Rockin’ to fabulous King Phil in the grounds of Macroom Castle

AS a teenager in the 1980s living on the Beara peninsula, music festivals were something that happened between the pages of Hot Press magazine and Smash Hits.

But there was one exception – less than 100 miles away from my school desk was Macroom’s Mountain Dew Festival.

The establishment detested these concerts, and so did parents. Ireland was extremely conservative and the population was predominantly practising Catholics. There was a general mistrust of the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle.

In the late morning of June 26th 1982, my friend Olive announced there was a lift to Macroom going if I wanted to see Phil Lynott that night.

A poster for Phil Lynott's 1982 tour.

There was no way I was going to let a little thing like ‘not-a-hope-in-hell’ parental permission get in the way. After all, I was at the height of teen rebellion. It was perfect!

A few big black lies later, and I was on my way. After parking the car, my friends and I took the short walk into the town.

The culture shock was instant.

Macroom’s streets had become a sea of denim and long hair. Throngs of rockers gathered in the streets to embrace a day of craic. From early afternoon, the sounds from the stage emanated throughout the town, which moved the crowd to the castle grounds. Once inside the gates and amongst thousands of revellers, there was a buzz like nothing I’d experienced before. Within a short period, festival fever gripped me.

As my mates and I sat in the audience waiting for the bands to arrive on the stage, we made friends with other people around us. Fans talked to each other, shared experiences and their love of Phil.

I met music lovers from the city and beyond that had walked to Macroom, because they couldn’t afford the bus. Others regaled us with tales of hitching. There were stories of locals feeding the bedraggled rockers cups of tea, along with freshly baked scones and brown soda bread.

The support bands like Driveshaft and Moving Hearts were big at the time, and loved by the crowd. The DJ Steve Bolger kept the masses singing and dancing along to the well-known songs as he entertained between band changes.

But more than anything, I wanted to see one of my teenage idols, Phil Lynott. Phil was the epitome of cool. He was Mr Rock and Roll.

I heard mumblings of people moaning that they wanted to see ‘Thin Lizzy’, but the band was never advertised to play. If you followed the scene, then you would have known that Phil was going solo! Solo in Soho, his recent released album was the cassette in my Walkman. I knew every song by off by heart.

My heart soared when the mop-haired Irishman walked onto the stage. The entire audience was on its feet. The driving guitar riffs, pounding drums, and powerful vocals made it impossible to resist head-banging and fist-pumping along with the tunes.

I was living in the moment, feeling the atmosphere that can’t be captured in a photograph or video. The high energy, raw intensity, and rebellious spirit were the memories I took away from my day.

I left Macroom, knowing I was going to make sure I had the full weekend package the following year. However, it was not to be – because 1982 was the last of the seven-year successfully run festival.

The Frank and Walters are among the acts performing this weekend.

Festivals have a magical quality. They are a happy place. It’s where your tribal family is. Everyone should experience one at least once in their lifetime. And so Macroom prepares for a new festival this week.

The Macroom Music Fest is the first event to benefit from the freedom of traffic the bypass has given the town. The Franks & Walters, Riptide Movement, and Mundy will be headlining the event.

While they held the first Mountain Dew Festival on the castle grounds, this year’s music fest will proudly return to the gates of the Castle in the Square. I hope they will have an exceptional event and it will go from strength to strength.