French electronic duo, Neumodel, have released the second video off of their upcoming debut record, Rock. ‘Black Block’ is based on their previous video, ‘Hayah’ ft. Kiddy Smile. "Hayah (meaning in Hebrew ‘To Be - To Become - To Serve’) is a demonstration of strength. It is the symbol of globalization, of capitalism, of superficial’s superpower. Its opposite is ‘Black Block’. ‘Black Block’ is ironically an admission of weakness and helplessness. We see from afar and from above the world’s violence around us: symbolized by "the Black Block utopia", says the band.

‘Black Block’ is the second video released off of their upcoming LP, and maintains the same aesthetics. "Lost amidst the thousands sounds coming to life each day, it’s not easy to know where our music taste stands, and to know how to exist - not in the public eye but in our own eyes. We were born in the ‘90s and we grew up with Korn, Rammstein, Slipknot and Marilyn Manson albums. Our album and the electro-rock sounds vibrating through it is a vivid tribute to this music that resonates with us and which still has a lot to say. It’s not an homage to the artists per se, but it’s more about tapping into a style that has the potential to revolutionize the music establishment - and to revisit this style.

We gave birth to our album Rock, after releasing four EPs. The composing style itself evolved and matured to become more and more singular. It’s a simple formula: guitar, sub, and pop vocals. No more keyboards, synthesizers and samples. With Rock, we are coming back to the essence of Neumodel"

With Covid-19 panic in full effect, there is now nothing happening in Ireland for the next few weeks and months. Paddy’s Day is cancelled. Comic Con is cancelled. And now Vantastival becomes the first music festival to be postponed. Our favourite boutique festival is traditionally the opener for festival season so it seems inevitable that they should have to make this call. Be interesting to see how it fares in September. Official statement below. Keep calm and carry on, folks.

Vantastival 2020 postponed until September

Due to multiple challenges arising from the spread of Coronavirus, we have reluctantly taken the decision to postpone the Vantastival festival, which will now take place 18th – 20th September 2020. All expert opinion indicates the situation is likely to deteriorate over the coming weeks and the response from other jurisdictions has been to introduce widespread restrictions on mass gatherings and movement. It seems inevitable that Ireland will follow suit. We feel at this point that the most responsible course of action in order to safeguard the festival’s future and protect our crew, patrons and the general public is to take the tough but measured decision to postpone until September.

We will work with all our artists to keep as much of the line up as possible the same and fully expect to present a wonderful event in the Autumn.  All tickets purchased will be valid for the new date.

Vantastival is a small family-run festival, which we have worked very hard at building up from our humble beginnings in 2010. This has been a very difficult decision for us to make, but one we had to make sooner rather than later. While postponing the event has significant cost implications, we could not continue to invest in a May event when a forced cancellation at short notice would be financially devastating for us, our traders, crew and artists and a big hit to the local economy in Louth.  There are a multitude of logistical and financial elements that had to be considered in our decision, but above all we don’t want to put any of our patrons at risk, particularly as Vantastival regularly welcomes patrons ranging in age from newborns to 90 years and more.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and hope you understand that this is due to circumstances unforeseen and beyond our control. We thank you all in advance for your support in this decision and look forward to welcoming you all to Beaulieu House & Gardens in September.

PLEASE NOTE:

We are not offering refunds at this time as the event is not cancelled. As per the Terms & Conditions of our tickets, refunds will only be issued in the event of cancellation. However, over the next couple days we will be setting up a ticket exchange group where those unable to attend in September can offer their tickets for sale. We will put on our website tickets page that all who wish to buy tickets should check that group first for any available, before purchasing through Eventbrite. We will facilitate the resale of tickets in any way we can.