Danielle Courtney | Contributing Writer
Seemingly there is nothing more divisive on the Trinity Campus this Hilary term, than its own annual Trinity Ball. The biggest private ball in Europe is never devoid of controversy, particularly this year when its announcement was the cause of an avalanche of negative comments on the event page and a Facebook group, later deleted, demanding for Ents Officer Sean Reynolds to resign from his post. Most students feel the lineup doesn’t offer the same level as former years, and is not worth its €80 price.
The lineup is not, in fact, decided by Reynolds – instead it’s at the discretion of MCD, who have been organising the event for many years. The original reason Trinity outsourced organisation of the event was to ensure that we acquire the best possible acts, and as a concert promoter owning The Olympia and The Academy and producing festivals like Oxegen, MCD are able to book acts on a larger scale than the SU sabbat. The company pull together a list of acts and take their fee.
A particular asset of MCD has always been their ability to book acts who have yet to break the industry
A particular asset of MCD has always been their ability to book acts who have yet to break the industry. Last year I, like many others, had no idea who Imagine Dragons were. A former boyfriend loved them and so I followed suit and bought tickets. With their breakout single Radioactive, huge radio play followed and their album Night Visions went on to be Grammy nominated, achieving fourth place in Billboard album charts in 2014. Likewise Bastille were on the verge of success with their debut album Bad Blood, having already played Glastonbury, but it wasn’t until the week of last year’s Ball when they achieved number one in the charts with Pompeii, the final song played in New Square at six in the morning.
This year sees a lot of acts yet to break as well as several who already have enjoyed some success. Every year an artist with noted chart past is promoted as the top bill, even despite of the fact they might not be the most current act, and if only to balance a line up where affordability comes first, a large quantity of acts needed to play the several stages all night, they must be either emerging or touring widely in between albums, as was the case with Ellie Goulding who having had initial success, had yet to achieve the international success of the last year with her latest album. The same could be said for Example who having had several club anthems that people screamed to at Oxegen during their secondary school days, is potentially set for a reprisal with his new album Live Life Living which isn’t launching till this June. Whether he attains the same success as Ellie is unforeseeable. He played second stage for the 2010 ball, and if nothing else his headlining is mere respect for where his career has been since his first appearance at the Ball.
Looking forward to other acts, one in particular to watch is Nina Nesbitt
Looking forward to other acts, one in particular to watch is Nina Nesbitt, who toured as unsigned support for not only Example but also Ed Sheeran, both having heard her music and then personally inviting her on their respective tours. The Scottish teenager signed with Universal and released her debut album Peroxide this year, featuring a duet with Kodaline. She also appears on an acoustic version of their song ‘Brand New Day’. Her appearances on BBC’s Radio1 Live Lounge, dating back to 2011, display dulcet vocals and an ability to make any song her own. Her set is one to see.
Another is Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, the work of Orlando Higginbottom whose house and electro pop remixes have been garnering him fans since 2009. The DJ’s first album Trouble was launched in 2012, and his work with Disclosure last year shows promise of more to come.
Saint Raymond is hotly anticipated for even bigger things, and having yet to release an album the Nottingham teen Callum Burrows has toured with Haim and and Gabrielle Alpin, his second EP Young Blood hit number 3 on iTunes. Big things are in store for Burrows, and his label who also carry Rudimental, have announced his first headlining tour in the coming months. Perhaps he will be the biggest success of the 2014 Trinity Ball alum.
As for the more established acts; Trinity students will be familiar with Duke Dumount, The Original Rude Boys and La Galaxie. Whilst the primary complaint about Le Galaxie is how frequently they’ve appeared at Ents events under Reynold’s helm, they will undoubtedly be one of the most popular sets on the night having a strong Trinity following.
I’ve heard it argued that one would need to be that drunk to stay for her entire set, but that’s not the issue here.
In between slurs against Reynolds on the lineup announcement, was an attitude that whoever actually played the Ball would be irrelevant, most students stating that they were too drunk previous years to remember seeing any performances. The event is notorious for excessive drinking and drug use. Jessie J in 2012 tweeted her upset at the inebriation of those at her slot, claiming it was her hardest gig to date playing to “people so drunk they couldn’t even stand.” I’ve heard it argued that one would need to be that drunk to stay for her entire set, but that’s not the issue here.
The issue remains of whether MCD could rip us off? They collect their fee no matter what, and we buy the tickets no matter what. If this were an actual music festival it would probably equate to Friday of Electric Picnic; not everyone has arrived yet, they’re not selling day tickets to it, and it’s a drinking contest to see who’ll be awake the next morning and ready to hack the big lineup. Instead there are two things that go against the Ball; MCD run the Ball at a profit which has never actually been disclosed or made transparent, and our reputation for hedonistic partying means they know whoever they send, Trinity students will buy their tickets in droves, for the college sanctioned opportunity to get sick outside of the GMB.
