Reposted by Pat CartyPatrick Freyne @patrickfreyne.bsky.social · 19/06/2026lovely review of Experts in a Dying Field from @patcarty.bsky.social www.independent.ie/entertainmen...independent.ie‘Experts in a Dying Field’ review: Patrick Freyne puts band back together for cosmic, comic meditation on music and griefThe writer and former singer is on form with this soulful novel about love, friendship and redemption 041
Reposted by Pat CartyEamon Carr @carrport.bsky.social · 26/04/2026As 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 😁 242
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 03/04/2026Like A Starving Dog Let Loose In A Deli: U2 roll away the stone with the marvellous Easter Lily. @independent.iem.independent.iePat Carty on U2’s new ‘Easter Lily’ EP: Surprise release of the second batch of songs in just weeks shows how great a band they still areI was packing a bag when the phone rang. Deirdre’s name, one of U2’s people, came up. “Typical,” I swore to myself. “It’s probably the Bono interview I’ve been angling after for years!” Ol’ Bug Eyes f... 031
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 28/02/2026A 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. 030
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 19/02/2026"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.m.independent.ieA band revitalised and full of political fire – U2’s surprise ‘Days of Ash’ EP is their best release in decadesIt’s tricky, if not near impossible, to keep things under wraps in this information-saturated age, but U2 just about managed it. 152
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 04/02/2026In 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). 010
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 04/02/2026A 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... 020
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 27/01/2026Still All Biker Jacket Cool, And Still Swinging: Lucinda Williams at 3Olympia. @irishexaminer.bsky.socialirishexaminer.comLucinda Williams review: US country star marks birthday with fine gig at Olympia in DublinAmidst all the great music, Lucinda Williams also took time to rail at Trump and the awful goings-on in her homeland. And one of Rory Gallagher's guitars even made it to the stage 040
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 23/01/2026There are people who don’t like Hothouse Flowers. Those people are wrong. The Flowers At Dublin Trad Fest at the National Stadium. @irishtimes.comirishtimes.comHothouse Flowers at Tradfest: Powerful night of music from a band with real soulHothouse Flowers are joined by several special guests, from Susan O’Neill to Steve Wall and more 050
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 23/01/2026Leonard and Doubting Thomas. Reviewed The World Of Leonard Cohen for @independent.iem.independent.ieA melodic gift and a focus on female characters: Why there’s more to Leonard Cohen than ‘Hallelujah’Leonard Cohen was only nine when his father passed away. After the funeral, the boy wrote his first poem which he placed in one of his father’s bowties and buried in the back garden, “confronting unha... 010
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 20/01/2026David Bowie in Ireland (with me down near the front). @davidbowiereal.bsky.social @independent.iem.independent.iePat Carty: My one evening with David Bowie in Dublin was worth a thousand nights in the doghouseMy mother remembers the death of JFK being announced during a screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. She says she left the cinema on O’Connell Street in shock at the loss of the American president... 020
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 19/01/2026A moving farewell from Emmylou Harris @3arena.bsky.social @aikenpromotions.bsky.social @irishexaminer.bsky.socialirishexaminer.comEmmylou Harris review: Fond farewell to American country star at final gig at 3Arena, DublinEmmylou Harris impressed in Dublin with a combination of her own songs and well-chosen covers from the likes of Gram Parsons and Gillian Welch 050
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 31/12/2025The 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...m.independent.iePat Carty: Which came first, the rockstar or the rock-star hair? And what happens when you can’t field a mullet anymore?Far be it from me to suggest you fashion a tinfoil hat but your phone is listening to you. The Ma asked about a Christmas gift and I suggested a luxury timepiece for a laugh. Cue an instant bombardmen... 000
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Marty & Bob's Wild Weekend: reviewed Insomnia by Robbie Robertson on RTÉ Radio 1's Arena with Evelyn O'Rourke. @rteradio1.bsky.social @robbierobertson.bsky.socialrte.ieInsomnia by Robbie Robertson - reviewPat Carty reviews Insomnia, the posthumously released second memoir from The Band's Robbie Robertson. 150
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 21/11/2025And 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.ieindependent.ieAnthony Hopkins’s memoir is a forthright portrait of a Welshman who has no truck with ‘touchy-feely’ stuffAfter almost eight months in a West End production of M Butterfly, Anthony Hopkins was “bored and irritable” and fed up with “doing the same thing night in and night out” for what would become his fin... 010
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 13/11/2025What 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.socialindependent.ieWhat the McCartneys sent in the post after a Wings concert got a bad reviewDealing with failure is one thing but handling success is likely another matter altogether. Just imagine for a minute that at 27 you’ve already created a peerless body of musical work that literally c... 010
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 10/11/2025Reviewed 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 010
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 09/11/2025Reviewed The Eleventh Hour by Salman Rushdie for The Sunday Independent. 031
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 02/11/2025Interviewed Tim Wheeler out of Ash for @independent.ieindependent.ieTim Wheeler on early fame: ‘I got hammered during the gig. The next day we were doing MTV interviews but I woke up in my own vomit. Management were really upset’Anyone with any sense joins a band as a teenager and dreams big. Once reality lashes out a few kicks, the majority get on with their lives but that’s not how it panned out for Downpatrick native Tim W... 021
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 31/10/2025Good-humoured and Arse-kicking: reviewed the deluxe edition of Who Are You from The Who for @classicrockmag.bsky.socialloudersound.comThis deluxe makeover of The Who's Who Are You is interesting and exhaustive"How all deluxe releases should be done" 000
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 29/10/2025Disagreeing about agreeing to disagree... @independent.iem.independent.iePat Carty on the trials of music criticism: ‘People can take it very personally when you express a preference contrary to their own’It might seem obvious, but it’s OK not to like things. It’s fine not to like a presidential candidate or the last Mission Impossible movie (bit slow to kick off, I felt). What is not OK is the way peo... 000
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 29/10/2025"A burgeoning superstar unsure of everything apart from the music." Reviewed Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere for @classicrockmag.bsky.social @brucespringsteen.netloudersound.comJeremy Allen White shines in Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From NowhereThe review of the film of the book about the making of Bruce Springsteen's bleak masterpiece, Nebraska 000
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 25/10/2025He knows how to tell a story. I reviewed Truly by Lionel Richie for @irishtimes.com @harpercollins.bsky.socialirishtimes.comTruly by Lionel Ritchie: A cut above the usual music memoirHighly enjoyable read doesn’t shy away from discussing racism, money or personal struggles 000
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 23/10/2025From 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.socialirishexaminer.comRichard Hawley review: Songs of magnificence at the Olympia in DublinRichard Hawley revisited his classic Coles Corner album for a fine gig in Dublin 020
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 20/09/2025Reviewed Softly As I Leave You by Priscilla Presley in today’s Irish Independent @headlinebooks.bsky.social @independent.iem.independent.iePriscilla Presley recalls her complicated love for Elvis in a tale of heartbreak and survivalMuch like the one that surrounds The Beatles, the Elvis Presley book industry shows no sign of abatement. This year alone has seen, amongst others, Preston Lauterbach’s excellent examination of the mu... 010
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 12/09/2025Down 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 140
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 07/09/2025Wrote about the €13,000 copy of Patrick Kavanagh’s Tarry Flynn for The Sunday Times. Abridged, of course. Not on website. 020
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 01/09/2025Listen 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.socialrte.ieBorn To Run at 50Pat Carty on Bruce Springsteen's legendary album Born To Run, which turns 50. 000
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 31/08/2025Celebrating Van Morrison at 80 in The Sunday Independent. Features Aunts, Uncles, funerals, weddings, and mysticism. Read it here - shorturl.at/YNtsJ 000
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 21/08/2025"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.socialirishtimes.comQueens of the Stone Age in Dublin: Kilmainham erupts with cathartic glee during this ferocious gigJosh Homme was having a great time, diving over the barricade and wading through the crowd 111
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 19/08/2025I'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. 030
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 17/08/2025"There's a ticket for you, Carty." Well, sure, I might as well so... 010
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 16/08/2025Robert Redford?!? Read more here - shorturl.at/kbyMi @independent.ie @jonathanmahler.bsky.social 121
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 15/08/2025Letters page @independent.ie Thanks John, obviously a man of taste and discernment. Read the article he’s referring to here - shorturl.at/rZxac 000
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 14/08/2025As 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.ieindependent.ie‘Even his enemies admired his chutzpah’: How Trump became a God of New York in the 1980sThe back cover of this history of New York calls it “a real-life Bonfire of the Vanities”. Tom Wolfe’s bestselling 1987 novel about a bond trader who comes a cropper in a very serious way is also refe... 011
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 14/08/2025Dodgy 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.socialindependent.ieHow a book forger fooled the literary world until his audacious ruse was rumbledControversy in the book world, like the debate around the veracity of The Salt Path, is nothing new. Excerpts from Konrad Kujau’s faked Hitler Diaries were published through various outlets in the 198... 000
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 03/08/2025Whatever 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.ieindependent.iePat Carty on the New Lad: ‘Wherever they ended up, the Oasis reunion was like a bat signal, calling them out of the shadows for one last adventure, one last moment of belonging’Whatever happened to the likely lads? If you’re old enough to remember the 1990s, then I’m afraid at this point you are officially getting on a bit. It’s now 31 years since Oasis released their debut ... 030
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 31/07/2025Seán 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. 0130
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 21/07/2025Groovier 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.socialirishexaminer.comLeon Bridges review: Soul power of Texan star shines through at rain-soaked Iveagh Gardens, DublinThe weather gods may not have been on his side, but Leon Bridges still delivered in Dublin 000
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 18/07/2025Warrants 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.ieindependent.ieDinner with Charlton and backstage with Nureyev - an ode to the golden age of the celebrity interview, recounted by a master practitionerAfter steering Celtic rock heroes Horslips’s unique course, Eamon Carr made a poacher/gamekeeper transition and returned to writing to earn his bread. The problem with interrogating musicians is that ... 122
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 18/07/2025Down 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. 000
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 18/07/2025Thanks @wcorklitfest.bsky.social Delighted to be In Bantry. 020
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 15/07/2025Cool. 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.netpastemagazine.comIn 1973, Bruce Springsteen Wrote the Greatest Summer Song EverPaste Magazine is your source for the best music, movies, TV, comedy, videogames, books, comics, craft beer, politics and more. Discover your favorite albums and films. 150
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 14/07/2025Tank: 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.socialindependent.ieA riveting history of tanks - Mark Urban’s evolution of the military machine hits the bullseyeVolodymyr Zelensky, a persuasive talker when not being ambushed by presidential tag teams, cajoled Western leaders into supplying the hardware that he believed was key “to breaking the Russian occupat... 031
Pat Carty @patcarty.bsky.social · 07/07/2025The 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.ieindependent.ie‘I said, Geldof, this is gonna hurt but it’ll help, and scratched his back like a maniac. It gave him a sexual identity with the girls’– BP Fallon’s life and times“I’m amazed there hasn’t been a film about BP Fallon before,” says Bob Geldof, not far into BP Fallon: Rock’n’Roll Wizard. Anyone even vaguely familiar with the true adventures of Bernard Patrick Fal... 031