As you can see, there was a varied turnout in Rush yesterday to hear myself and the great @patcarty.bsky.social shoot the breeze at the Festival of Writing 😁

Like A Starving Dog Let Loose In A Deli: U2 roll away the stone with the marvellous Easter Lily. @independent.ie

All these - and more! - at linktr.ee/patcarty

A great honour - and great sport - to interview Earl Slick in front of a kind crowd for the Dublin Bowie Festival. The stories and laughs kept coming so hats off to Earl who’s a lovely chap. Sitting beside him as he played those Station To Station riffs was pretty cool.

"Rocks like a battleship balancing on a bottle of milk..." I wrote about being caught on the hop by Days Of Ash, the new EP from U2 in today's Irish Independent.

In the new issue of Classic Rock Magazine I report back from Mike the Pies in Listowel where Ash proved yet again how marvellous they are, and the Dedication to Philip Lynott gig at 3Arena. In your newsagents now (with a few photos by me n’ all).

A review of Art Cure: The Science Of How The Arts Transform Our Health by Daisy Fancourt for last week's Sunday Independent that didn't make it to their website...

Still All Biker Jacket Cool, And Still Swinging: Lucinda Williams at 3Olympia. @irishexaminer.bsky.social

There are people who don’t like Hothouse Flowers. Those people are wrong. The Flowers At Dublin Trad Fest at the National Stadium. @irishtimes.com

Leonard and Doubting Thomas. Reviewed The World Of Leonard Cohen for @independent.ie

David Bowie in Ireland (with me down near the front). @davidbowiereal.bsky.social @independent.ie

A moving farewell from Emmylou Harris @3arena.bsky.social @aikenpromotions.bsky.social @irishexaminer.bsky.social

The quiff of Elvis, The moptops of The Beatles, Jagger's seismic style, Rod's pineapple, the dead animal on Bono's head, and my own tonsorial troubles - all are examined in depth in this @independent.ie investigation...

Ferocious: Ash in Mike The Pies, Listowel.

Marty & Bob's Wild Weekend: reviewed Insomnia by Robbie Robertson on RTÉ Radio 1's Arena with Evelyn O'Rourke. @rteradio1.bsky.social @robbierobertson.bsky.social

And what’s he, then, that says I play the villain: reviewed We Did OK, Kid by Anthony Hopkins for the Irish Independent/The Sunday Independent. @simonschusteruk.bsky.social @anthonyhopkinss.bsky.social @independent.ie

What Paul Did Next. Reviewed Wings: The Story Of A Band On The Run by Paul McCartney for the Irish Independent. @independent.ie @paulmccartney147.bsky.social @penguinbooksusa.bsky.social

Reviewed the 40th Anniversary Edition of Rum, Sodomy & The Lash by The Pogues for Classic Rock Magazine (not on the web). @thepogues.bsky.social @warnermusic.bsky.social

Reviewed The Eleventh Hour by Salman Rushdie for The Sunday Independent.

Interviewed Tim Wheeler out of Ash for @independent.ie

Good-humoured and Arse-kicking: reviewed the deluxe edition of Who Are You from The Who for @classicrockmag.bsky.social

Disagreeing about agreeing to disagree... @independent.ie

"A burgeoning superstar unsure of everything apart from the music." Reviewed Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere for @classicrockmag.bsky.social @brucespringsteen.net

Go get the Sunday Indo!

He knows how to tell a story. I reviewed Truly by Lionel Richie for @irishtimes.com @harpercollins.bsky.social

From tectonic tremolo rumbles to a librarian’s dream of a hush. Went to see the great Richard Hawley at 3Olympia Theatre for the Irish Examiner. @richardhawley.bsky.social @irishexaminer.bsky.social

Reviewed Softly As I Leave You by Priscilla Presley in today’s Irish Independent @headlinebooks.bsky.social @independent.ie

Down the back of the new issue (with free Motörhead sticker!) of Classic Rock Magazine waxing about Ron Sexsmith, Buckingham/Nicks, Tom Petty, and Queens of the Stone Age. @ronsexsmith.bsky.social @qotsa-official.bsky.social @classicrockmag.bsky.social

Wrote about the €13,000 copy of Patrick Kavanagh’s Tarry Flynn for The Sunday Times. Abridged, of course. Not on website.

Listen back to me waxing about Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run at 50 with the lovely Ciara King on RTÉ's Arena. @brucespringsteen.net @sonymusicofficial.bsky.social @rteradio1.bsky.social

Celebrating Van Morrison at 80 in The Sunday Independent. Features Aunts, Uncles, funerals, weddings, and mysticism. Read it here - shorturl.at/YNtsJ

"One of the greatest rock’n’roll bands in the world cutting loose like sailors on a weekend pass and a set that was lean as a holy man in a desert." Went to Queens Of The Stone Age in Kilmainham for @irishtimes.com @qotsa-official.bsky.social

I'll be discussing the new Billy Joel documentary with @rickoshea.bsky.social on @rteradio1.bsky.social Arena this evening. It's pretty good, even if you're not his biggest fan.

"There's a ticket for you, Carty." Well, sure, I might as well so...

Robert Redford?!? Read more here - shorturl.at/kbyMi @independent.ie @jonathanmahler.bsky.social

Letters page @independent.ie Thanks John, obviously a man of taste and discernment. Read the article he’s referring to here - shorturl.at/rZxac

As colourful and fascinating as the city it captures. I reviewed The Gods Of New York: The Tumultuous Eighties, from Donald Trump to the Tompkins Square Riots by Jonathan Mahler for the Irish Independent. @jonathanmahler.bsky.social @independent.ie

Dodgy Fs and Questionable Question Marks. I reviewed The Book Forger: The True Story of a Literary Crime that Fooled The World by Joseph Hone for The Sunday Independent @independent.ie @vintagebooks.bsky.social ‪‪ @josephhone.bsky.social

Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? My 'opinion piece' (it says here) in The Sunday Independent uncovers the hitherto unknown connections between Oasis, Lad, Shakespeare, Baudelaire, ponytails, U2's 'brother', Fungie, and a lot more... Warning: contains video of me. @independent.ie

Seán Rocks was a lovely man - intelligent, warm, & funny. Every time on Arena with him was a pleasure, sparring with his wit & charm on air, and having a laugh when the light went off. My deepest condolences to his family and friends, a number I’m proud to count myself amongst.

Groovier Than A New Set of Tires: Went to see a mighty despite the rain Leon Bridges at Iveagh Gardens for The Irish Examiner. @aikenpromotions.bsky.social @irishexaminer.bsky.social

Warrants corresponding amounts of applause and envy: I reviewed Pure Gold - Memorable Conversations With Remarkable People by Eamon Carr for The Sunday Independent. @carrport.bsky.social @independent.ie

Down the back of the latest issue of Classic Rock Magazine listening to Find El Dorado by Paul Weller, reading 1975 by Dylan Jones, and visiting Frankfurt to see Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band.

Thanks @wcorklitfest.bsky.social Delighted to be In Bantry.

Cool. I’m quoted in this Paste Magazine Bruce Springsteen article alongside Lester Bangs and Robert Christgau. Thanks Matt Mitchell. @pastemagazine.bsky.social @yogurttowne.bsky.social @brucespringsteen.net

Tank: The 10 War Machines That Changed the World and the Remarkable Men Behind Them by Mark Urban. Reviewed for The Sunday Independent @independent.ie @vikingbooksuk.bsky.social @penguinbooksuk.bsky.social @markurban.bsky.social

The True Adventures Of BP Fallon Spoke to Beep for The SundayIndependent ahead of the premiere of the documentary BP Fallon Rock’N’Roll Wizard at the Galway Film Fleadh. He’s got more stories than the Bible. @galwayfilm.bsky.social @independent.ie

Glastonbury: The view from the couch. Starring Olivia Rodrigo, Raye, Lorde, CMAT, Neil Young, Rod Stewart, John Fogerty, The 1975, Kneecap, Chic, McCartney, Lana Del Rey... and my Ma. @independent.ie

One Mint Julep: Lana Del Rey at The Aviva. @irishexaminer.bsky.social