece And He, The Fool brought all of their energy to the Belonging Bandstand, followed suitably by analogue rock and rollers Fizzy Orange. From the Lovely Days stage, Kean Kavanagh’s slow and steady mellow tones rang.

Off the back of a raucous Glastonbury performance, Declan McKenna took to the ATN mainstage. Sporting an Irish jersey and telling of his Irish roots, McKenna brought a vital energy, closing the show on the anti-imperialist anthem ‘British Bombs’.

Aussie dance icons Confidence Man brought their all-singing, all-dancing performance to the Lovely Days stage, setting the tone for a night of dance music to follow. Cork post-punk rockers The Murder Capital filled The Circle, and one half of the electronic duo Maribou State embodied festival spirit with a DJ set at Lovely Days, perfectly preceding Friday night closer George Fitzgerald.

The weekend delivered not just music, but various activities and talks to make every experience entirely unique. The Curious Minds tent hosted a talk with musician Kojaque and writer Emmet Kirwan, while the Jameson Circle became a live podcast stage by day, featuring interviews with influencer Keelin Moncreiff, Joe.ie’s Ryan Carrick and Jameson’s Podge Henry. Around the campsite, the Greencrafts area hosted workshops on creating spiral willow bird feeders, spoon carving, stained glass mosaic making and copper jewellery forming.

All Together Now 2024 | Live Review (2)

Confidence Man at All Together Now 2024. Photo by Owen Humphreys. www.owen.ie

As a family-inclusive festival, a tranquil garden space curated by kids event producer Mel Wilds provided activities and space for children and parents alike to enjoy the festivities of the weekend. For the wellness gurus – yoga, breathwork, tincture-making classes and sensual connection workshops punctuated the festival. Storytelling outlet Seanchóiche returned to the festival for a second year running, allowing participants to tell stories through English and Irish about themes from connection to mistakes, childhood and music.

Saturday stood out as a high point of the festival, boasting Dundalk folk heroes The Mary Wallopers, who crowded the main stage with their trad tunes. Le Boom elevated the party in the Something Kind of Wonderful tent, waxing lyrical about mass emigration and friendship. Natasha Bedingfield entertained a late afternoon audience with a cathartic sing-along to her hit noughties track ‘Unwritten’. Kojaque gave a pro-Palestine rendition of his spoken word piece ‘White Noise’, and Belfast noise-rock three-piece Chalk engaged a muddy crowd of brave moshers. Replacing Róisín Murphy as last headliner of the night, King Kong Company took to the main stage for the second time this festival, bringing wild raucous energy and a unique flair of Waterford musicality to the late night dancers.

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Natasha Bedingfield at All Together Now 2024. Photo by Owen Humphreys. www.owen.ie

Sunday at the campsite saw rain and wind – but this posed no challenge to those poised for a final day of dancing. A special appearance from The Scratch blew the Lovely Days stage away, the rain proving no competition for barefoot dancing and trad moshing. In the wake of releasing their debut album in late 2023, pagan acid doom folk supergroup OXN, consisting of Lankum’s ‘Spud’ Murphy and Radie Peat, Percolator’s Eleanor Myler and musician Katie Kim created a powerful drone filled soundscape under the Something Kind of Wonderful tent.

The Dundalk stronghold held strong as Negro Impacto brought their vibey, upbeat sounds to the bandstand, while Just Mustard made their grand return in their first gig of the year. Teasing new music, the border town shoegazers brought one of the biggest crowds of the weekend to The Circle tent, performing an exceptional set and standing out as a festival highlight. Barry Can’t Swim, but Daniel Wiffen can, as read a sign from the crowd. The Scottish DJ known for feeding music to the souls of dance lovers played in awe to a supercharged crowd, feeding off the energy and ending with a promise to return to Ireland. English rockers Slowdive settled the energy of Sunday, allowing a welcome break to the heavily dance focused headliners. Closing the festival on the highest of highs, The Prodigy drew a crowd that spanned the Main Stage and beyond, giving one last opportunity to dance, let go and embrace the freedom that only a festival adorns.

A weekend for the ages, All Together Now is only on the up.

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All Together Now 2024 | Live Review (2024)

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