Hot Press

Now that Dave Grohl has officially relinquished the title – “If I wanted to be a priest, I’d be a fucking priest,” the Foos commander-in-chief told Hot Press – I think that Nicest Man In Rock status should be bestowed on Matt Berninger who’s turned affability into as big an art form as his music. The latter was embellished in 2025 by Get Sunk, his brilliant second solo album which was accompanied by two equally killer Vicar St. gigs.

Fresh from the success of Hamnet, the big screen adaption of her historical novel – for which she and director Chloé Zhao jointly received a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination – Maggie O’Farrell has returned with the hugely compelling Land. Set in the aftermath of the famine, the story focuses on the father and son duo of Tomás and 10-year-old Liam, who in 1865 set out to map Ireland as part of the great Ordnance Survey project.

Hot Press has spoken exclusively with John O’Neill, the former CEO of Tickets.ie – the Irish-based ticket-seller that went into liquidation recently, leaving a number of festivals hugely out of pocket. O’Neill who was the founder of Tickets.ie told Hot Press that he was “saddened and shocked” to hear that the company ceased trading last month.

Hot Press has spoken exclusively with John O’Neill, the former CEO of Tickets.ie – the Irish-based ticket-seller that went into liquidation recently, leaving a number of festivals hugely out of pocket. O’Neill who was the founder of Tickets.ie told Hot Press that he was “saddened and shocked” to hear that the company ceased trading last month.

As Glen Hansard walks on stage, the rain that greeted Wet Leg in this venue yesterday has given way. This time, the clouds merely block the evening sun from reaching the ground rather than soak the attendees. The stage is only a stone's throw from where Glen Hasnard’s career began by busking on Grafton Street, over 35 years ago. The musician met a street artist, who offered him a couch in his flat, where he would stay for the next four years before his career eventually took off.

Nothing But Thieves singer Conor Mason has a lump in his throat and a quiver in his voice, as he thinks back to the struggles he went through touring the band’s second album, Broken Machine. A retiring sort, he was overwhelmed by the physical and mental challenges of life on the road. The toll on his psychological health was significant – to the point he considered walking away from music.

NaNCH Choir Cór Linn have won the gold medal in the Youth Choir SATB (Under-21) competition, earning them the Grand Prix title in Bratislava. The choir is a mixed-voice choir for singers aged 14-18, based at the National Concert Hall. Under the direction of Choral Director Ciarán Kelly, the choir scored an exceptional 97 out of 100 at the Summer Youth Music Festival in Bratislava from June 30 to July 3, 2026.

There has been great sadness in Hot Press these past few days, hearing of the sudden death of Finn Gallagher. Finn's funeral took place this morning in St. Agatha’s Church, Clar, in Donegal. “Our darling boy is gone,” his father Zak said in a Facebook post, that generated hundreds of tributes. Finn was a Hot Press student representative and had made a huge impression on members of the wider Hot Press team.

My partner and I went out for dinner recently with a married couple who had just spent a week driving around Ireland with another pair of friends. Before we'd even ordered drinks, they issued one heartfelt plea: "Please don't be fighting.

Irish experimental band The Jimmy Cake will play at the National Concert Hall on November 28 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their debut album Brains. Marking their first concert in over a decade, the show will see them play Brains in full, and comes as part of the National Concert Hall’s Landmarks series. Landmarks is a program where prominent Irish artists perform their landmark album and music from their career.