Fruit Forbidden – Kilmainham – Live Review – 05-06-17

A full day of music hand picked by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver in the beautiful surroundings of Kilmainham, what could possibly go wrong? As a bouncer said to me as I sloped past; ‘It would be a great little country if it had a roof on it’. We got more proof that God prefers dance music with the wettest day of the festival falling on Monday for the Indie/ folk/ hip-hop mix up. The rain was light but fairly persistent, but there were a number of tents for those that came without wet gear! The addition of the ‘Bulmers Live’ tent helped with the best of Irish sounds. The highlights of the day included Talos and as ever; the Rusangano family.

Outcider Stage

Paul Thomas Saunders opened the Outcider stage and he managed to get some talented backing singers with the Staves joining him on stage. Velvet Negroni was next up before the oddity of the day with the People Mixtape. This was a jam session made up of members of Bon Iver and others, with Justin Vernon leading the band with a mix of samples and drum machine.

Danny Brown was probably the highlight of the entire day. He got the crowd jumping with his set of short and vibrant music. The man seemed to have boundless energy as he danced for the duration. He released ‘Atrocity Exhibition’ last year and it featured heavily amongst the set. The final act on the stage was Flying Lotus with his 3D live show, in which he performs behind a screen showing a variety of swirling images.

Original Stage

The first up on the main stage was William Tyler. He is from Tennessee and played instrumental music as part of a three piece. Gordi attracted a small crowd of die hard fans, but the Staves were enough to entice the poncho wearing crowd back out into the elements. Sisters Jessica, Camilla and Emily are slowly building a reputation based on their harmonies and the crowd seemed to enjoy it. Lisa Hannigan opened her set by thanking the audience for braving the elements, a feat repeated throughout the day!

Bon Iver headlined the main stage and played a set mainly taken from their new album ’22, A Million’. The album has split the critics, but those in attendance sang along with every word. Despite some technical issues, they sent the crowd home more than a little moist.

Set List available here.