Sliotar

I thought I would not write one more week, but last week kinda ended up being part of the tour anyway. So here we go.
  Sliotar got home on Monday night. The trip home from the Folk woods was fine. Ferry from Zeebruge to Hull (Entertainment P&O, Entertainment!). Then we drove cross north of England and in to Wales. Ferry from Holyhead to Dublin. We had very mixed feelings when we got back. It was great to see the loved ones, sleep in our own beds, wash our clothes... But at the same time, there is a little part of you that just wants to keep going.
  But a quick remedy for that came on Friday morning. Early out off bed and off to the airport. 8.10am Ryanair flight to Frankfurt-Hann. Sliotar was on their way to Zweibrucken Folk and Rock festival. After a comfortable flight, and a rough landing (it felt like the plane just dropped last two meters straight down and hit the runway, we needed few minutes to stop shaking) we were in Hann. Here we had a rental car waiting for us. Now as many of you know, Des is our driver most of the time, and very good one as well. But he is also bit of a car enthusiast. And in the home of Mercedes, what did he get to drive? Fiat punto! Oh we laughed... except Des. "Your not telling any one about this one"
   So we hit the road once again, and hour and half later we arrived in to Zweibrucken. One of our favorite sound men Spider met us at the stage. As we hadn't seen each other for a year, there was lots of caching up and jokes to tell. Soon Bernard came along, he is the boss of the festival, and a wonderful pub in Zweibrucken called Killarney. I don't think we ever walked out of the door of the pub sober...
   Bernard had organized everything just perfect. Quick check in to the accommodation, then off to pick up our equipment. Our fellow musician and a good friend Michael Wack (Check out Blues Himmel) gave us a lend of Drums and guitar amp, as this kind of stuff just wont fit in to budget airlines weight restrictions. We have dealt with lots of rental equipment over the years, and it was great to see that Michael had good drums and a great guitar amp:-) I want your bass man Michael!;-)
  Now the festival is on the town square just outside the court houses, so we had to keep the volume to reasonable level until 5pm. But as Spider is a professional of the highest degree, we managed to do the sound check early. So off for a cup off coffee and watch the world go by.
  After Bernards Delicious burger, and few pints of the black stuff, Sliotar was ready. And from 9pm till midnight Sliotar rocked the Zweibrucken town square. The after party went once again till not so small hours of next morning. Great concert, great party, what more can you ask? Thank you Bernard, and we will be back in Zweibrugen next year:-)
  7.30am Saturday morning. J.P. and Des wake up in panic... We slept through two alarms... So we dragged Ray out of his bed, ran to the car and hit the road. Our flight was at 9.40am and its about hour and half drive to Frankfurt_Hann. As some of you know, Ryanairs check in stops 40 minutes before flight, with no exceptions. Fiat Punto was put to test on German motorways. Des is thinking of writing a congratulations letter to Fiat;-) But we got to the airport at 9.10 (Road works on the motorway had closed our exit and we ended up taking an extra detour...) and the only way we could got on the plane would have been us leaving J.P.s guitar and Des's cymbals behind...
   So we had a concert in Dublin at 4.30pm and again at 7.30pm and here we were in Frankfurt-Hann. Next flight to Dublin, Sunday 6.30pm... And we only had limited amount cash with us... So put it nicely, we were screwed! But Ray noticed there was another flight to Kerry in three hours. So we ran to the Ryanair desk, and the lovely lady promised to put us on the waiting list, if there were cancellations and she could do this for a small amendment fee of €100 per person (better than buying a new ticket for double of the price). So at this point we realized there was no way Sliotar would make it in to the Porterhouse on Saturday... But a phone call to a good friend of our Alan Doherty was all it took and the gig was covered:-) Thanks once again Alan!
  So 45mins before the flight we were told that we are on the Kerry flight. So quick check in, and through the security. Now I am going to make a small point here: for any one working in the airport security any where in the world. If you come across Uilleann pipes, and the owner tells you it is a very delicate instrument, please be gentle!
  And we were on the plane on our way to Kerry. Two hours later we landed in the south west corner of Ireland, lovely part of the country, but still far away from home. There would have been a flight to Dublin, but the ticket price was out of this world. So bus it was. First two hours to Limerick, change of Bus and another three and half hours to Dublin. I can't remember when last time it was so good to see Wellington monument appearing in the distance. Our quick flight home had turned out to be over twelve hour journey. And we could only blame our selves.
  Next day we finally got back to the Porterhouse after six weeks. And it was good to be home! It was a busy night and Sliotar shook the house once again.
  So this is the end of our tour Blog this time. It has been, well mixed bag... The head casket was an expensive start to our tour and at the end of it all we just about broke even. But we had wonderful concerts all around Europe. We felt the love of our audiences, and we were completely swept away by it as well. So this is not the end, just a set back. We will be back!
Now back in Dublin things are tough. I think the pubs have been hit hard, and the Music unfortunately is the first expense to go. For the month of September Sliotar will be only playing Saturdays in the Porterhouse from 8-10pm, Sunday is still normal 6-8 and 9-11.20pm. Also we will be playing four Mondays in the Leeson Lounge, just over the Leeson street bridge starting from 7th of September. It is becoming a great little venue, in the hands of Paul Thomas. So come along, we start around 9.30pm. If it goes well, it might end up being a regular thing. Pint of Beamish €3.50! Now there's a recession buster for you!