The first show was Limerick. July 16. How often do I get to sleep in my own bed after a concert? Not very often,let me tell you! I knew the night before that it was announced about it so I was told to sit on it till then,which knowing me is very hard to do! I took one of my best friends to it. It was his first show and I had him well briefed on the event that was about to occur. The vibe around town was great. Everyone enjoying themselves,no guff,well apart from some fella that had waited 25 years to year a specific song live and let the babbling couple beside him know exactly that. Oh and he had his arm up like he was ready to command a militia or ready to pull the horn on an 18 wheeler for the bones of the night,but hey,thats his thing. Did I mention I was interviewed on the Last Word with Matt Cooper before and the day after the gig? Yup,that really happened. Normally when you're on The Last Word two days running you've caused a storm in the church or you've financially ruined a country. I don't think I'm guilty of either so yay,go me!!
Then there was Cork. I really wanted Cork to be great. I'm half a Corkman for goodness sake,and am very proud of that fact. Everyone on Mam's side seem to have similar sense of humour to me - or else they love being wound up,whatever comes first. I hadn't been there in God knows how long so there was a yearning to go back,even if it was in essence a day trip. Mam and Dad were going to a wedding in Cork the same day so it made perfect sense to go with them and meet them in the hotel bar afterwards not reeking of Heineken,right? That's what happened,I did keep it PG - no slurred warblings,just calm and composed drinking Heineken out of a glass this time as opposed to a plastic cup.
I hadn't been to Pairc Ui Choaimh in a good twenty years. I had gone with Dad to that match and we talked about it briefly on the way down. Getting there was fine. But once down there,the organisation of the place was a write off. You want a drink? Hey,no problem! See that van? You go there and buy a drinks voucher. Then you take that drink voucher and go to the other van to swap it for drink. Can you see how this process went? Yup,disastrously. Security giving pit passes to their buddies after they saying they were all gone. I heard the toilets closed at one point. I could be wrong in that but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if it was true. The gig was great,just the setup was a let down. And then there was getting out! No lights going out of the place meant you could trip very very easily. I didn't but saw a few trip over potholes. Summary - great show,bad organisation/ logistics. Stadium needs a Wrecking Ball! (Sorry Corcaigh you know I heart you,really)!
Then we had Kilkenny the following weekend so I had some time to come back down to earth from the previous two. This was going to be different for a plethora of reasons - first,I had never been to Kilkenny. Second - I was bringing my better half to the show (her first Boss experience) so was secretly hoping she'd see what all the fuss was about that had me traipsing across Europe to see him at one point. All my fears were allayed really quickly as she loved it and like most first-timers,is now hooked. She even has the back catalogue now which I'm very very happy with! Plus it didn't rain which helped! Thumbs down to the guy sniffing white substances off the back of his hand though. Yup,sadly that was going on.
So all in all,each gig had its own little subplot. Personally,Limerick for me on the whole was the better of the lot,no bias,but just everything was just right. Weather,organisation,logistics. Kilkenny a very close second (I better say that!) and Cork bringing up the rest. You can't have it perfect all the time,I suppose! Here's to the next shows!!
No comments:
Post a Comment