Day Three: Saturday 29th August 2009
Duke Special Presents Dukeboxwith very special guests
The Magic Numbers
Bell X1
Jerry Fish and The Mudbug Club
David Kitt
and featuring Duke Special
On the Second Stage:
David Ford
The Voluntary Butler Scheme
Thomas Truax
Dan Michaelson and the Coastguards
One Day International
Tickets are £29+ booking fee / VIP £44 + booking fee available from www.belsonic.com all Ticketmaster outlets and the
The Stiff Kitten Bar
Northern Ireland’s very own Duke Special will appear on Saturday 29 August at Belsonic. He will present DUKEBOX, a one day event in it’s own right which, as well as a headlining appearance, will feature friends and special guests.
An accomplished performer, harking back to the pre-rock ’n' roll era, Duke Special is gloriously vintage and truly unlike any other artist, and he promises “something unique at Dukebox”. Since the release of Songs From The Deep Forest, Duke Special has toured sold out shows across Ireland, the UK and Europe. From headlining a packed-to-the-rafters Shepherds Bush Empire in London to stage diving at Electric Picnic, hosting five sell out nights back-to-back at Belfast’s Empire Music Hall to appearing as a special guest performer at the Cannes Film Festival and being invited to tour with Crowded House on their first outing in ten years.
The Magic Numbers. Last year’s I Never Thought This Day Would Come was a more immediate and visceral collection, the many moments of beauty and hope are juxtaposed with a dark, brooding edge. It’s live tour was filled with even greater theatricality then before, with a seven piece band creating a mighty sound.
The Magic Numbers shot to fame in 2004/2005, a word-of-mouth phenomenon whose affable live shows won them an immediate following. Their music is a harmonious blend of soft country pop with Fifties and Sixties inflections.The Magic Numbers comprise two brother / sister pairings: Romeo and Michelle Stodart who were bron in Trinadad and raised in New York, and the London born Sean and Angela Gannon. They are currently working on their third album, the follow up The Magic Numbers and Those The Brokes which between them spawned six top 40 singles in the UK.
They have recorded with Duke Special, contributing backing vocals to his Our Love Goes Deeper Than This single.
Bell X1 are no strangers to Belfast. They are one of Ireland’s most successful rock bands, with their two most recent albums – Flock and Blue Lights on the Runway topping the charts. They come to Dukebox between a guest spot with U2 at Croke Park and a main stage spot at Electric Picnic.In recent years Bell X1 have gained significant success in the United States, where they have achieved critical acclaim and strong album sales and made several tv performance appearances with the likes of David Letterman, as well as having their music used to soundtrack other popular television shows such as The O.C. and Grey's Anatomy.
Jerry Fish and The Mudbug Club. Fronted and created by former An Emotional Fish singer Ger Whelan, Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club use brass instruments and a jazzy style to create something truly unique. Whelan puts it as “indie lounge lizard schmooze, mariachi swampadelica”, and that sound has established the band as festival favourites throughout these islands.
Debut album album Be Yourself in 2002, which included guests such as Mundy and Damien Rice, won a Meteor Irish Music Award for Best Country/Roots Artist and was described as "genius" by critics. The follow up The Beautiful Untrue has been recently released and builds imaginatively on the debut, and is already a top ten album in Ireland.
David Kitt is an award winning singer, musician, and producer. His debut release, Small Moments and follow up The Big Romance were sophisticated lo-fi efforts. Third album, Square 1, went straight to number one in Ireland . But this short dalliance with a major label did not work out, and Kitt has since continued with self releases and recordings for indie labels, a scenario which he insists he is happy with and which allows him musical space and the ability to engage more directly with his loyal international fanbase.
Most recent outing The Nightsaver is as natural sounding an album as you’re likely to hear in 2009.