Waterford outfit King Kong Company save the day at All Together Now with main stage show

A last minute cancellation, a performance hindering injury and major technical overhauls were not enough to stop Waterford dance outfit King Kong Company from shining at All Together Now this year.

The festival had a potential crisis on its hands on Saturday night, as headliner Roisin Murphy unfortunately had to cancel her performance due to illness.

The cancellation came just a day before she was due to hit the main stage.

However, the organisers handed the reigns to what they described as "one of the festivals favorite bands’", Waterford’s own King Kong Company, who were due to perform in the ‘Something Kind of Wonderful’ tent.

Programmers, technicians and the band themselves were resultingly handed the major task of completely overhauling the planned show and adapting it to the main stage.

At the end of their set, the band candidly explained the work that has gone into the performance and highlighted the significant amount of effort involved in transposing their show from a tent set-up to main stage production.

“We were supposed to be in the tent and it wasn’t a case of just moving everything over, we had massive help from the organisers at All Together Now, to get us on this stage tonight” they said.

“I have to say a big shoutout to the crew that we have, especially Shane on the lasers and Dave on the lights. Those guys have been up all night programming the show. I’m not joking you, they’ve had no sleep."

The band went on to say it was an honour to perform on the main stage.

“It’s been an absolute honor for us to play on this stage for you tonight, and it’s great to have a Waterford band closing out the Main Stage at All Together Now. Thank you so much, 'We wish Roisin a speedy recovery. We love you Roisin'," they added.

The group’s performance was a vibrant, pulsating blend of Mardi Gras revelry and high-energy rowdiness, a combination that has been well received by festival crowds across the country for over a decade.

Their unique blend of riotous intensity is built from horns intertwined with hard bass, playful costumes and raw vocals.

A highlight of the performance was that of Bobby Fingers, who has become a regular collaborator with the group and regularly makes festival appearances alongside them. The Limerick native is one half of the Rubberbandits, who in the past year has grabbed considerable attention for his intriguing and bizarre Youtube series that chronicles his artistic process in diorama construction.

He hobbled his way out early in the set in a cast and wearing a leg crutch, explaining to the crowd that he picked up the injury at last week’s Forest Fest in County Laois after jumping from the stage.

Despite his restricted movement, he managed to contort his way around with a level of high energy, complimenting the bands performance with his offering of wild lyrical storytelling and crowd banter.

The local group can be proud that they faced the challenging circumstances with a fearless performance that proved they are definitely Main Stage material.