0:00:01 > 0:00:03Neil, what did you make of Nice'n'Sleezy tonight?
0:00:03 > 0:00:06This proves there is definitely something strange
0:00:06 > 0:00:08- in the water of Fermanagh. - CHEERING
0:00:08 > 0:00:11Rock School, that was fun, yeah.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13Actually, I quite like sort of
0:00:13 > 0:00:16being a judge at competitions.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19It probably brings out the worst in me,
0:00:19 > 0:00:22cos I can be very judgmental.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25I'm equally judgmental about my own music
0:00:25 > 0:00:28and all the stuff that I've had to do.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30# Now, baby
0:00:30 > 0:00:32# We know it now, my lady... #
0:00:32 > 0:00:37I do remember a fantastic band from Fermanagh that night.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42They were Motley Crue - they wore full Spandex, amazing hair,
0:00:42 > 0:00:45great noise. I can't really remember the tune,
0:00:45 > 0:00:48but I don't think that's what it was all about.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50I had a lot of fun that night.
0:00:50 > 0:00:51CHEERING
0:00:51 > 0:00:54There was a brilliant prize at the end of it as well.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58They got to play on stage at a major concert
0:00:58 > 0:01:01and they got a video directed and made for them as well.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10# It's been observed
0:01:10 > 0:01:13# That the conserve
0:01:13 > 0:01:16# That strings are lines
0:01:20 > 0:01:23# It's been trialled
0:01:23 > 0:01:26# It's been tested
0:01:26 > 0:01:31# Become strained and burned... #
0:01:31 > 0:01:34I always used to feel really jealous watching it, cos I was in a band
0:01:34 > 0:01:37and when you're in a band and you're really young
0:01:37 > 0:01:39and you're watching other young bands do it, you're going,
0:01:39 > 0:01:42"We're far better than them. What are they doing on there?"
0:01:42 > 0:01:45We were watching The Tides, that turned into General Fiasco,
0:01:45 > 0:01:46we were watching Life Without Rory,
0:01:46 > 0:01:48who turned into Two Door Cinema Club,
0:01:48 > 0:01:50and we'd still be sitting in the practice room
0:01:50 > 0:01:52or the school room the next day going,
0:01:52 > 0:01:55"That band Life Without Rory aren't very good, are they?
0:01:55 > 0:01:57"We're far better than them.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59"Why won't Across The Line put us on?"
0:01:59 > 0:02:01My favourite thing about that
0:02:01 > 0:02:05was that the band Life Without Rory got turfed out
0:02:05 > 0:02:08and they are now Two Door Cinema Club.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10# The sticks and stones have left you alone
0:02:10 > 0:02:13# And all your words will soon desert you
0:02:13 > 0:02:15# Are you waiting? #
0:02:19 > 0:02:20So it shows what we know.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29ATL television, radio and online
0:02:29 > 0:02:33became a regular presence at all our major festivals
0:02:33 > 0:02:36from Belsonic to Glasgowbury,
0:02:36 > 0:02:38from Oxegen to Tennent's Vital.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44Right, we've got one big stage,
0:02:44 > 0:02:48one slightly smaller stage over there, loads of toilets,
0:02:48 > 0:02:50loads of food, loads of beer.
0:02:50 > 0:02:51I think that's everything.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54Oh, yeah, the crowd. Guys, come on in!
0:02:56 > 0:03:00Coupled with the power of being on TV and the ATL brand,
0:03:00 > 0:03:04which is so well known, we were able to do some incredible things.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08Across The Line and ATL TV
0:03:08 > 0:03:11were always at the best live music events,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14whether that was Glasgowbury or Electric Picnic, Oxegen,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17we were at all the vital concerts.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19# The kind of girl, yeah, she's never alone
0:03:21 > 0:03:23# You leave a thousand messages on her phone
0:03:26 > 0:03:28# But you know you never get through
0:03:30 > 0:03:33# You can have it all if you wanted
0:03:33 > 0:03:36# You can have it all if it matters to you... #
0:03:36 > 0:03:39We were able to approach bands and they would know us,
0:03:39 > 0:03:41cos we played their first demos or their first albums,
0:03:41 > 0:03:45so really big-name bands always had time for us.
0:03:45 > 0:03:46# But you
0:03:47 > 0:03:51# Stole the sun from my heart
0:03:53 > 0:04:00# You stole the sun from my heart
0:04:00 > 0:04:01# Whoa... #
0:04:12 > 0:04:14There's no idea too big.
0:04:14 > 0:04:15When it comes to the festivals,
0:04:15 > 0:04:17when it comes to the gigs that they've done,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19when it comes to The Great Northern Songbook,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22when it comes to the pioneering technology
0:04:22 > 0:04:25of what Across The Line's been all about,
0:04:25 > 0:04:29they just get it done and that's really impressive.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32# It makes me wonder
0:04:35 > 0:04:38# Ah-ha-ha! #
0:04:38 > 0:04:39We would stage our own gigs,
0:04:39 > 0:04:43we would put on gigs in small venues like The Stiff Kitten
0:04:43 > 0:04:44or Nerve Centre in Derry.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Also, sometimes people like the Ulster Hall would come to us
0:04:47 > 0:04:50and say, "Could you help us put on a gig?"
0:04:50 > 0:04:55In 2009, we helped them with their grand reopening gala concert.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57We put that on. We called it, Do You Remember The First Time?
0:04:57 > 0:05:01We got some of our favourite bands together to play tracks of their own
0:05:01 > 0:05:05and also tracks by the bands that they had first seen play
0:05:05 > 0:05:06in the Ulster Hall.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Every single band that we asked came back with a big fat "yes".
0:05:09 > 0:05:12It also gave us a total headache as to how we were going to fit
0:05:12 > 0:05:14all these bands in,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17cos we wanted them all. We just didn't expect them all to say yes.
0:05:17 > 0:05:18Everybody turned up
0:05:18 > 0:05:21and it was one of the greatest nights of live music.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:05:29 > 0:05:31Thank you very much.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34We were told we were going to do Teenage Kicks as a finale of
0:05:34 > 0:05:37the Ulster Hall show with ATL, and Tim from Ash already knew it.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39They'd done a cover version. We'd done it at sound check.
0:05:39 > 0:05:40You ready?
0:05:40 > 0:05:44And then there was the big We Are The World moment at the end, when everyone got on.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48We've done these things before, but not with as much importance as
0:05:48 > 0:05:50that night, because it was a song from, like,
0:05:50 > 0:05:54that was built into our DNA with people that we already respected
0:05:54 > 0:05:57for a radio show that meant so much to us.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59And I just remember being so nervous.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01And it's one of those things,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05all the nerves just went out the window and it was brilliant.
0:06:05 > 0:06:06WILD CHEERING
0:06:06 > 0:06:08INTRO TO TEENAGE KICKS
0:06:19 > 0:06:22# Teenage dreams so hard to beat
0:06:22 > 0:06:25# Every time she walks down the street
0:06:25 > 0:06:28# Another girl in the neighbourhood
0:06:28 > 0:06:31# Wish she was mine, she looks so good
0:06:31 > 0:06:34# I want to hold her, want to hold her tight
0:06:34 > 0:06:37# Get teenage kicks right through the night
0:06:37 > 0:06:38# Come on! #
0:06:38 > 0:06:40As moments go, it was hard to top.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45Every band that I have known and loved all on stage at an ATL gig,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48playing the best song that's ever been written.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50# Cos it's the best I've ever had... #
0:06:50 > 0:06:51And it just meant so much.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54If you look at everyone's faces, everyone's really enjoying it
0:06:54 > 0:06:57and everyone is smiling and it's just such a brilliant moment.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01I just thought the sentiment was perfectly pitched, and to play that
0:07:01 > 0:07:05song in that, you know, glorious classic venue, as well, it was...
0:07:05 > 0:07:07- It was an honour to be on the stage.- It was.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10And I think everyone got into that spirit of it.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12And it did take 20 years for it to happen, you know.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14It took 20 years of work from...
0:07:14 > 0:07:16from ATL and all those bands involved.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20Considering what the music business was like in 1988, to get
0:07:20 > 0:07:26there in 2008 for that moment, it was a lot of hard, hard work
0:07:26 > 0:07:28to get there. So I think there was a sense of relief almost, as well.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30- MICHAEL CHUCKLES - Yeah!
0:07:32 > 0:07:35WILD APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:07:43 > 0:07:46YEEEAAAAHHHHHHH!
0:07:54 > 0:07:55Thank you!
0:07:59 > 0:08:02The best audience in the world!
0:08:02 > 0:08:04CHEERING
0:08:08 > 0:08:12The daddy of all gigs, though, came in 2010, with the invitation to
0:08:12 > 0:08:18ATL TV and radio to capture a true moment in Irish music history.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22Snow Patrol live in Ward Park.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24WILD CHEERING
0:08:24 > 0:08:28I hate to choose between the two best gigs we ever did,
0:08:28 > 0:08:32but the second one just really did feel like my head...
0:08:32 > 0:08:36it just felt like it was going to explode at certain points on
0:08:36 > 0:08:39the stage with just pure happiness.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43I couldn't keep the smile off my face. Wasn't trying to.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47It was really important to us that Across The Line did the gig,
0:08:47 > 0:08:51that people that had been supporting us right from the beginning
0:08:51 > 0:08:55and had never wavered in their support all through the years...
0:08:55 > 0:09:00We were never going to let anybody else have the controls of that gig.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03They'll always be the people that we come to when we're going
0:09:03 > 0:09:05to film something in Northern Ireland.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08OK, so this should be the easiest introduction ever because all
0:09:08 > 0:09:11you need to know is that it's the biggest show to ever take
0:09:11 > 0:09:12place in Northern Ireland,
0:09:12 > 0:09:16featuring the biggest band this country has ever produced.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19'One of my proudest moments was getting to present'
0:09:19 > 0:09:24the TV coverage of what remains Northern Ireland's biggest ever gig.
0:09:24 > 0:09:25Snow Patrol in Ward Park.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27WILD CHEERING
0:09:27 > 0:09:31Just standing in front of 40,000 people was pretty exciting in itself,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34but knowing that they were all there to see a band that I'd also
0:09:34 > 0:09:38watched in the company of maybe 30 people playing in Morrisons
0:09:38 > 0:09:42or the Duke of York in Belfast and watched grow to the point they were
0:09:42 > 0:09:47able to fill Ward Park, I mean, that made it all the more special.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49And I think band knew that as well.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52Ward Park was astonishing.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56It's eclipsed U2 as being the biggest gig ever to take place
0:09:56 > 0:09:59in Northern Ireland, it was sensational.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04- # You are all that I have - Ooooh... #
0:10:04 > 0:10:08The scale of it, the size of that rig,
0:10:08 > 0:10:13both for us and for the band, nobody had done it before.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15# A frightening magic I cling to... #
0:10:17 > 0:10:23And for them to allow us, the ATL TV team, to bring that back home
0:10:23 > 0:10:27to the people of Northern Ireland was an amazing experience.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30# Give me a chance to hold on
0:10:30 > 0:10:33# Just give me something to hold onto
0:10:33 > 0:10:38# It's so clear now that you are all that I have
0:10:38 > 0:10:40# Ooooh
0:10:40 > 0:10:45# I have no fear cos you are all that I have
0:10:45 > 0:10:48# Ooooh
0:10:48 > 0:10:52# It's so clear now that you are all that I have
0:10:52 > 0:10:55# Ooooh
0:10:55 > 0:10:59# I have no fear cos you are all that I have
0:10:59 > 0:11:01# Ooooh. #
0:11:04 > 0:11:07We did 41,000 because U2 had done
0:11:07 > 0:11:10a gig in Belfast that was 40,000, and we wanted...
0:11:10 > 0:11:12HE CHUCKLES
0:11:12 > 0:11:15There's many, many things, almost everything
0:11:15 > 0:11:20that U2 beat us in, almost everything except one thing.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22We've done the biggest gig in Northern Ireland.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25They don't beat us in that.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27# Oooh
0:11:29 > 0:11:30# Oooh. #
0:11:32 > 0:11:34WILD CHEERING
0:11:37 > 0:11:39# Oooh.... #
0:11:41 > 0:11:44CHEERING CONTINUES
0:11:54 > 0:11:58With Snow Patrol conquering the world and other successes on
0:11:58 > 0:12:02the global stage, has this inspired the next generation?
0:12:03 > 0:12:06I think we have a huge confidence in the bands now and in the
0:12:06 > 0:12:07music that we have here.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11We have artist development all the time moving into different genres.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14We have also the infrastructure that you need to help bands progress.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16I think there was this feeling maybe in the '80s and '90s that if you
0:12:16 > 0:12:19were in a band you had to somehow make your way across the water.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Now I think bands realise that they can do that from here.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24Of course you always need to go away,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27but you have all the infrastructure that surrounds bands to help
0:12:27 > 0:12:29them progress to the next stage of their career.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32You're starting to get the labels, you're starting to get the managers,
0:12:32 > 0:12:34you're starting to get the tour managers, the producers,
0:12:34 > 0:12:38the record labels - all these people that are crucial to help them
0:12:38 > 0:12:40develop a band's career.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Amazingly, ATL is more relevant now than it was 15, 20 years ago,
0:12:44 > 0:12:47because it's very easy for your music to get lost.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50You can upload it somewhere and no-one will ever hear it,
0:12:50 > 0:12:54but with ATL and especially with BBC Introducing Uploader
0:12:54 > 0:12:56gives you an absolute purpose.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59So when you form a band now and you write your first song that
0:12:59 > 0:13:04you're happy with, your first thought is to send it to ATL, give it to Rigsy,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07give it to Stu, because they're going to do something with it
0:13:07 > 0:13:09they're going to play it and they're going to send it off to
0:13:09 > 0:13:13Radio 1 and 6 Music and all these other places.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16So your first thought before you book your first gig, almost,
0:13:16 > 0:13:19is to get to your song to ATL.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23It's Across The Line. We have Phil Kieran, noted producer...
0:13:23 > 0:13:24'We've got this great leverage.
0:13:24 > 0:13:29'If we believe in an act and think it's got relevance beyond Northern
0:13:29 > 0:13:34'Ireland, we can put the word in with the BBC Introducing family
0:13:34 > 0:13:37'and say Jealous Of The Birds would be great for 1 Big Weekend.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40# There's not...a lot...
0:13:40 > 0:13:44# That I can boast. #
0:13:44 > 0:13:49R51 would be incredible for the Reading Festival and Leeds and,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52you know, sometimes we're fortunate and delighted to find that they get the gigs.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54It's brilliant.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58There's a load of new acts who are on the way up now who are
0:13:58 > 0:14:00getting all sorts of help from the show.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03Their first airplay can mean the world, but also just coming
0:14:03 > 0:14:06into a radio studio and doing a session and talking to
0:14:06 > 0:14:09a presenter and being made to feel welcome whenever you're
0:14:09 > 0:14:12talking about your music, I mean, those skills are important
0:14:12 > 0:14:15for new bands, they'll take kind of elsewhere.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17So we're kind of a square one, a starting point,
0:14:17 > 0:14:19in a lot of ways for new bands.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22OVERLAPPING MUSIC AND SPEECH
0:14:22 > 0:14:26I guess, like, what I do now at Radio 1 and what I did
0:14:26 > 0:14:30from day one in Across The Line, was always about new music
0:14:30 > 0:14:33discovery and finding stuff before, you know,
0:14:33 > 0:14:36it breaks everywhere else and bringing it in and getting
0:14:36 > 0:14:38really excited about it and talking about it.
0:14:38 > 0:14:44And I still think one of my proudest little finds was Soak from Derry.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47She put her music into the BBC Introducing Uploader and it
0:14:47 > 0:14:50was one of the times I was standing in for Rigsy,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54and I put it on the radio and I was like, "Wow, this is mental!
0:14:54 > 0:14:56"This kid is like 14!"
0:14:56 > 0:14:59# Come on, come on...
0:15:02 > 0:15:04# Be just like me
0:15:04 > 0:15:08# Come on, come on
0:15:10 > 0:15:12# Be a nobody
0:15:12 > 0:15:14# Come on, come on
0:15:17 > 0:15:20# Be just like me
0:15:20 > 0:15:23# Come on, come on
0:15:25 > 0:15:27# Be a nobody. #
0:15:27 > 0:15:31What is central to all of this is that you have people making
0:15:31 > 0:15:33amazing music, and that's what we have.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35I'm sure we had people making amazing music in the '80s and
0:15:35 > 0:15:38'90s, but it feels like we have so many more people doing that now.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40That might be a technological thing,
0:15:40 > 0:15:43it might be that the climate in Northern Ireland has changed
0:15:43 > 0:15:47but, more than anything, we have more bands than ever before making
0:15:47 > 0:15:49amazing music and that's always
0:15:49 > 0:15:51going to be the most important thing.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:15:53 > 0:15:58Welcome to the glorious Ulster Hall and happy birthday Across The Line!
0:15:58 > 0:16:02And amazing music was central to the show's 30th anniversary concert
0:16:02 > 0:16:05in - where else? - Belfast's Ulster Hall.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09# G-L-O-R-I-A
0:16:09 > 0:16:11# Gloria!
0:16:11 > 0:16:13# G-L-O-R-I-A!
0:16:13 > 0:16:15CROWD: # Gloria!
0:16:15 > 0:16:17# Gonna shout it all night!
0:16:17 > 0:16:20# CROWD: Gloria!
0:16:20 > 0:16:22# Gonna shout it every day!
0:16:22 > 0:16:24# Gloria!
0:16:24 > 0:16:27# Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. #
0:16:36 > 0:16:38HE EXHALES
0:16:38 > 0:16:40It's hard work being a rhythm and blues legend.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42LAUGHTER
0:16:42 > 0:16:46It's a glorious stage and it looks incredible around you
0:16:46 > 0:16:50and you knew at least a quarter of the people in the audience,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54and the love was so substantial you could really feel it.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59And to be able to kind of see people like Soak and even 4 Of Us,
0:16:59 > 0:17:01their first time on the stage at the Ulster Hall.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07# We don't stay out all night like we used to do
0:17:08 > 0:17:14# Painting the town red till the sky turns blue
0:17:14 > 0:17:18# My eyes still dance when I look at you
0:17:19 > 0:17:23# Come walk along with me. #
0:17:23 > 0:17:28The first time we played the Ulster Hall, we saw that as an added bonus.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30# The hot summers past... #
0:17:30 > 0:17:32It's my favourite venue in Belfast,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36so to have a chance to stand up on stage where I watched
0:17:36 > 0:17:38Joe Jackson do his Look Sharp tour,
0:17:38 > 0:17:44or Stiff Little Fingers with I think it was Phil Lynott in 1980.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49It was a bucket list moment to play the Ulster Hall, really.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53To be part of the celebration with such amazing acts, as well,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56and to do it with Across The Line, and feel that we were
0:17:56 > 0:17:59a part of their story was an honour.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02# We don't stay out all night like we used to do. #
0:18:03 > 0:18:07Well, the 30-year event, the call came through and we said yes
0:18:07 > 0:18:09straightaway before we even knew who else was playing.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11Our manager said, "They're putting something together.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15"We're not sure who else is on," and we just came straight back and said yes.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18# Last night Jackie Chan came round
0:18:18 > 0:18:20# I played pool with him and we hung out
0:18:20 > 0:18:25# Mr Miyagi and the X-Men came in for a while as well. #
0:18:25 > 0:18:29Just said, "If any other gigs come in, we're not doing it, we're doing this."
0:18:29 > 0:18:31That was how important it was to us.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34# Oh, Daniel San made in Taiwan
0:18:34 > 0:18:36# Come on Jackie Chan Uh uh uh uh uh oh! #
0:18:39 > 0:18:40Come on, Belfast!
0:18:45 > 0:18:48These days, new Irish music is all over the internet.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51It's no longer difficult to make your tunes available to
0:18:51 > 0:18:52potential audiences.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56So do we still even need Across The Line?
0:18:56 > 0:18:59There's incredible value for me to people who give new music a chance.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01There's not enough of that in the world.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03There's not enough people taking risks.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07If there isn't curation, then you don't have a point of view,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10and if you don't have a point of view, you don't have a movement.
0:19:10 > 0:19:15There's so much noise that a sort of filter is more important now
0:19:15 > 0:19:18than ever, and really that's all Across The Line ever was.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21And...hopefully will continue to be.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24To have such a thriving sort of local scene,
0:19:24 > 0:19:26it doesn't happen by accident, you know.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28You have to actually work at it,
0:19:28 > 0:19:32and things like Across The Line are how that happens.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35Across The Line has done an extraordinary job.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39It has encouraged music, you know, from the immediate vicinity
0:19:39 > 0:19:42of Northern Ireland, but also on the island as a whole.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45There's so much music out there,
0:19:45 > 0:19:49you can't possibly listen to it all, and I think it's necessary to
0:19:49 > 0:19:53have someone that you trust to give you an overview of what's happening.
0:19:53 > 0:19:59Long may Across The Line reign. Long may it reign. It's necessary.
0:19:59 > 0:20:00And awesome.