Gavin FridayCharity – Topic – Gavin Friday – Official Site

After Schools Education Project DJ night

Caroline — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:01:32 +0000

Gavin and Guggi started their DJ set in Lillie’s Bordello on April 30, 2003 with an Aidan Walsh tune and some classy 30′s/40′s music. Raising some 10000 Euro for charity, they ended up DJ’ng for most of the night, playing tracks like the start of Also sprach Zarathustra (from 2001 — A Space Odyssey), Prince’s Sexy MF, The Smashing Pumpkins 1979, some Madonna, Take That’s Back For Good, and they dedicated Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful to “Alison Stewart”. Gavin and Guggi ended their set with Sinead O’Connor’s Nothing Compares 2 U. The two DJs took to the dancefloor, waltzing together while the crowd looked on in awe.
Sunday Mirror, May 4, 2003, Sunday
THERE was much wailing and gnashing of teeth at Lillies Bordello on Wednesday night after the raffle for the exclusive painting by Guggi and Gavin Friday.
The two lads were holding a Celebrity DJ night to raise money for the After Schools Education & Support Project at Sheriff Street and as part of the event they raffled off a painting by Guggi and Gavin with each ticket costing EUR10 a go.
Not a bad bargain, considering Guggi’s paintings sell for around EUR20,000 a time so everyone at the event was desperate to get their hands on the coveted prize, art lovers or not. But it was a little more than luck that led to Mairead Egan, wife of Lillies owner Dave, winning the painting.
Our perfectly placed source told us: “Mairead was delighted when she won the painting – it features The Child Of Prague which is a favourite symbol of hers.
“And although her luck was in when she won the painting, she had actually bought around EUR400 of tickets – probably more than anyone else who was at the event.”
Irish Footballers Shay Given, Ian Harte, Robbie Keane, Robbie Keane, Ray Houghton, Frank Stapleton and Colm Healy came along to show their support for the fundraising night after their 1-0 win over Norway.
Although the boys were attracting many admiring glances from the ladies in Lillies, they were intent on having a lads night out, shunning female advances to stick to having a few drinks with their mates.
Bono’s wife Ali was in fine fettle on the dance floor, strutting her stuff to some of Guggi and Gavin’s original tune selection with the Edge’s wife Morleigh.
But the award for dance divas of the evening was definitely held by Hothouse Flowers man Fiachna O’Braonain and Lorraine Keane’s new brother-in-law Colin Devlin who proved that they have fascinating rhythm by the bucketload.
24/7 had a wonderful time hanging out in what became known as the Other Voices corner for the evening where the lovely Paddy Casey and band member Declan, Jerry Fish and Mundy were holding court.
Jerry Fish – whose real name is Ger Whelan – revealed that it was the second time he’d been hanging out in Lillies in a few days.
The swampadelic singer, who releases his new single Upside Down on Friday, found himself hanging out in the exclusive club with none other than grand dame Danny LaRue after his show at the Ambassador last Friday … well that’s what he told us anyway.
Also at the bash were artist Jim Fitzpatrick, film director Neil Jordan and his wife Brenda and Popstars judge Bill Hughes.
And the end result was that Gavin, Guggi and the gang managed to raise over EUR5500 for the Sheriff Street project.
Top marks all round.

After Schools Education Project

Caroline — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:53:47 +0000

From Ireland Evening Herald, April 2003
FROM LA TO INNER CITY : Band’s stunner teaches tin whistle to kids
ANDREA CORR’S THE QUEEN OF SHERRIFF ST.
Andrea Corr has been shunning the high life of late to give inner-city kids music lessons, the Diary can reveal. The Corrs singer has been accompanying her friend singer Gavin Friday on his regular visits to Sheriff Streets After Schools Education Project, an initiative aimed at discouraging local children from using drugs.
“Andrea has been down to Sheriff St with me a couple of times.” confirmed Gavin “She’s come down to give the kids lessons on the tin whistle and then hang around to chat with them. After a while, everybody forgets she is famous.” Despite being one of the worlds biggest pop stars Andrea didn’t arrive in Sheriff St with a team of bodyguards. “Andrea has never brought security with her or anything like that. But then again nobody needs security when they have Gavin Friday with them,” Gavin said.
The former Virgin Prune singer first became involved with the after school education project when he was contacted by local community leaders “Attendances were down and they hoped by getting someone like me involved it would bring more kids in,” he explained about the programme aimed at keeping young people aged 12-15 years off the streets and away form drug pushers. As part of the workshop youngsters are encouraged to make up a play on the spur of the moment and then act it out in the classroom.
“It could be something like Joan is pregnant but Mick wants to go to a nightclub and do some E’s – how do we stop him taking E’s?” “I’ve ended up playing the role of the bouncer at the nightclub” Gavin and Andrea work with the project came about after they teamed up for the soundtrack of Jim Sheridan’s new film, In America. The pair collaborated with Bono on a song called Time Enough For Tears.
“It’s a beautiful number with a jazzy feel, perfect for the mood of Jims film” raved Gavin about the track on which Andrea sings lead vocal. The recording may well get an early spin tomorrow night when Gavin and his pal Guggi man the record decks in Lillie’s Bordello for a benefit in aid of the Sheriff St Project. “We’ll be doing a special DJ set from 11 onwards. The money we raise will go towards buying the kids a new computer because the one they’ve got is banjaxed”
The kitty is sure to be swelled by the auction of two paintings, one by Gavin and one by Guggi towards the end of the night. “I don’t know who’ll be dropping in but I can tell you this: the music we’ll be playing won’t ever have been played in Lillie’s before and wont ever be played there again. And that’s the truth.”

Irish all stars record The Ballad of Ronnie Drew

Caroline — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 10:29:07 +0000

Gavin has contributed to a charity single, “The Ballad of Ronnie Drew” in honour of The Dubliner’s singer Ronnie Drew. The proceeds will benefit the Irish Cancer Society at Ronnie Drew’s request. The track will be available in Ireland only as a download on Friday, February 22 and week later on CD.

The song was written by Bono, The Edge, Simon Carmody and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, and features appearances by Kila, the Pogues’ Shane MacGowan, the Frames’ Glen Hansard, Sinead O’Connor, Andrea Corr, Damien Dempsey, Ronan Keating, Chris de Burgh, members of the Dubliners, and Gavin Friday.

2007 Lunchbox Auction

Caroline — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:31:42 +0000

For the 2007 Lunchbox Auction, 100+ iconic celebrities from the entertainment, fashion, art, music, literary and culinary worlds remind us that food matters by creating personalized lunchbox art for online auction. The auction, which goes live on Friday, December 7, 2007 at 12 a.m. EST, will benefit two hunger-relief organizations: Food Bank For New York City and The Lunchbox Fund of South Africa. Each lunchbox is signed and numbered and no two lunchboxes are alike. Bid on Gavin’s box.

‘Charity tucks in for Gav’

Caroline — Mon, 22 Mar 2004 23:11:46 +0000

From the Sunday Mirror, March 21, 2004:
RADAR: CHARITY TUCKS IN FOR GAV
BY SUZANNE KERINS
GAVIN FRIDAY was at a special dinner thrown in his honour by the Irish Hospice Foundation on Friday night at the Shelbourne Hotel. The special dinner was to thank Gavin for all his hard work on the Peter And The Wolf CD and book which was sold to raise money for the Foundation. My spy said: “Although Bono did the artwork, Gavin brought him on board after he decided to make the CD for the foundation. “Gavin was the major force behind the project so the foundation just wanted to thank him for what he did. “Bono, The Edge, Adam and Larry from U2 were there as well to give their pal a big round of applause.”

The Boys Who Tried Wolf

Caroline — Sat, 22 Nov 2003 17:34:22 +0000

Peter and the Wolf auction, Christie’s New York, November 21, 2003
Ruth Barohn and Christopher Conroy
It was a Friday night. And not just literally.
Three years to the day after musician and artist Gavin Friday narrated the Prokofiev classic Peter and the Wolf” at Dublin Castle, with the orchestra from the Royal Irish Academy of Music, to benefit the Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF), sixteen original paintings that were done for a companion book to Friday’s new musical version were auctioned to benefit the charity. On this spring-like November evening (Nov. 21), bidders and friends filled an intimate room at Christie’s New York in Rockefeller Center. They came to support the IHF as well as the hard work of the project’s engine.

{picture © Chris Conroy, do not copy.}

Friday arrived with Maurice Seezer, and explained his dedication to the IHF, an organization for which he has done several projects: “Well, I just think it’s a great charity, number one, because it accepts kids, adults dying of AIDS, and older people. As a charity, they tend to do creative things — so it’s making money, but it’s also contributing something artistically and musically. When you give the twenty bucks for the CD and the book, you’re getting something as well as helping a charity, so I find that quite interesting and quite innovative.”
It was that sort of innovation that inspired Friday. “The inspiration was really just to help Hospice. Three years ago we did it live and we said one day, it went so well that we should record our own interpretation of it,” explained Friday. “I was sick about a year and a half ago, and rather than moan, we sat and did our own arrangement of it.”

picture © Chris Conroy, do not copy.}

The ensemble for the project is quite impressive, as Seezer explained: “Michael Blair is a wonderful percussion player; he played with Tom Waits. Renaud Pion has played with us for fifteen years now or so. Julia Palmer played on our very first album together. (Julia Palmer played on Gavin and Maurice’s first tour, not the album. Ed. ) Des Moore [is] a great bango player from Dublin.” Electric guitar and double bass player Gareth Hughes and flutist Catriona Ryan completed the eclectic group of musicians.

An equally eclectic group of artists and orchestras have recorded the symphony with impressive narrators including David Bowie, Sting, Sir John Gielgud, Andre Previn, Jack Lemmon, Boris Karloff, Dudley Moore, Patrick Stewart, Melissa Joan Hart, Dave Van Ronk and Leonard Bernstein. But Friday is more of a Bond man: “Personally, my favorite version is Sean Connery’s version. He did it in the 60s.”

Friday’s version is sure to become the favorite of many fans of the classic and new listeners alike. Along with the fresh musical interpretation by the Friday-Seezer ensemble, the CD is coupled with a book whose drawings were done by singer and activist Bono, who can now add “painter” to his list of credits. Bono’s original paintings for the book, done with daughters Jordan and Eve, were minutes away from being put on the auction block when he arrived at Christie’s with his wife, Ali Hewson, and their close friend, artist Guggi.

Pausing to speak about his appearance at the event, Bono said, “You know, usually when you see me at these kind of events, I’m talking about really serious things like third world debt and the Africa AIDS emergency, but tonight it’s much more fun. I’m here to talk about my dead father. My father — I loved him very much — I am actually here to talk about him. He’s the reason that I did these paintings. He died of cancer a couple years ago. Hospice offered to look after him. They’re angels, really. And I did this for my kids. It was fun to do. I wanted to do something that would make me laugh but also make me cry a little bit.”
Of course, Bono was especially excited to once again collaborate with his long-time friend, Gavin Friday. “He’s a complete pain in the arse. He’s trouble from morning till night. He never shuts up, he’s in your ear, and he’s a genius,” said Bono with an exasperated grin. (We feel his pain. Ed.)

Friday’s genius was about to pay off in a big way. As video footage played of the recording of the “Peter and the Wolf” audio and the painting of the book’s illustrations on a screen in a room of Christie’s, the bidders took their seats. Among the guests showing their support were Principle Management’s Paul McGuinness and Keryn Kaplan, Elvis Costello and Diana Krall, Moby, and artist Darien Loeb.

Before bidding began, Friday took to the stage to applause. “The Irish are very good at telling stories, so I’m going to tell you a story,” said Friday. His theatrical monologue began: “Once upon a time in an ancient and old land called Hibernia, in a dirty little town called Dublin, there lived a man whose name was Bono. This man was very talented and much loved. So loved, it was rumored by some, ‘Could he be God?!’”

Friday’s introduction drew laughter and applause from the guests, for which he paused and then continued with a grin: “There is always some truth in rumors. Now, Mr. Bono had a friend, a dark and mysterious man named Mr. Friday. So dark and so mysterious was this man, it was rumored [Friday's voice lowered to a whisper] ‘Could he be the devil?!’”

When the laughter died down, Friday went on. “Mr. Friday had a friend, a musical giant, Mr. Seezer — so tall, like a big oak tree, he had much problems with dogs. Together, these three people — Bono, myself, and Maurice — believed that through music and through art, you can make a difference. This is the story of Peter and the Wolf. Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce you to…” said Friday, pausing dramatically, “…God.”
And, in case anyone was unsure, Friday added, “Bono.”

As Bono stepped to the auction podium, to the side of the stage, he stamped the auction gavel down three times and said, “I always wanted to do that.”

In response to Friday’s introduction, Bono quipped, “Well, Gavin is the devil. God and the devil are getting on.”
And although Bono was proud to explore new artistic directions for this project, he seemed to have no delusions about his ability with a paintbrush — or did he?

“My name is Bono and I’m a rock star. And where would we be without rock stars and their delusions? Rock stars who think they can sing — it’s okay. Rock stars who think they can dance — I’m not sure. Rock stars who think they can act — oh, dear Lord! Rock stars who think they can drink the Hudson and stay out later than anyone else — possibly. Rock stars who think they can save the world — spare me that one! But right at the top of the list of rock star delusions has got to be the rock star who thinks he can paint. And I came here to say that I am too much of a fan of art and artists to ever claim that these are more than marks on paper. In the room with real artists I came here to say that,” said Bono humbly.

Then humility faltered. “But I came into Christie’s today — and the Christie’s people are kind of really amazing — and I walked in the door and I saw all the paintings, hung up, and I thought, ‘Did I really do that? They’re really great!’” said Bono. “I was trying to explain why I did this and I wrote this. It’s called Rage Is Not A Great Reason To Do Anything But It’ll Do. So I’m going to read it if that’s okay.

“Rage Is Not A Great Reason To Do Anything But It’ll Do: I have a list of the usual frustrations with God and God with me. Right up there at the top of the list of things that motivate me is the distance between where I am as a songwriter and where I want to be. The difference between the note and the fret, I suppose.
I had a few difficulties on my way to being a musician, if that’s what I am — sometimes I’m not sure it is — but I remember standing with my head just below the level of the black and tobacco keys of my Granny’s piano and I could reach them but I couldn’t see them. Literally, my head was right beneath it. And I could hear the hammer hit the string and bone machine, but I didn’t know after choosing one ivory I could hear a sort of rhyme for it in my head, leading me through the ding and clangor of the choices to a melody. A composition. Song writing by accident. And if you stood on the sustain pedal on the piano, the room would change shape into a cathedral.

I knew then that music is a playground, that for the rest of my life, I will be chasing it. Reverb, echo, the sound of your own voice. The only problem was they sold the piano; there was no room. The two up, two down, outside toilet ,red brick for music. I lost the argument to bring it to our house in Ballymun. I wanted to learn how to play the melodies I heard in my head. Poor Bono. No, poor YOU. Megalomania for me started at a very early age, probably this age. Everyone’s going to have to pay for this.

“Everyone’s going to have to listen to me. Revenge like this takes a lifetime. Revenge on my father, a beautiful tenor who conducted our stereo with knitting needles and a man who never imagined that music might be handed down through the DNA, like his bad back or his bad temper, and never bothered to bother us about learning an instrument. Revenge on music education, which teaches children to imitate rather than create. It’s good to know the voice of the masters, but not to have your own voice drowned out,” said Bono, ending his essay.

“So anyway, ‘Peter and the Wolf’ is a lesson in how to teach,” continued Bono. “This is a new version of the Prokofiev classic by two of my favorite people, two of my favorite musicians, Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer. And it was in aid of the Irish Hospice Foundation, but actually for the Hospice Foundation worldwide, people who were so ready to look after my father in his losing fight with cancer. These angels asked me to illustrate the book that accompanies the music. Ciaran O’Goara was the art director and guide. I asked my little girls, Jordan and Eve, to help me with details, the filigree of flowers.”

Bono shared his inspiration for some of the characters in the book, as he went to work. “And in Mary Donnelly and Joe Donnelly’s art house looking over Killiney Bay, in one day, I painted myself into the corner as Peter. Age thirteen, I had a head like a baked bean, a formless ellipse until a nose appeared. I was frightened. The boy who lived in a can used to eat the baked beans cold.

Anyway, my father we made the Grandfather, as he was to Jordan and Eve, my two daughters who loved and were loved by him. And his golf club — a working class Dublin guy who loved opera and played golf. His golf club, as it happens, was called Forest Little. So the forest is Forest Little Golf Club. I cast my darling wife, Ali, as Pussy — mischief in her eyes and a curly tail. And the Wolf was ambition for things just out of reach,” Bono concluded to great applause.

Several variations of these characters, as created by Bono, then became open to bid. As the auctioneer took the podium, and the gavel struck, Lot 1 (“Peter & the Wolf VI”) was displayed on the stage. Bidding was intense for each of the sixteen lots, but the mood was certainly light and humorous.
After Lot 6 (“Peter & the Wolf II”) sold for $24,000, Friday appeared at the large desk to the side of the podium and commented, “It’s all a bit laid back. Let’s see something exciting happening here. And then maybe I’ll sing a song.”

After enthusiastic applause, bidding on Lot 7 (“Peter & the Wolf III”) began. When it concluded, the lucky high-bidding woman got a promise from Friday: “This lady, I will personally sing in her ear in about half an hour!”

Friday continued to encourage and entertain the guests, such as during the auction of Lot 9 (“Peter & the Wolf V”). When bidding stalled, he offered, “I will put my tongue in your ear for $30,000.” The auctioneer turned and asked Friday over the surprised laughter, “Do you think that’s a lot of incentive?” Getting a big smile in return, the auctioneer turned back to the audience and accepted an increased bid of $22,000. Friday encouraged, “I have a big tongue.”

The high bidder on Lot 10 (“Study of Wolf II”) was none other than Paul McGuinness. As he bid, Friday inquired, “Does Paul want my tongue in his ear?” to which the auctioneer replied, “He’s paying not to have your tongue in his ear.” McGuinness later said of his choosing to buy this piece (for $20,000): “I liked it. I thought it was the best of the wolves, and I’m looking forward to seeing it on my wall.”
One big supporter of the IHF paid $60,000 — the highest bid of the evening — to see one of these paintings on his wall. Bidding was fierce for Lot 11 (“Study ‘Peter’ I, Study of ‘Peter’ II on reverse”). This close-up painting of the “baked-bean boy” is essentially a self-portrait of age thirteen by Bono, and Friday shared, “I knew him when he looked like that, without the sunglasses. Working-class lads that did well.”
beanboy.jpg These working-class lads did do well, raising $368,000 for an important charity in little more than an hour. And, although, the IHF was certainly the focus of the evening, Friday discussed other projects in which he is currently involved.

Friday did the score to the film “In America,” which opens on Thanksgiving in the United States. This is his third collaboration with director Jim Sheridan (“In The Name of the Father” and “The Boxer”). When asked what attracted him to Sheridan’s film making, Friday replied, “He captures something called humanity and reality between actors more than anyone I know. He’s got what you’d call a cinematic genius but he’s a theatrical genius; he just gets a rapport that’s mind-blowing.” He paused and added, with complete sincerity, “Go see the movie. You’ll cry.”

Bono, who was sworn to secrecy about U2′s new album, did reveal one secret. A burning question whose answer an evening of “Peter and the Wolf” could not be complete without: Who’s the duck? Bono is Peter, Gavin’s the Wolf, Ali is the Puassy. But who’s the duck? Bono laughed at the question and then put his hand up to his grin, as if he were happily revealing this secret and whispered, “Guggi.”

So Peter, the Wolf, the Pussy, and, as is now known, the Duck were all present at Christie’s for the conclusion of this impressive and, thanks to the many collaborating artists, successful project. And we cannot forget Grandfather, whose spirit was present in the wonderful work of the Irish Hospice Foundation.
All photos by Ruth Barohn and Christopher Conroy for U2log.com and GavinFriday.com. Please do not use the photos that appear here on your website or forum without our explicit permission.

Peter and the Wolf at Christie’s

Caroline — Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:38:13 +0000

On Friday, Bono’s Peter and the Wolf paintings will be on view at Christie’s in New York.
Details of Auction and Viewing:
Public Viewing: One day only, Friday November 21, 2003
10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Where: Christie’s, 20 Rockefeller Plaza
Tel. 212-636-2000
Cost: Free and open to the public.

Wolf and Peter on t-shirts

Caroline — Sat, 15 Nov 2003 21:36:30 +0000

Two different Peter & The Wolf T-shirts are now available from PeterWolf.org.

Irish pals sink their teeth into ‘Peter and the Wolf’

Caroline — Sat, 01 Nov 2003 21:27:17 +0000

“Usually, what (children) are hearing is drum machines and Dr. Dre or heavy-metal guitars,” he says via telephone from Dublin. What he and Seezer wanted to do is show “there’s a few other instruments out there.” Gavin talks to USA Today. Check the right hand column for an additional real audio excerpt from the phone interview.

An Evening at Christie’s

Caroline — Thu, 30 Oct 2003 21:17:59 +0000

U2 fan describes the invitation only Peter and the Wolf reception at Christie’s in L.A (October 14, 2003): An Evening at Christie’s.
“After a while, a lovely Irishwoman was introduced. It turns out she’s the President of the Irish Hospice Foundation. She gave a lovely speech telling the story of how Gavin got involved with the project. Then she told of how Bono came over to her house with the girls one Saturday, and did all the drawings that day! He had some studies prepared (which were hung at Christie’s also), but he did most of the actual illustrating that single Saturday. She said this was filmed, and it’s on the CD. Then she introduced Gavin. He came to the mic and charmed the daylights out of everyone in the room! He told a story about a loved man; a man so loved that everyone thinks he’s God. That man is called Bono. Then he told of a man so dark and dangerous that everyone thinks he’s the devil; that man is called Gavin. He talked about his involvement with the project, and how the money will be distributed from the sales of the booklet and CD. The money from the sales of the CD and booklet set will go to hospice care in the country where the CD was purchased.”
Pictures (thumbnails) at Wire Images.

Gavin FridayCharity – Topic – Gavin Friday – Official Site

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