Two weddings in a weekend, an open mic and a trip to Portlaoise!
Part 1 of 3 - Ballybunion
I'd been looking forward to this for a good while and while the trip to Ballybunion for an after-ceremony party on the Saturday had been booked for a while, the Day 2 celebration in Tipperary had been somewhat of a last minute addition to the calendar as the couple celebrating had been let down and came through to me on Instagram, which luckily I was around to help with!
The journey down to Kerry from Galway down the M7 and passing through Limerick was not particularly noteworthy, however once on the M69 past Tarbert the views of the sea and countryside were fantastic. It's a real perk of the job to do so much travelling through the beautiful Irish countryside and when comparing it to a lot of the scenery in England which at times can feel like endless flat and boring farmland, one feels rather lucky to never be too far away from stunning views.
Arriving in Ballybunion and the usual pain in the arse parking experience and unloading what at times feels like more gear than U2 (what can I say, everything I do has to feel like a real gig!) I was greeted by another charming Irish pub, the owner greeting me with a friendly handshake while also offering the usual manager's advice of keeping the volume to a university library level, I smiled politely and thanked him - wondering if he'd ever been to a gig or a party.
I met with the bride and groom who were absolutely charming but understandably nervous about dinner arrangements and the first dance. We talked through the first dance directions and went through requests as I got set up and did a quick sound check. I also remembered the time I was booked last minute for a birthday party and upon arriving, enthusiastically wished happy birthday to the wrong person who I then proceeded to ask about their taste in music, how long I should play for and where I should set up. They didn't bother to put me right and it took me about another hour to realise the actual birthday celebrant was one of the quiet guests hiding in the background.
As it happened, unusually the groom was from England and in this case Birmingham which is near enough my neck of the woods so we had a good laugh about 'back home' but otherwise left them to handle the dinner and hung around while waiting for thing to kick off. It was actually my first time to play the on the day ceremony, as usually bands play the wedding evening and a solo or duo would do the day 2, but thing went well with the kids up and joining the first few dances, no one falling over and everyone getting stuck in for a bit of a sing and a dance! I took a little breather and after a second set of pop and rock, managed to be convinced that the crowd in from the Midlands hadn't gone to bed yet and to come back for an encore of 'We'll Live & Die in These Towns' which was heartily belted out by the lads followed by a couple of requests for Johnny Cash. Finally it was time to call it a night around midnight after staying around an extra hour or so to do a DJ set. The drive home was hard work - I tried to have a nap in the car near Tarbert but in the end I managed to find a coffee and a bite to eat to make it home around 4am. Here's a clip of a bit of the singing at the end but I should be able to add a few more from the night once I get the videos.
Part 2 of 3 - Cloughjordan
The next day, it was time to head out of Galway and across the M6 (again) towards the southern Midlands and Tipperary and at under 2 hours, felt like one of the shorter trips! I arrived at the charming Cloughjordan House - which looked like a farm converted into a wedding venue/hotel with the guests eating inside a tiki hut. Initially there was some discussion whether to play inside or outside with the lovely blue skies and warm weather but
after being knocked back by the manager due to previous noise complaints from the local residents and setting up inside, I ended up setting up outside anyway at the bride's request and using a small PA the hotel owned - I didn’t bother dragging any of my pedals back outside as it had already taken forever to set up inside, decided that ‘fully acoustic’ would be the way to go!
I played about 45 minutes solo and as requested by the married couple, the Groom’s father, an accomplished trad guitarist took over for a bit and ran a sort of impromptu open mic for the guests, which was a bit of a first for me! Without much to do for the meantime, I wandered off for a beer and a bit of pizza before coming back to play another hour of off the cuff covers as well as a memorable version of “Poor Paddy on the Railway’ with a hilariously drunk Uncle. We decided to finish up after Uncle Justin's cameo and after a quick final rendition of ‘Tell Me Ma’ - we called it a night. I'm glad we decided to keep the music outside and it almost felt like a mini music festival!
It took absolutely forever to pack up but once I was on the road I was grateful to find a coffee in a little village just outside Portumna to keep me awake (again) for the journey home. See the clip below for an idea of what it all sounded like!
Part 3 of 3 - Portlaoise
A couple of weeks following the trip to Tipperary came my first chance to play a show in Portlaoise, which was brilliant as i've family nearby and was able to catch up with them before the show. This time the event was a 70th birthday party which had been booked for by the family and the pub itself, Jeremiah Grant's, looked like an old American style steakhouse. They'd booked the function room upstairs which was a cosy little room which in many respects are the best places to play when you're a solo artist as many people in a small room creates a warm sound as opposed to huge halls where the music can sound quite thin unless it's full. I kicked things off with an acoustic version of 'September' and then into the rock and roll numbers which got the parents up dancing with the kids.
The multi colour par lighting really holds it's own in a small room and I was able to fill the room (or at least the ceiling!) with colour as everyone danced to the cheesy classics (my absolute favourites to play!) - in the YMCA medley and a couple of ABBA hits, some Cher and finally winding down with Sweet Caroline, which is a nice way to show people you've finshed for the night although it can be quite funny to start with that just for a laugh!
The family were absolutley charming and I spent as much time as I could meeting and getting to know everyone and having some delicious cake before it became impossible to stay any longer or i'd be seeing the sun come up on my way home! I hope to be back to Portlaoise again some time as it's quite a charming place and at just over 2 hours drive, not too bad to get to from Furbo. Couple of vids below of the action on the night!
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