Nearly every music fan in Northern Ireland has made the pilgrimage
to Belfast’s Ulster Hall for a life changing experience, including
many of our beloved rock musicians. The reopening of the Ulster Hall
building in March 2009 provides the ideal opportunity to celebrate
the rich rock ‘n’ roll resonance of this historic building
and BBC NI’s Across The Line is marking this with the epic oneoff
concert ‘Do You Remember The First Downpatrick rockers Ash will
perform at the Do You Remember The First Time Concert Time’
which will bring together many of Northern Ireland’s best contemporary
artists for the first time.
Big name acts such as Ash, Therapy?, Duke Special, Divine Comedy’s
Neil Hannon, Foy Vance will be joined by rising local acts Jetplane
Landing, Fighting With Wire, Lafaro, Panama Kings, The Lowly Knights,
Cashier no 9 and Kowalski for the unique Do You Remember The First
Time concert, organised by ATL in conjunction with the Ulster Hall
and Belfast City Council. Each act performing in this exciting line-up
will not only perform one of their own tracks but also a song from
the set list of a band which they themselves saw rocking the famous
old venue.
Duke Special is among the artist who will be preforming
one of their own tracks and a track from an artist who has played
the Ulster Hall as part of the Unique do you Remember the First Time
Concert.
This one-off concert, which has proven to be one of the hottest tickets
in town, is now completely sold out. The good news for music fans,
however, is that they can still be part of this landmark concert as
Across The Line will be covering the event across radio, television
and online. The concert will be
broadcast live and in its entirety exclusively in an extended Across
The Line on BBC Radio Ulster on Monday, March 9 from 7.30pm-11pm.
ATL TV will then show an hour-long special of the concert on St Patrick’s
Day, Tuesday, March 17, on BBC Two NI at 9pm At bbc.co.uk/ atl, meanwhile,
music fans can hear the concert for a week after it has first been
broadcast and check out all the best news, reviews, footage, photos
and blogs from the event courtesy of ATL’s exclusive backstage
pass.
Across The Line’s Rigsy, who will host the concert alongside
some special guest presenters, says: “Getting loads of our favourite
local bands together on the same night in such a magnificent venue
was always going to be an ambitious feat for our little team at ATL
to pull off, so I’m still in a state of slight disbelief that
we have managed to do just that.
“I honestly believe this is one of the most exciting gigs ATL
has ever been involved in. I don’t think there is one band or
music fan from here that doesn’t have at least one brilliant
memory of the Ulster Hall etched forever in their mind and it seems
almost unbelievable that we will play a major part in putting on another
unforgettable gig there. “The buzz around this concert now is
infectious and it feels amazing and almost humbling to be involved.
I’m sure this will prove to be a truly amazing concert. Not
just for the people who were lucky enough to get tickets, but also
for all those tuning in live or watching the ATL TV special.”
Paul McClean, producer of Across The Line, says: “The Ulster
Hall is part of Northern Ireland’s music history. Hopefully
this gig will reflect this and maybe even become a little part of
that istory as the line up is amazing. Every single act wanted to
do this just to be part of celebrating the old building and its rich
musical heritage.” BBC Northern Ireland, where music
matters.
ATL At The Ulster Hall, Monday, March 9 on BBC Radio Ulster. 92–95FM
& DAB digital radio, digital TV and online at bbc.co.uk/ radioulster
and bbc.co.uk/atl.
ATL Live at the Hall on BBC Two NI on Tuesday, March 17 at 9pm