Hot Press has announced one of the most significant live music events of the coming year, with History In The Making: The Concert set to take place at Dublin’s 3Arena on Friday, February 6th. The show will mark the opening event in the iconic magazine’s 50th anniversary celebrations, and it promises to be a landmark night for Irish music.
The concert represents a powerful show of solidarity from artists across generations, paying tribute to Hot Press for its long-standing role in championing Irish talent and shaping the country’s cultural conversation over almost five decades. The event is supported by the Bauer Media Group and Go Loud.
A stellar line-up has already been confirmed, featuring some of the most influential names in Irish music history. Headlining the night will be Van Morrison, alongside The Boomtown Rats, Imelda May, and The Frames, who will reunite especially for the occasion, fronted by Glen Hansard.
Also appearing on the night are Damien Dempsey, Clannad, Picture This, Florence Road, Belters Only with Jazzy, Denise Chaila, and Irish Women in Harmony, with more artists still to be announced in the coming days. Adding to the sense of occasion, President Michael D. Higgins will appear as a special guest, accompanied by filmmaker Myles O’Reilly.
Tickets for History In The Making: The Concert are priced between €68.20 and €88.75, going on general sale at 9am on Monday, December 22nd via Ticketmaster.ie.
Hot Press editor Niall Stokes described the event as a celebration of the unique camaraderie within Irish music, saying the calibre of artists involved is “utterly exceptional” and that the night will be “one of those amazing, special occasions.”
Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof also paid tribute, crediting Hot Press with helping to shape a more modern, open and progressive Ireland by giving voice to new bands, new writers and new ideas at a crucial time in the country’s cultural history.
Geldof said "We grew up together Hot Press and the Rats. While we got big, the magazine grew. And grew. You know all the names that followed that wouldn’t have, had it not been for this fabulous paper Hot Press, that was acerbic, irreverent, funny, admiring, critical, enthusiastic. Positive in what was then an island of total Negative.
"Hot Press is approaching 50! Amazing. Congrats. Well done. Thanks for everything…Hail, Hail Rock ‘n Roll."
The concert announcement coincides with the launch of a limited-edition book, History In The Making: The Book of Hot Press Interviews, featuring some of the magazine’s most influential interviews. The collector’s edition will be available exclusively through Hot Press and forms another key part of the 50th anniversary celebrations.
With music, history and culture colliding on one stage, History In The Making looks set to be one of the defining Irish live events of the year.
