Eamonn Doran’s Thurs 28th May

The Hot Sprockets + The Deadly Nightshades + Red Kid

Doors 8pm - €5

Dorans have kindly offered a massive concession on venue hire which means all takings on the door will go directly to Oxfam Ireland.

Dublin Oxjam on MySpace

Alison McGardle first contacted Oxfam Ireland in July to say she had just booked The Ambassador, Dublin - whose capacity is 1000 - to say that she was organising an ‘all ages’ gig for Oxjam with about 10 bands playing.

From that moment she got sponsors on board to help with designing and printing posters, got Phantom FM on board to help with the publicity and was interviewed by both the Irish Times and Hot Press which each featured lengthy articles about her 18th of October gig.

Not only did she sell over 600 tickets but also sold Oxjam t-shirts and had a stand in the venue where young people could sign up to become campaigners with Oxfam. Well done Ali & the team!! Go girls!!

Steve Landon, a coach in Newtownpark Tennis Club, Blackrock, Co. Dublin decided to take Oxjam to his tennis club. For a whole Saturday afternoon kids and adults practiced tennis drills to great music which boomed out over the courts from a weather-proof ghetoblaster. Thanks Steve, a great new Oxjam idea!!

Meanwhile up in Bangor, Co. Down, Phillip Graham invited friends and family to his very own iPod party. Guests brought along their iPods and were allowed 15 minutes to show off their music collection to the gathered audience. Mind you, they had to pay £5 for the privaledge. Thanks Phillip, I think you may have started a new Oxjam trend!!

Jane came up with an unusual idea for an Oxjam home party. Guests were invited to come along with a favourite classical track on a CD. Tracks were allowed to be no longer than 6 minutes each. Each track was introduced personally, explaining why the guest liked that track.

Music ranged from operatic duets to jazz tunes to Russian choral pieces to rarely heard chinese melodies. Well done Jane - a fantastic Oxjam idea!! (Thanks also to the elf who donated the fantastic sound system for the evening!!)

Anne-Marie Redmond and the Oxjam team at the Waltons New School of Music put on a night to remember in The Button Factory on October 29th. Flamenco guitars, opera duets, trad tunes, double basses, harmonicas, soul and blues and jazz all made up a colourful night of top class music. There was even a surprise visit from some capoeira dancers.

A fun raffle with prizes donated by local businesses (including a fantastic acoustic guitar donated by Waltons) added to the large pot of money which was donated to Oxfam Ireland. Thanks!

Gig photos from Oxjam Belfast gigs now available on Flickr