We hope that your New Year brings more great shows, talented casts, great musicians and most importantly - great craic! We look forward to being behind the mixing desk for you again in 2012.

The skydive is being arranged by Skydive Ireland who will prepare and train all the jumpers before they hit the skies! The cost of the dive has already been covered by Eoin, so every cent of donations will go directly to Temple Street. It is a fantastic cause, and any support would be greatly appreciated.

Please consider making a donation through mycharity.ie as this money will get to the charity quickly and safely. Or else feel free to nab Eoin at a gig where he will be carrying a sponsorship card at all times!

AMP Sound Systems would like to wish Eoin the very best as he falls from the sky, and would like to sincerely thank everyone who makes a donation!

Donate online – click here

And we hope that your New Year brings more great shows, talented casts, great musicians and most importantly - great craic! We look forward to being behind the mixing desk for you again in 2011.

This means that we have equipment and engineers available this week. If you have been let down by your sound company due to the adverse weather conditions, or are a sound hire company yourself and need us to cover one of your gigs, please do not hesitate to give us a ring on (01) 524 2720 and hopefully we will be able to help you out.

Thanks to Eoin at AMP Systems for providing a wonderful sound system for our party in Solas, Dublin. He braved a snow blizzard to get it out to us, so I really appreciate their dedication to their clients. He was always friendly, helpful, and flexible.

Thanks again!

– Louise Bernstein

You can now reach us at (01) 524 2720.

We have also implemented a live chat system in case you have any queries that you need instantly answered. You will find the chat in the bottom right of all pages on our website.

And why not take this opportunity to update your address book with all our contact details?

Office: (01) 524 2720
Mobile: (086) 0606 226
Website: http://ampsoundsystems.com
Email contact: http://ampsoundsystems.com/contact-us
Live Chat: Any page on our website!

Congratulations to Eoin Dixon Murphy who won our recent competition for a pair of Electric Picnic tickets! Eoin’s review received 335 votes.

Hope you enjoyed the weekend Eoin, and thanks for entering the competition!

Here is the winning review:

Stevie Wonder, The o2, 24th of June 2010

As I awoke early on a sunny Thursday in June, I knew it was going to be a long and interesting day. Today was the day my Dad was getting married for the second time, and also the day of the much anticipated Stevie Wonder concert. It’s obvious to say that I was much more excited about the latter.

“How can you go to both?” my friends asked. I wasn’t sure, but I knew I couldn’t miss either. I accidentally found out my Dad was getting remarried a couple of months before he officially told me, so in keeping with our relationship’s secrecy, I decided not to tell him that I was bailing half way through the ceremony to head to the gig. I thought it would be much easier to do if I kept it a secret until a few days beforehand. It would at least buy me some time, and it seemed only fair. The plan was to arrive, have dinner, converse with relatives and then hop in a taxi to The o2. The wedding was being held in Merrion Square, so it seemed fairly possible to do both. Either way, seeing Stevie Wonder perform was a once in a life time experience, it had to be done. It’s not like my Dad hadn’t been married before!

However Stevie wasn’t the only musical act I was going to witness that day, as we all know that with weddings comes the dreaded wedding band. Yet I didn’t know what to think because in this case it wasn’t your typical performer. A long time friend of my Dad, Paul Harrington, volunteered to play. For those of you who are unfirmiliar with this man, Paul won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland back in 1994 with the hit “Rock N Roll Kid”. The question I asked myself was “What’s cheesier, the Eurovision or wedding bands?”. To my surprise he was actually quite good, and invited me up on stage to perform a few songs with his band. His trio consisted of keys, guitar and drums, playing an array of classics and ultimately producing an impressive and powerful sound.

Realising the time, I downed my drink and headed for the door. Staying in my suit and arriving at The o2 looking slick was probably the best idea I’d had all day. A passerby commented saying that my brother and I looked as if we were in the mafia. I’m yet to decide whether this was a good thing or not. We found our seats, and everything was going perfectly. There was no support act, so this meant an extra long show of Wonder. The lights dimmed, and Stevie appeared on stage.

Thirty seconds into it and I was already impressed. He’d managed to walk up the little side steps, across the stage and find his seat at his piano without any help. Just incase you didn’t know… he’s blind. This was followed by a string of hits both old and new – from his 1968 hit classic “For Once In My Life” to his later 1984 ballad “I Just Called To Say I Love You”. A nice touch was his cover of the Michael Jackson song “Human Nature”, as he preformed it as a dedication to The King of Pop on the eve of the first anniversary of his death.

Backed by a massive band (which consisted of guitarists, a drummer, a bass player, percussionists, sax players, keyboard players and backing singers.) his performance lived up to my expectations. He produced hit after hit and had the crowd calling out for more, chanting “Stevie, Stevie!” at every short moment of silence. He captivated the audience with every riff, and proved that even at the age of 60, he’s still got the “funk”.

As the gig came to an end, I was left awestruck and satisfied. With a setlist of 24 songs, Stevie gave a magnificent performance of all. His voice was sublime and definitely stood the test of time, and his ability to jump between four different instruments throughout was inspiring. His talent was truly mesmerizing.

I can definitely say that skipping out on my Dad’s wedding to see one of my favorite artists of all time was well worth it. Let’s just hope he’s still married the next time Stevie’s in town!

• Go to the AMP Sound Systems Facebook page.
• Find the review you would like to vote for. It should look something like this:

• Click the link to view the entry. Or visit the post here to read them all. Click “Like” to vote for this person’s review.

NOTE: Only posts containing “NAME’s gig review for our Electric Picnic Competition” can be used to vote on.

If you would like to enter our competition to win a pair of Electric Picnic tickets, then visit this post!

From new shipments of equipment, to how we got around problems at gigs, this section should keep you up to date on the professionalism and enthusiasm of our staff, crew and sound engineers.