IT'A A WONDERFUL WITNNESS!

SPARKLEHORSE are headlining the inaugural WITNNESS RISING tour.

Following the success of the Rising Stage at the first ever Witnness festival in Dublin last year, a tour preceding this year's festival will visit four cities in Ireland, with a bill that features , Ed Harcourt and newcomers Gemma Hayes and Pat McMellow.

The Witnness promoters are furthering their attempt to bring the grassroots of Irish music to the public by planning four more tours to be completed by the end of June 2002.

Budding artists are invited to visit www.witnness.com/rising.

"It doesn't matter what your sound is," the website states, "[but] you'll need to get your act together because you may be playing support to headliner artists on forthcoming tours, and we'll create your very own webpage. We have 50 artist webpages on this site...we're waiting to fill them."

The Sparklehorse tour calls at:
Belfast, The Empire (June 27)
Galway, The Warwick (28)
Cork, The Savoy Theatre (29)
Dublin, Whelans (30, 2pm and 7.30pm).