“Give him a ball and a yard of grass” as Cork’s beloved sons,The Sultans of Ping,play their only summer festival show in Ireland with a special one night only performance at the Night and Day Festival on Saturday, June 28th, 2025.
Originally formed in Cork in 1988 by Niall O’Flaherty, Pat O’Connell, Paul Fennelly and Ger Lyons, Sultans of Ping FC came to the attention of the Irish and UK music press, when ‘Where’s Me Jumper’ a wonderfully absurd slice of guitar driven indie-pop, crashed into the charts in 1992
A series of brilliant singles followed supported by the band’s riotous live show, memorable dress sense and an intelligent, coverage-friendly wit which saw the band sign to Epic Records and release their irresistible and iconic debut album, Casual Sex In The Cineplex.
The Sultans’ star burned brightly for several years, releasing subsequent albums Teenage Drug (including the classic ‘Michiko’) and Good Year for Trouble,
The band went their separate ways in 1997 after having left an indelible mark on Irish and UK indie.
The band reformed as The Sultans of Ping in 2005 amid rising interest in the band again
In Ireland Today FM listeners voted “Where’s me Jumper” as the 2nd best Irish song of all time where only U2 received more votes than the Sultans
The band’s music has turned up on ‘Moone Boy’ and ‘The Young Offenders’ amongst other TV series and ‘Give Him a Ball’ is the theme track for well-known Irish Sports Podcast ‘Off The Ball’
The Sultans have continued to play live sporadically since they reformed and in 2023 they played two sell-out shows at Cork Opera House in celebration of their debut LP as well as a sell-out show in London
Speaking about their upcoming show at the festival drummer Morty McCarthy says ’ the band have only ever played one gig in Roscommon which was way back in 2007 at the Mantua Festival so we are really looking forward to playing at Night and Day’
The Sultans will be playing all the hits from their acclaimed debut LP ‘Casual Sex in the Cineplex’ – ‘Veronica’, ‘Stupid Kid’, ‘U talk too Much’ and of course the classic ‘Where’s me Jumper’ as well as a whole host of other tracks from the band’s back catalogue
