Stevie G: Cork buzzing for Macklemore gig

Tonight, 2025’s series of Virgin Media Park gigs kicks off with a double bill of Macklemore, who will be ably ed by Rudimental.

Over the next few weeks, The Corrs, Snow Patrol, Stereophonics, Duran Duran, Chic, Madness, Ocean Colour Scene and the Frank and Walters are just some of the acts playing there on bills that have always got more than one big name per night.

It’s not easy running big shows anymore, and even in Cork, where we don’t have a permanent arena-sized venue, MCD promotions have opted for line-ups that are stacked rather than standalone. It’s quite a big capacity venue, so in my opinion it makes sense adding second acts to the various bills.

A good example is the Saw Doctors show, which will do well on June 14. Damien Demspey is also on the bill, and he will sell many tickets on his own.

Rudimental will definitely add to the buzz created by Macklemore tonight, and the UK sound system is a great live act who have had a number of hits in their own right. They are certainly one of the best live sound systems and their music effortlessly flows between drum n bass, house, garage, and soul.

Before we get to Macklemore, let’s talk about Virgin Media Park. It’s been a great addition to the live music calendar in Cork, and since MCD started running summer shows here we’ve had everyone from The Prodigy to Lauryn Hill and Becky Hill touch down here for shows.

The MCD shows help complement the other big season of Cork shows from the other big gig promoters, Aiken Promotions, who have been taking over the Marquee for 20 years now every June and July.

Aiken’s own line-up is also stacked but, in general, both line-ups are distinct and, crucially, in Cork it is the gig-goer that benefits from both big promoters running gigs here yearly. Both venues are within walking distance of the city centre, and both really add to the buzz around Cork every June and July. Sure, we’d all like one or two more of our own favourite acts visiting, but it’s not easy trying to attract big names here in a small summer window when many are already committed to festivals elsewhere in the country. Also, we all think we are promoters but, on this level, there are multiple pitfalls in bringing big shows here.

Lauryn Hill is one act who you would have imagined would have brought a few more people out to buy tickets and, as good as the gig was, it is probably one that will make promoters more wary going forward. I’ve run lots of shows on a much smaller scale, and the one thing I’ve learned is that pretty much nothing is certain when it comes to booking acts. Since covid things are even more uncertain, but the big hitters are still bringing shows here, and Macklemore will get it all underway tonight.

Macklemore’s rise to the top took quite a bit of time and, I’m not gonna lie, early songs such as Irish Celebration made me cringe a little. He proceeded to make a huge commercial breakthrough with a type of ubiquitous pop rap that proved irresistible in the early 2010s and he was soon dominating the charts and commercial nightclubs of the era. He famously won a Grammy that probably should have gone to Kendrick Lamar, but had the good grace to offer his own praise to the Compton rapper, and he subsequently won a lot more friends with his stance on social issues.

Most recently, he has been one of the few big name rappers to be vocal about the situation in Palestine, and he even collaborated with our own friend MC Abdul and other Palestinian rappers. In an era, where rappers are too concerned with their brand to speak up, he has earned endless iration for this stance.

Macklemore is also a very good live performer and he has a catalogue of big tunes, enough to draw a massive buzz for this show. 

We are starved of big huge shows in Cork so there is big anticipation for this series of gigs, and Cork will be buzzing tonight for Macklemore and Rudimental. 

The summer is officially here!