Bagatelle – the band that inspired U2 and shared the stage with Bob Marley will play Vicar Street, Dublin on the 19^th of January 2020 for a trip down memory lane as they enter their 42^nd year in show business.

Bagatelle travelled far and wide, bringing their music to audiences in Europe, America, the Middle East and China, as well as in Ireland. Their hit Second Violin was such a success in Uruguay that it's still played there today. Over the years the band has had various changes of members but its current line-up: Liam Reilly pianist and lead vocalist, Ken Doyle on bass, drummer Seánie Devitt and lead guitarist Kurt Schefter, continue to travel and bring all the hits on the road.

The band, led by the superb piano playing and songwriting ability of front man Liam Reilly, broke up for a while but reformed in 1992. Since then they have been performing non-stop. The lads have come a long way since the early days. Bagatelle have shared the stage with the likes of Bob Marley, Van Morrison, U2, Thin Lizzy, Don McLean and The Pogues. Their ballad Flight of Earls has become one of the most popular Irish emigration songs, while their 1978 hit Summer in Dublin has become one of Irish rock's iconic songs.

Bagatelle was just a band, playing a few songs with no plan and no real expectation. They just got together to play a few songs and drink a few beers because they liked music. The success over the years was simply a happy accident. They were playing in a small stone cellar venue in Dublin when they were approached afterwards by John Woods, then managing director of Polygram Records who treated them to a burger, chips and Coke after their gig and then offered them a record deal. Ken Doyle remembers John Woods saying to him “there was four lovely young lads came into my office from Dublin and they said to me if you give us a chance, we could be as big as Bagatelle. That was U2”, laughs Ken…