FEATURES: I want my… I want my… I want my MTV…

It has become hackneyed to point out that MTV (which stands for ‘Music Television’, in case you weren’t aware) no longer plays music videos. And it’s a justified cliché too, one that makes up the bulk of why MTV has apparently lost its relevancy, but sadly it appears the company’s greatest crime is the inability to live up to its legacy.

BY LEE BRADY

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REVIEW: Volume Control at the Ulster Hall

Given that the first official gig of Belfast Music Week fell on Halloween, the abundance of superheroes, witches and tiger onesies was assumed. The first band of the night, Colly Strings, unsuccessfully attempted to emulate the gothic cool of A Clockwork Orange’s Alex DeLarge. Instead, they resembled a quartet of immaculately turned out butlers. Dubious costume choices aside, the band won over the crowd with a splendid set, but still paled in comparison to the next twenty minutes from Rainy Boy Sleep.

BY TARA MCEVOY Continue reading

FEATURES: The Impact of the EMA’s on Belfast

Belfast City Council and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board contributed £870,000 to bring the EMAs to Belfast on 5 November. An event like this has a lot of power behind it and with 1.2 billion viewers tuning in all over the world, all eyes were on Belfast.

BY PRIYA BIRING Continue reading

REVIEW: Belfast Calling

The MTV EMAs were incredible. Whether you liked the music, layout or even the show itself, it’s obvious there was a lot of effort to make Belfast look as great as possible.  But what would the average tourist be met with, stumbling into some bar offering live music? Well, if it’s anything like the music  heard at Belfast Calling, there would be no doubt that they would be blown away.

BY LEE BRADY  Continue reading

FEATURES: Kids’ TV – Still Live and Kicking?

When you look back on your childhood and early adolescence, there’s a big chance that many of your brightest memories will contain the hypnotic tinge of the television set. Most of us will remember those Saturday mornings, sneaking downstairs before everyone else, to sample a dose of Live and Kicking, SM:TV Live or Den TV. Even now we can’t shake off the influence of Dustin the Turkey or the Animaniacs, as someone on those nights out takes it upon themselves to be the comedian extraordinaire, playing their well-worn repertoire of impersonations and recycled jokes garnered from the shows that made them giggle all those years ago.

BY ROMANO MULLIN Continue reading