the olllam
8 february 2025 / 8pm / band on the wall, manchester
62% funded
Legendary supergroup the olllam bring their trailblazing blend of traditional Irish instruments, folk melodies, jazz rhythms, and funk-based psych-post-rock to Manchester’s Band on the Wall.
7pm: doors open
7.30pm: recommended latest arrival
8pm: the olllam set
what are noisenights?
noisenights are our vision for the future of global classical music: crowdfunded gigs taking world-leading musicians to iconic independent venues.
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At the centre of every noisenight is a one hour(ish) global classical set. We platform international soloists and ensembles while also giving opportunities to outstanding new artists. All noisenights take place in gig venues where you get to experience classical music up close.
Live music needs your backing more than ever. Backing a noisenight means getting tickets to hear the world's best performers in grassroots venues and being part of a community working for a positive future for live music. Putting it simply, you giving your backing will make this gig happen and secure you a ticket.
After a noisenight reaches its funding target, we'll e-mail all backers to confirm it and a small amount of extra tickets will be made available. Tickets are released in four stages, which increase in price the closer to the event they're purchased. Book early to get the best price.
Due to the venue's license, this noisenight is strictly 10+, and all under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.
the venue:
Band on the Wall is a multi-award-winning non-profit live music venue and bar, based in a former cinema space. The venue's had a licence for song and dance since 1803, making it the oldest live music space in Manchester.
The name harks back to the building’s days as The George and Dragon pub in the early 20th Century. Regulars would affectionately refer to the ‘Band on the Wall’ as the place where house musicians quite literally played on a stage halfway up the back wall to make room in the busy pub.
the music:
Known for their trailblazing blend of traditional Irish instruments with long, cyclical melodies, fusing jazz, and psych-post-rock, the olllam continues to push musical boundaries. This show features Scotland’s whistle ace Ross Ainslie up front with Irish piper John McSherry, alongside Vulfpeck’s bass supremo Joe Dart, Detroit drummer Michael Shimmin, keyboard player Joe Hettinga, and Limerick guitarist Seán O’Meara.
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the olllam began with then 13-year-old Tyler Duncan from Ann Arbor, Michigan heading to Ireland and tracking down his hero, uillean piper and whistle player John McSherry. Tyler became his student, friend, and eventually his melodic partner in the olllam, a Transatlantic musical partnership enabled and maintained through early adoption of online collaboration and composition.
This collaboration resulted in the 2012 release of an eponymous album that has become a cult classic. The name derives from the old Irish word ollam, meaning a master of the highest rank in a particular skill.
As years passed Tyler established himself as a multi-instrumentalist and Grammy-nominated producer (with Carly Rae Jepsen, Vulfpeck, Theo Katzman and others), and he recruited drummer Michael Shimmin and renowned Vulfpeck bassist Joe Dart, respected as one of the finest, funkiest players of these times, to form the olllam as, initially, a Transatlantic recording project.
With this core line up the band unleashed an eponymous debut album - without ever having met or played together in the same room simultaneously. The resulting post-rock groove, lush with intricate trance-like melodies, stunning instrumental virtuosity and a magical marriage of tradition and technology, placed the listener somewhere between Radiohead and Planxty, or Tortoise and the ambient emotionalism of the Gloaming.
This live show follows up the olllam’s sold-out critically-acclaimed debut tour of England in early 2024.
To buy tickets for this event please visit our events page: noisenight194: The Olllam tickets from Skiddle .
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