Galway International Arts Festival and Róisín Dubh are delighted to announce that the double platinum selling Walking on Cars will play Galway International Arts Festival in 2018.
The Dingle five-piece Irish alternative rock band, who topped the Irish charts last year with their debut album Everything This Way, will play the Festival Big Top on Saturday 21 July 2018.
Armed with lyrics that veer between tenderness and anguish, soundscapes that sit back and then explode into colour, with vocals that roar of heartache and romantic longing, Walking on Cars refined their sound in a country farmhouse before heading out on the road in 2012. With no label, their aim was to grow their fan base and save enough money to record an album. Two years on the road and sell-out after sell-out show later, they signed with Virgin EMI.
Their early singles Catch Me If You Can and Two Stones were both huge hits in Ireland in 2012, the former also topping the iTunes charts here. The EPs As We Fly South and Hand in Hand followed them to the number one spot in 2013, with their massive follow-up single Speeding Cars released in late 2015, as the band hunkered down in the studio with the MyRiot production team of Tim Bran and Roy Kerr (whose past credits include London Grammar, Bloc Party and Foxes) to record their debut album.
Meanwhile, the buzz got louder, with their epic songs being streamed over 5 million times and a series of sell-out shows both here and the UK consolidating their reputation.
Everything This Way was released in January 2016, going straight to No. 1 in Ireland and making the Top 5 in seven countries. The band embarked on a tour for the next 18 months that would see them play shows in the US, Australia, Dubai, Europe, the UK and multiple sold out shows across Ireland.
Globally, Walking on Cars have notched up nearly 100 million streams of their music, not to mention over 36 million YouTube views. The band has started working on the follow-up to the multi-platinum debut release and are now ready to start introducing these new songs to the world.
Walking on Cars (Patrick Sheehy, Sorcha Durham, Dan Devane, Paul Flannery and Evan Hadnett) wowed audiences at Galway International Arts Festival in 2014, when they played support to The Coronas at their sold-out gig at the Festival Big Top.
Their first Big Top appearance as a headliner is sure to be a great night for the ever growing legion of fans.
Tickets for Walking on Cars at the Festival Big Top go on sale this Friday, 08 December, priced at €39.50 from www.giaf.ie and roisindubh.net.
Galway International Arts Festival would like to acknowledge the support of its principal funding agencies the Arts Council and Fáilte Ireland, its Festival Partner Ulster Bank and Education Partner NUI Galway.
“A polished affair that recalls the emotional indie we love.”
NME
“Gently intoxicating.”
Clash
For more information, please contact:
Hilary Martyn,
Communications & Development Manager,
Galway International Arts Festival
Phone: 091-509-700
Email: hmartyn@giaf.ie