Curated by critically acclaimed, multi-platinum singer/songwriter Dermot Kennedy, MISNEACH (pron. mish-nyach, meaning ‘Courage’ in Gaelic) is a brand-new annual global music festival and celebration of Ireland’s rich musical heritage, coinciding with St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Sydney and Boston in March 2025. Alongside epic market stalls and a range of mouth-watering food and beverage outlets – including Guinness on tap – MISNEACH will bring the magic to The Domain, Sydney on Sunday 16 March like never before
MISNEACH 2025
Sydney, Australia on March 16, 2025
STARRING: DERMOT KENNEDY, THE FRAMES (AU EXCLUSIVE), MATT CORBY, KNEECAP, MEG MAC, AMBLE, SORCHA RICHARDSON, THE SCRATCH, SUSAN O’NEILL, CLIFFORDS + FYNCH
Ahead of the inaugural Misneach Irish Music Festival, The Frames legendary viola player Colm Mac Con Iomaire spoke to Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips about the upcoming festival, The Frames long and successful career and much more.
MORE ABOUT THE FRAMES & MISNEACH
Acknowledged as one of Ireland’s most successful music acts of their generation, The Frames are thrilled to celebrate their 35th anniversary with an appearance at Misneach, Sydney. The show will mark their first appearance in Australia since they toured the country with Bob Dylan in 2007. Formed in 1990, after lead singer Glen Hansard was signed by Island Records, the band became as known for their electric live gigs as for their consistently excellent albums, five of which landed in the Irish top-ten charts. Never content to repeat themselves, The Frames have remained artistically restless, creating a catalogue of music where rousing anthems can coexist with moments of strangeness, intimacy, and stillness: where searing tributes to pulling metaphorical (and literal) ships over mountains (“Fitzcarraldo”) can rest alongside love songs drowning in the last fevers of the Spanish Flu (“Santa Maria”). The band veers from silence to cacophony, never shying away from soaring emotional and dynamic shifts.
No stranger to line-up changes, Misneach will bring together singer Hansard, founding member and violinist Colm Mac Con Iomaire, bassist Joseph Doyle, who joined the group with 1996’s Dance the Devil, and guitarist Rob Bochnik, who was poached from Steve Albini’s studio during the recording of 2001’s For the Birds. They will be joined on the night by drummer Tim Neuhaus.
Celebrating contemporary and traditional Irish music and thriving Irish culture – as well as featuring two of Australia’s most popular artists – organisers are thrilled to reveal the incredible lineup joining Dermot Kennedy:
DERMOT KENNEDY
Dermot Kennedy has amassed 4 billion streams across platforms, having the best-selling debut album in Ireland of this millennium with debut Without Fear. A platinum-selling artist in over 12 countries, he released his acclaimed sophomore album Sonder in the autumn. His extensive 2023 “Sonder Tour” saw him headlining iconic venues including New York City’s Madison Square Garden and London’s O2 Arena among others. In 2024 he stripped back to basics and released the introspective EP, I’ve told the trees everything. Dermot has also shared the stage with some of his finest contemporaries, most recently with Niall Horan, Noah Kahan and Zach Bryan. His incredible journey has taken him from busking on the streets of Ireland to playing stadiums around the world. His poetic and authentic artistry has forged a deep, emotional connection with audiences, including the likes of Taylor Swift and Shawn Mendes who have sung his praises.
MATT CORBY
Two-time ARIA winner and multi-Platinum national treasure Matt Corby will take to the stage at MISNEACH. Corby’s 2023 album Everything’s Fine scored 3 x ARIA nominations, plus a nom for triple j’s Australian Album of the Year. No stranger to accolades, Corby’s latest and most adventurous record pulls together a decade of musical threads and production nous, to reveal a body of work that glides even deeper into his R&B roots, while embracing aspects of vintage funk, hip-hop and playful soft rock motifs.
KNEECAP
One of the most exciting groups to ever come out of Ireland, Kneecap are taking the world by storm in 2024 with their blend of socially conscious lyrics and thrilling energy. This year, the trio have brought their bass-heavy bouncing tunes to festivals across Europe including two now infamous sets at Glastonbury, before making their debut trip to Australia next March. Whether in the studio or up on the big screen (their movie is Ireland’s Oscar entry) Kneecap have become unlikely figureheads of a movement to save their mother tongue. Don’t miss Kneecap.
MEG MAC
Revered Sydney-based singer Meg Mac saw her most recent and third album, Matter of Time, take out the coveted #1 position in ARIA’s National Album Chart upon its release back in 2022, as well as earning a nomination for J Awards’ Australian Album of the Year. With multiple sold-out tours under her belt, including a mesmerising closing night as part of Vivid Festival at the Sydney Opera House, the acclaimed ‘Roll Up Your Sleeves’ singer lends her vocals to MISNEACH next March with a set fans won’t want to miss.
AMBLE
West Coast modern Irish folk three-piece Amble are on a heady rise, following a year of sold-out shows across Ireland, the UK, and North America over the past 12 months. Members Robbie Cunningham, Oisin McCaffrey and Ross McNerney create a genuine, authentic connection with their magical sound, recently heard on their major label debut EP, The Commons, out now. The trio just announced their biggest headline world tour to date for 2025 – and their appearance at the Sydney edition of MISNEACH next March marks their debut appearance in Australia.
SCORCHA RICHARDSON
Described by The Irish Times as “one of Ireland’s most intriguing songwriters”, Sorcha Richardson is on the rise. Across two captivating albums to date – 2019 debut album First Prize Bravery, and its 2022 follow-up, Smiling Like an Idiot, the latter reaching #4 on the Irish Album Charts – Richardson quickly cemented her status as one of Ireland’s most exciting songwriters and lyricists. Having toured with the likes of Mitski, Villagers, and James Vincent McMorrow as well as collaborations with Ellie Goulding, Richardson has been twice nominated for the RTE Choice Prize.
THE SCRATCH
Fresh from completing a USA tour with Dropkick Murphys and Pennywise, Dublin four-piece outfit The Scratch announce their addition to the MISNEACH lineup today. Having garnered a cult-like following in Ireland, the UK and most recently mainland Europe and North America, the band were born from a shared love of metal and traditional Irish music. The Scratch have moulded triumphant melodies with the groove and intensity of metal; says influential Irish music bible Hot Press, “A Scratch gig is unlike anything you will have seen before”.
SUSAN O’NEILL
A songwriter of hidden depths, with a timeless voice that is equal parts balm and blowtorch, Susan O’Neill is audacity personified, a real performer. Described by The Sunday Times as “exquisite”, her latest album Now in a Minute was released September 2024 and went straight to #1 on Ireland’s indie album charts. As well as her impressive collaboration with Mick Flannery (album In The Game), Susan has toured extensively across Europe and North America both solo and with artists including Phoebe Bridgers, Calexico, Jamie Cullum, and The Teskey Brothers.
CLIFFORDS
Heralded by Under The Radar as “Ireland’s next great band” is electrifying Cork five-piece Cliffords, led by singer Iona Lynch. Capturing the essence of love, heartbreak, and cathartic joy through their dynamic and emotional sound. Their self-released 2024 EP Strawberry Scented propelled them onto the Irish indie scene, creating the London record label race. They’ve since enjoyed national success at home, selling out shows in Dublin, Cork and filling the tent at this year’s Electric Picnic, and selling out London’s Seabright Arms. Big things to come… and their keys player is from Brisbane!
FYNCH
Finally, taking inspiration from The Streets, Kendrick Lamar and Outkast is rising Irish hip-hop artist and Burner Record co-founder FYNCH, whose debut album Youngfella was released in March this year. Hailing from the Dublin suburb of Drimnagh, FYNCH first picked up a microphone at 17, releasing his first and critically acclaimed debut EP two years later. His latest track, ‘The State’, combines cutting social commentary with a touch of self-deprecation, themes which can be heard right his album, with a few mentions of obscure footballer references thrown in for good measure.
MISNEACH (pron. mish-nyach, meaning ‘Courage’ in Gaelic) will be held next March across two cities central to the Irish diaspora and with thriving Irish culture; Sydney, Australia on March 16 and Boston, USA on March 18-19. The twin festivals will form a vital new part of each city’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, providing a renewed focus on contemporary and traditional Irish music through lineups curated by Dermot Kennedy in partnership with Ireland Music Week.
“For so many years now I have watched the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in so many different cities with a massive sense of pride,” explains Dermot. “I’ve always been so moved by the way Irish history and culture is celebrated all over the world. But I’ve also had the feeling that, for a country so rich in culture, I didn’t see it being represented fully in these events worldwide and I wondered, could we change that?”
“With this inaugural year we hope to begin an annual tradition that will enrich the St. Patrick’s day celebrations around the world with music and the arts, by showcasing some of the best new and established Irish musical talent, as well as musical talent of the Irish diaspora. We will also be giving back to the communities in Ireland and the host cities. I’ve been lucky enough to feel the love that the world has for Ireland and its music, and I’m so excited to be starting something very special.”
Featuring contemporary and traditional Irish artists, as well as participants from all over the world representing the Irish diaspora, this first edition of MISNEACH will see Dermot playing headline shows alongside showcases with a spotlight on rising/local artists in Sydney and Boston respectively, together with independent Irish talent sponsored by Culture Ireland in partnership with Ireland Music Week. In Boston, there will be a MISNEACH showcase show at the Brighton Music Hall on March 18th before Dermot headlines a multi-artist bill at TD Garden on the 19th. The Sydney edition of the festival will be a full outdoor festival at The Domain to take advantage of the late summer weather on March 16th, following the city’s official St. Patrick’s Day parade. Full festival line-up coming soon!
Curated and imagined by Dermot Kennedy, the vision for Sydney and Boston is to celebrate and cultivate the creativity, power and resilience of Ireland through the one thing that has always united Irish people; music. For the Sydney edition of MISNEACH, an exclusive 60 min presale window for fans signed up to the Dermot Kennedy newsletter begins on October 9th (9am AEDT) – sign up before Mon 7 Oct (10am AEDT) to receive your code. Frontier Members presale begins Wed 9 Oct (10am AEDT), with general on sale beginning Fri 11 Oct (10am AEDT).
Paying it forward has always been a priority for Dermot, and this festival is no exception. A portion of proceeds from the festival profit in Sydney will benefit Barretstown who provide vital services and camps to children with serious illnesses, as well as Ireland Funds Australia, who fund community level projects supporting peace, culture, education and community development. Proceeds from the Boston festival will benefit Irish suicide prevention charity Pieta as well as a local charity in each city.
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DERMOT KENNEDY – MISNEACH
AUSTRALIA
MARCH 2025
Presented by Frontier Touring
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Sunday 16 March
The Domain | Sydney, NSW
18+
axs.com.au
Tickets to MISNEACH are on sale now – head to frontiertouring.com/misneach for more info. Sign up for exclusive information on Dermot Kennedy and MISNEACH: https://dermotkennedy.os.fan/sign-up
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misneachfestival.com