The journey started with the promotional shots for Peter McCauley’s (AKA Rams’Pocket Radio) album launch ‘Béton’ last February. Last night saw an exclusive Northern Ireland launch in the run up to the full UK release in September. On an aside, Béton is a great title for an alternative ‘rock’ album, (look it up) and I was honoured to have Peter play at the opening night of the TWENTY Exibition in the Island Arts Centre last month.
There is no questioning the wealth of musical talent Northern Ireland is currently amassing and the Béton launch saw a number of big names lending their support by joining Peter on stage for what was really an album celebration, and what a celebration it was.
Not Squares, Owen from General Fiasco and the very talented Soak were just a few of the names to contribute during the performance.
Although I had packed my normal gig gear I found I had considerably closer access than expected to ended up using the X100s and a Canon 5D with 50mm lens.
Following Soak, the amazingly talented Duke Special took to the stage, sadly, on this occasion hidden behind trailing cables and mic stands.
Nathan Connolly from Snow Patrol and Owen from General Fiasco offered up their contribution to Béton.
A vocal and piano duet with Katharine Philippa on the beautiful ‘Cavities’ followed.
The artists kept coming, this time in the form of Gareth Dunlop who effortlessly added his truly amazing and diverse voice to the night.
It is odd to have a post about one artist that features very few photos of Peter McCauley himself but rather than the night be a self indulgent affair Peter shows his worth and capacity to share his music with his peers and competitors.
The final contributing artist of the night was David C Clements, a proud moment to see both David and Peter perform together. I can’t take any credit for either of their successes, I am just glad I didn’t hinder their journey.
The Béton launch was a memorably affair, I left with my new Rams’ Pocket Radio CD and fancy RAMS’ bag in awe of the music that had been packed into the session.
I have uploaded some of the photos to flickr, you can view the full set here – Rams’Pocket Radio Béton launch. More importantly head over to the Rams’Pocket Radio Facebook page and show your support.