Ireland 2000I think this was my 3rd time in Ireland and second full tour. I messed up at the beginning because I thought there was a ferry everyday from Roscoff to Cork but it turned out that it's only one per week and the return is the same so that kinda threw my agent and myself off a little in regards the booking. I ended up staying for a few more days then I wanted (I was there 13 days and played 8 shows) but I had a good time nevertheless and made some new friends during those off days which I spent in Cork.
I rented a car and once again drove myself around (always on the left side of course) but only one drive was a long one and that that was just 6 hours (Derry-Arklow). Ireland is not such a big place. I must say that the biggest drawback of being there was having to face the traffic everyday. It is simply horrible to be honest with you. There has been a huge influx of money into this island nation recently and I think everybody went out and bought cars first thing. There is really no room for them. The majority of roads are small, two laned (barely), poorly signed and badly maintained. Dangerous too as you can imagine with all of that traffic, speed and new drivers. You definitely have to keep your attention firmly in place! Of course I was there in August and that is the height of tourist season so to be fair it was a little worse than normal but believe me it's never really good there these days I'm sure. Ireland would be the perfect country to put a light rail system in but of course no one's listening to me about the subject. So... I do love playing here though mostly.
By that qualifier I mean that some Irish audiences can be brutally loud and I always seem to have to play a couple of those rooms on these tours. Really, I don't like being ignored and you can feel like your one inch tall at the end of those kinds of gigs. There are just so many musicians in Ireland (and good ones too) that often times they are just taken for granted, background noise to fill the silences while your talking with your friends etc. And the funny thing is that those audiences will even pay a few quid at the door even when they have no intention of listening! The good shows really make the not so good nights worth doing though. People have a great sense of humor, really enjoy and appreciate a good song and know and understand good musicianship when they see it.
Highlights of this little tour for me were "The Bursted Sofa" in Clones, "Westwood Bar" in Arklow, "The Lobby" in Cork and "The Pine Lodge" in Myrtleville. My deepest thank-yous to those owners and audiences that supported me and those venues. Ireland is really a lovely country in the summer time and although it was not hot while I was there the rain was warm and the sun did shine. I especially enjoyed my drive through County Wicklow! As always the Guiness is great and worth waiting for. That's right. After drinking the real stuff in Ireland I have quite drinking it in other countries but prefer to delay my pleasure until my return. See you in the springtime my Irish friends.
