January • January 4 saw the 20th anniversary of the death of
Phil Lynott, lead vocalist of legendary Irish
rock band
Thin Lizzy.
February •
U2 dominated the
2006 Meteor Awards held on February 2, winning three awards; Best Irish Band, Best Irish Album (for
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb) and Best Live Performance (for their
Croke Park gigs as part of their
Vertigo Tour in 2005). • February 20 saw the official announcement of the first acts that would perform at
Oxegen 2006. These included
The Who,
Red Hot Chili Peppers,
The Strokes,
Arctic Monkeys,
Franz Ferdinand and
Kaiser Chiefs. • The first annual
Choice Music Prize was awarded to
Julie Feeney's album
13 Songs at
Vicar Street on February 28, 2006.
March • American singer-songwriter,
Josh Ritter, popular with Irish audiences, collapsed whilst performing on stage at
An Grianán Theatre in
Letterkenny on March 7. Fears that he would be unable to complete his Irish tour proved unfounded and Ritter returned to finish his Letterkenny show on September 4, playing a second gig there the following night. Later (Thursday September 6, 2007), whilst appearing on
Rick O'Shea's show on
2fm, he commented: ''"If there's one thing I've learned it's to not eat Chinese food in Letterkenny."''
May • On May 1,
Snow Patrol's internationally anticipated fourth album
Eyes Open was released. It spawned a number of hits including "
Chasing Cars", which gained significant popularity in the United States after being featured on the popular medical drama ''
Grey's Anatomy''. • On Friday May 26, it was confirmed by
Slane Castle and music promoters
MCD that no concert would take place at the venue this year as a suitable act could not be found. It was the first time since the mid-1990s that it has not taken place in consecutive years, with
Eminem having pulled out in 2005. Lord
Henry Mountcharles had targeted
American rock group
Green Day as his preferred headline act, but the
Californian band were not touring in 2006. He had this to say:
"There was no big band that could do it. The acts are not available." June • On Friday June 9,
Guns N' Roses made their first Irish appearance since May 1992, when they played the
RDS Arena with support from
Mötley Crüe.
July •
Oxegen 2006 got under way on the weekend of Saturday July 8 and Sunday July 9 and was memorable for hosting
The Who's first Irish performance in 35 years, the Irish debut of
Arctic Monkeys,
James Brown's final Irish festival performance whilst alive and the
Red Hot Chili Peppers fourth performance in Ireland in five summers.
August • This was the month that saw the addition of a brand new festival to the Irish music spectrum. On Saturday August 5 and Sunday August 6 Hi:Fi Ireland took place in
Belvedere House, near
Mullingar in
County Westmeath. It was headlined by
Razorlight,
The Streets,
The Prodigy,
Ian Brown,
Mylo,
Paul Oakenfold and
Audio Bullys. • On the same weekend,
Indie-pendence 06 took place in New Square in
Mitchelstown,
County Cork. It was a two-day affair, headlined by
The Proclaimers,
The Sultans Of Ping FC and
The Frank and Walters. Wicklow-based
electronica group
Hybrasil also played at the festival. •
Forfey Festival in
Northern Ireland had its first outing, in Enniskillen over 24–26 August. Featured Irish acts included
Foy Vance,
Sixstarhotel,
Mojo Fury and We Are Knives. • August also saw a host of concerts staged in
Dublin's
Marlay Park as part of the second year of Bud Rising's summer shows;
Radiohead,
Snow Patrol,
Morrissey,
Daft Punk,
Faithless with special guests
Kasabian (Thursday August 17),
The Dandy Warhols,
The Magic Numbers and
Beck were among the performers.
September • On Friday September 1, the newly extended three-day
Electric Picnic got under way in
Stradbally,
County Laois. The festival was as usual broadcast on
RTÉ 2fm but for the first time ever it was also broadcast on
RTÉ television, where a large part of the Saturday and Sunday schedule of
RTÉ Two was taken up by the coverage, presented by
Tom Dunne and
Jenny Huston.
October • The inaugural Heinken Green Synergy Festival took place from October 4–8 in various clubs, bars and venues in Dublin City Centre. Performing acts included
The Sunshine Underground,
Giveamanakick,
Ghostface Killah,
Messiah J & The Expert, as well as
The Fall,
Fujiya & Miyagi,
The Congos and
Nouvelle Vague.
November • On Friday November 3, a group of largely Irish musical artists release an album
The Cake Sale for the charity
Oxfam and the Ireland Make Trade Fair campaign. They were formed by
Brian Crosby of
Bell X1, and other contributing artists included Crosby's bandmates
Paul Noonan and
David Geraghty,
Glen Hansard of
The Frames,
Damien Rice,
Lisa Hannigan,
Neil Hannon,
Gemma Hayes and
Snow Patrol's
Gary Lightbody. • Just three days later, on Monday November 6, the
U2/
Green Day duet "
The Saints Are Coming" was released. A music video for the song, directed by
Chris Milk, was released on video site YouTube on Friday October 27, 2006. The music video showed the two bands playing at the Abbey Road Studio and at the Louisiana Superdome (though the footage from the live performance at the Superdome was overdubbed with the studio version of the song), intermixed with news footage of the displacement of residents after
Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The second half of the video showed an
alternate history in which
George W. Bush redeployed troops and vehicles from Iraq to New Orleans to help victims of the hurricane, with the military personnel fulfilling the titular role of the "saints." The video had more than two million views on
YouTube five days after its initial upload. The single received a
Grammy nomination for "Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group". • On Friday November 17,
U2's compilation album
U218 Singles was released. The track listing had been announced on Friday November 3.
December • On Saturday December 9,
U2 played the final date of their
Vertigo Tour in
Honolulu,
Hawaii. After the show, U2 manager
Paul McGuinness announced that the band were planning to release their new album by late 2007. • On Thursday December 21,
Bell X1 announced that they would be playing
Malahide Castle in
Dublin on Saturday June 30, 2007, and then
Live at the Marquee in
Cork on Sunday July 1, 2007. • On Saturday 23 December, news broke that
Bono was to receive an honorary
British knighthood from
Elizabeth II for his humanitarian work and contribution to music. He was eventually presented with the award by the British ambassador to Ireland on Thursday 29 March 2007. == Bands formed ==