A local group in Dublin is providing a platform for aspiring artists and anyone dreaming of a life on stage.
Adam Kelly from Smithfield Creatives crossed paths with talented individuals and groups of performers around Smithfield Square.
From musicians busking, to making the most of the outdoors for music jams, sharing their art with the city, Adam immersed himself into making connections and found that it fulfilled the missing sense of community and culture that was a result of the pandemic.
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And the group are now looking for a new venue to showcase their various talents and Adam has reflected on how Smithfield Creatives became what it is now.
The movement is truly a source of community and meaningful change. It’s completely different from the average night out in the pub.
Adam told Dublin Live: “People are looking for people to sing cover songs and not much so the original stuff.
“There’s not many places for people to go out now. If people go out to an open mic night, that’s what they’re there for, they’re there to listen and not to talk over them.
“The word needs to get out about how important open mic nights are. It’s to see a different side of Dublin culture, it’s a break away from the norm and you can listen to something new.
“There’s something there for everyone, the energy is so good and you don’t need to drink.
“You don’t need alcohol to enjoy the atmosphere”.
Smithfield Creatives is all about giving a safe haven for so many who had not felt the ability to do so since the pandemic and restrictions stamped the performance scene into a deafening silence.
Adam said: “During lockdown there wasn’t a lot going on but people were allowed to mingle outside. I kept bumping into people in Smithfield Square like acapella groups, trad groups just sessioning.
"I wanted to get in contact with them initially and bring those groups together. It didn’t work out that way so I started busking with my friend Paul and we ran into another busker called Benjamin from Germany.
“We ended up busking, just the three of us. We said we’d come back next week and bring more people with us. The next week, there were ten of us and we started playing in front of about 20 people. Then there were 15 of us busking and we played for 50 people, it kept growing every week.”
Adam believes that it's all about giving people a platform. They've comedians, spoken word artists and poets. Over 125 to 130 acts that have performed on their stage so far.
“It’s a warm family atmosphere. I've made so many good friends for life from it. Everyone is welcome, encouraged and comfortable to perform in front of people," he added.
“I don’t think there’s less comedians and less musicians, I think there’s less opportunities for them. There’s not enough venues or places they can go to.
“There’s only a handful of open mic nights left in the city. There’s not enough places for new talent to be seen and heard. The problem is the venues, there’s nowhere to go.
“Dublin is bursting with talent. We’ve had people who’ve performed for the first time ever with us.
“People who have performed with us are in newspapers now and performing at festivals. There’s people who come down, they’re nervous and they see other people perform.
“Even if you’ve half a song, half a poem or one or two funny jokes, we can give you the platform and help you out.
“A lot of people come down and we all encourage each other.
“We’ve individual musicians who now perform as a band together because of our network. It's the same with poets, people can bounce ideas off each other.”
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