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Delorentos



Last Updated: 6/15/2009

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Status: Single
City: Dublin, Ireland
State: Dublin
Country: IE
Signup Date: 2/22/2005

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Thursday, June 11, 2009 

Current mood:  adventurous
Hey,

In anticipation of the release of You Can Make Sound in the Autumn, Jenny Huston invited us into studio 8 in RTE this week to perform some songs and have a chat.
We even recorded a version of ultra new track "Cut you out of photographs" exclusively for the session.

If you'd like to hear what went down, listen in to Jenny's show on 2fm at 10.30pm, tomorrow Friday.

For more info you can also check out the 2fm website through www.rte.ie

later,

Ró
delorento



3:44 PM 
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Monday, May 11, 2009 

Current mood:  artistic
Category: Music

Heya,

So we've spent the last couple of weeks re-setting up our practice space, playing the songs and getting on our feet for the summer and beyond. The gigs at the weekend were nerve-wracking but great, thanks to everyone who turned out and jumped about, hope you enjoyed. :)

As we're continuing, we're not going to rush out the album in May, We're going to hold off to the end of the summer and give it the attention it deserves. So instead, we're going to give away a free download of the title track from the album from our site.

Anyway,
hopefully we'll see you at some of the gigs this weekend in Dundalk, Limerick and Cork, and next weekend in Galway and Dublin. Tickets are still available for everywhere (except the second dublin gig on the 23rd). (you can get tickets here)

See you soon!,
Delo's

Please click here for updates...

Currently listening:
Tour De Hearts
Release date: 2008-06-03
1:00 PM 
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Tuesday, April 21, 2009 

Current mood:  optimistic
Category: Music
Hi, 

I'm writing to let you know that about a week ago I asked the other delorentos if they'd consider allowing me rejoin the group. After several good chats we've decided to continue on, together. 

As mentioned in our blog in December, 2008 was a difficult year for all sorts of reasons. 

I realise now that I didn't cope very well with these. I guess you could say I discovered the true meaning of the phrase 'difficult second album'. 

As bizarre and exciting as the period following the release of "In Love with Detail" was, I found the subsequent hibernation to write the next record, as
well as some personal traumas, hard to deal with, to the extent that I felt I could no longer continue.  

Had the band not felt compelled to record the songs we had been working on, I would not have had an opportunity to rethink my decision.
It's a cliche, but I took those closest to me for granted. In studio I was reminded of the reasons I first got so excited about this group and it also afforded us the time to talk and see delorentos and ourselves from a different perspective.

I'd like to apologise to all our friends. The dramatic press release a couple of months back, was in hindsight premature, but we wanted to be open and honest about what was going on. 

I'm grateful to Níal, Kieran and Ross for their friendship and understanding and I'm very excited at the prospect of playing our new songs for you, 

Thank you, 
Ró.

Ps. If anyone having purchased tickets for the shows in May, has any issues please contact us here

Please click here for updates...

Currently reading:
How the Reformation Happened
By Hilaire Belloc
6:12 PM 
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009 

Current mood:  sad
Category: Music
We've got some sad news.

It's with a very heavy heart that we have to let you know that Ronan has decided to leave the band. He feels its best for him to move on and do other things. The three of us will still be making music and will let you know about what happens next.

As our songs always came from the four of us playing together we've also decided that it wouldn't feel right to continue "delorentos" without him.

We're all very proud of the songs we've written over the last year, we feel they're some of the best we've ever done, and as a result we're determined not to discard them or let them go.

Next month, the four of us are going to record this album together and plan on making it something we'll all be proud of. It'll be our last collection of songs as delorentos, and we hope you'll like them.

We want to thank everyone that's supported us since we started, and all the friends we made along the way, we'd never have gotten this far without you. We hope to play a gig or two to say goodbye.

We'll be in touch soon with more details. 

Ross, Níal and Kieran and Ro.

(please click here to be updated on the album)

11:43 AM 
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Monday, December 15, 2008 

Current mood:  catalyzed
Category: Music
Heylo, hi, hallo,

Lots of people have been mailing and asking what's going on with us and when any new music is going to be released, so we decided to write a note and let you know what's been going on.

Well, we've had a pretty crazy year.

With the success of our album and some great gigs in Europe and America, we had several approaches from people who wanted to work with us.

Most of this came to nothing and we moved ahead with our own plans to release our album independently in the UK this autumn.

Then after our last Dublin show, in the Academy in June, things took a turn.

We were contacted by a new label with significant financial backing who, having seen us perform wanted us to be the first act on their roster. Over wining and dining they spoke of launching the band in the UK and America, No.1 albums, world domination etc. We've always been careful, cynical even, when it comes to record companies, but this chance (so rare these days) seemed too good to pass up.

We'd started preliminary sessions for the album during the summer, writing and rehearsing songs. These sessions were disrupted by the excitement of our "big break", followed by anxiety as negotiations dragged on. We've had our own worries and there were times when we looked at each other and wondered if we could keep going with no money, no stability and the feeling that our future was out of our hands.

Five months later, at the beginning of November and having agreed a contract (excluding Ireland), we heard from the label that due to a problem with financing, our deal would no longer be going ahead.  Since then Pinnacle, our distribution company has gone into administration, and our plan to release the album independently in the UK went with it. These are strange times for everyone, and for us in the music industry there has been a lot of uncertainty.  It just happened that our opportunity coincided with this extraordinary time.


But since it all fell through things have changed, and we have turned a corner. Once again, as ever, the music has helped us regroup. We've found the sense of freedom and optimism in just writing good songs.

We started this band with wide-eyed optimism; all that mattered was writing, performing and enjoying it. Somewhere down the line we got distracted by the "Industry", and with that came complications. We've done things our own way and didn't think we'd get burned like so many other bands.

But we took a risk, and we'd do it again, because that's what musicians have to do.

With another 4 or 5 still to write, we have about 20 new songs, a lot of them reflecting our lives, reminding us what's important. Over the past few weeks we've played some shows under different band names, opening for other bands and playing our new songs to people just arriving into venues, it's been a good experience.


We spent this weekend in Portrane recording demos of our new stuff, and you know, it's been pretty great. Out of all the turmoil have emerged some of the best songs we've written. We're not moaning, we're not bitter; we're not going to worry. All that matters is the songs. All that matters is playing them and All that matters is that we're making music we love and we hope will stir something in other people. It looks like our second album is going to be called "You Can Make Sound".


We hope we can play it for you in the New Year.

Thank you for listening.

Please click here for updates....

in the mean time, we've stuck up a Christmas song for fun and hope you've a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Níal, Kier, Ro and Ross

Delorentos

Currently listening:
Christmas in Ireland: The Little Dublin Singers (Carols Sung in English and Gaelic)
1:58 PM 
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Monday, June 02, 2008 

Current mood:  blessed
Category: Music

Hiya...

Hope you're well and you're getting the sun.... For the past few months we have spending most days writing new songs in our practice space in Portrane, ocassionally playing a gig or two...

(you can see our practice space, by the way, in Sinead Gleeson's excellent blog below) 

http://www.sineadgleeson.com/blog/2008/02/08/musical-rooms-part-11-delorentos/ 

It's a pretty slow process but we're starting to get somewhere, writing the new songs that will (hopefully) make their way onto our 2nd album! 

We have a couple of big announcements (which you may or may not have already heard):  

We are playing the Academy in Dublin this June 27th

www.theacademydublin.com (picture from 2050)

This is our first Dublin gig since the Ambassador in December -We haven't been playing as many gigs as usual while we concentrate on writing the next album…we're really looking forward to this one.

(We may even get a chance to try out a few of the new songs live) 

…Tickets are €20, and you can get them from here: 

http://www.ticketmaster.ie/event/180040A8E9D44658?artistid=953015&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=60 

Support is from these excellent bands: 

The Kinetics - www.myspace.com/kinetiks1 
The Gorgeous Colours - http://www.thegorgeouscolours.com 
 

Aside from the occasional gig during the summer (in Limerick, Galway and Cork), we'll be playing the Oxegen Festival on Sunday July 13th, between Lightspeed Champion and MGMT, it should be Brilliant! 

Thanks for all the comments and messages about our last tour blog, we had a great time in The States (after all the drama with immigration, flu and whatnot).

When we came back from Texas we travelled on to Italy, and you can see some footage of our last Italian tour (made by our good friend Gouj) on our MUZU site www.muzu.tv  

[Muzu is a new website that encourages bands to put videos and pictures that aren't available anywhere else. We'll be updating it regularly with videos, blogs, pictures and some other stuff.]

In the meantime we have put some of the best videos we have so far, so keep an eye on it; a few people on our message board have already signed up: 

http://delorentos.proboards43.com/index.cgi?board=music&action=display&thread=206 

(also there's a signup for Euro 2008 fantasy football in the "football thread" if you think you can beat Ross...)

Anyhow, please keep contacting us while we're spending this time writing (it's nice to get some contact from the outside world!)  

Níal

+ Ross, Ro and Kieran

click here for updates...

11:20 PM 
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Wednesday, April 02, 2008 

Current mood:  amused
Category: Music
Thursday 6th
Woke up at 6 after not being able to sleep with a crushing pain in my lungs and severe nausea. I’ve had the beginnings of a cold starting for a day or two, so i started taking a course of antibiotics last night. Seems like a chest infection. With my throat too sore to swallow i forced down the antibiotic and a vitamin tablet and got to the airport two hours early. Taking the pill on an empty stomach hit me quite hard and i spent the time that the lads we queuing dry retching over a bin in front of various dedicated smokers. Jaysus. We checked in our stuff and made our way to the massive queue for US immigration. After nearly fainting in the heat i asked the lady if there was any way i could skip a few folks as i couldn’t guarantee i wouldn’t puke on someone, so i went to the top of the que. Being a bit tired and delirious, i wasn’t ready for the aggressive questioning of the Homeland Security lady, and stood there wobbling and sweating as she went through the procedure. After a bit, she let me through and i got on the plane. A few minutes later Ro rang me - Ross had been stopped, and there was some kinda problem and he mightn’t be traveling. I asked to get off, and was escorted off the plane by a spotty nervous teen and brought out to figure out what was up. I wasn’t able for it and i was wondering if they’d quarantine me if i had a coughing fit or collapsed or something. One of the airport staff told me i shouldn’t have got off the plane, leaving a flight after you’ve boarded is a major security breach and i was liable to be in deep shit. I lay down on some couches for a bit and drank some water, then Nial came over and we tried to figure out what was up.
When Ross came out from talking to Massive Border Security man i went in. I told him all the details and then... Silence. It was 9.30, a half hour after the flight was supposed to leave. Then he said "This is American Homeland Security. This is serious." I swear, i almost had a coughing fit of fear. Then he pressed an intercom and said "Hold that flight, these boys are getting on" and i nearly had a coughing fit with excitement. We jumped on the plane, delighted, as most of the other passengers looked at us with annoyance. I had a coughing fit of relief.
The seven hour flight was fine, I tried to sleep, but i had to keep dry retching in the bathroom. I decided to force some food down, and i felt a little less sick afterwards. When we arrived at our hotel, at about 2, i went to bed for the rest of the night only getting up to have a visit to the loo or eat a manky rubbery takeaway. The lads spent the day having fun and shopping and i spent it in bed watching shit tv. Lots of storms going on in the states, i hope it doesn’t affect us... The Irish famine memorial is across the road, so i felt a bit guilty for giving out about being ill. Also, there’s a picture of a lady in an erotic pose on the wall, but her face looks EXACTLY like john Lennon frowning. Its been a pretty crazy start so far...



Friday 7th.
GIG: Mercury Lounge, Manhattan, New York
I woke up around 7 having pretty much slept through. Everyone had an amazing time. Pricks. Went down for breakfast and managed to eat, and it all stayed down. I dunno if i’m going to be able to play this gig later, i think i could probably play if we just did a set of songs Ro sings. We’ll see. The lads skipped away to have another amazing time in the big apple, while i sat in bed watching ads and the occasional tv programme. When i went in to have a shower there was hair and m&m’s all over the floor. It looked like bigfoot had a snack during bathtime. After a while of bored channel surfing i decided to shuffle downstairs to use the internet in reception. I looked a little like a drug addict, with a hoodie on under my shower robe, a tissue to my nose, black circles under my eyes and the occasional bout of messy coughing. The fella beside me was having problems with his computer so i helped him out and then coughed on him. It was pretty embarrassing. To break the silence I told him how bigfoot ate some m&ms in my bath and that there was a transsexual john Lennon watching me sleep but he looked at me like i was insane and left. i decided to return to bed til we had to soundcheck.
When we arrived at the Mercury Lounge in Manhattan, no gear had arrived so we went for a coffee. The Bleedin’ bleedin’s did their soundcheck and when we returned we started into ours, quickly realising we’d stupidly forgot transformers for our power supply’s. That rectified, We’d a quick soundcheck, then Damien Dempsey arrived, also slaughtered with a cold. This gig, the Crackfest friday show, was sold out so we sorted a few friends on a guestlist and headed back to the hotel for some rest (me) and some pints and shots (nial ross and ro).
Myself and ms Lennon watched some cartoons and dosed off. I’ve never played a gig without singing before, it was pretty weird to imagine, but we wrote up a new setlist and headed off to the gig around ten. We’d practiced a set to play for the whole tour, trying to fit the best new songs in with the best album tracks, but it can wait til tomorrows gig (if i can sing) in Toronto. Tonight was about adapting i guess, no-one was going to pull the gig. When we arrived poor Damo was croaking through his set, obviously in pain. The audience was still loving it though, and it still managed to be a brilliant gig and get a great reaction. Backstage, he collapsed into his chair after the gig and said nothing except "Jaysus i need a beer".
Showtime. I was pretty nervous, i decided to just nod and tap my foot and try not to look as if i wanted to curl up in a ball, and get to the end. The lads played a blinder, jumping about and giving it everything, so we didn’t suffer only having half the songs to choose from. After the gig i went back to the dressing room and plonked myself across from Mister Dempsey, and tried to string a few words together, but i was shattered. Every now and again he grunted and I’d nod in agreement, and vice versa. I’d thought so much about the vocal aspect of playing i’d forgotten the physical side, the simple mechanics of being ill and performing. Anyway, the lads upstairs got lots of compliments and beer and i talked to a few friends and grudgingly headed back to the hotel early. If i stay this sick i might have to get someone else to write this blog, as i don’t think anyone wants to read the thoughts of a sick person for two weeks. I fell asleep with the Democratic presidential candidate race on, and had weird dreams about playing football with Barack Obama. He was a bit of a DIY...



Saturday 8th
GIG: The Hideout, Toronto
Despite the hangovers we got a taxi up to Kennedy airport nice and early, to be told that our New York to Toronto Flight at noon was cancelled due to adverse weather in Toronto. When we got to the desk we found out that every flight on the route was cancelled, and we were presented with the option - call Angela from Music from Ireland at the venue and cancel, or try going through Chicago and hope that the connector leaves to Toronto. The risk was - Toronto was in the middle of a blizzard, so we could get stuck in Chicago. But we were stuck in New York anyway...
We decided to try and play.
It was 10am. Our objective - get to Toronto to play the gig at 10pm.
We booked ourselves on the next Chicago flight on American and on the next two connections on to Toronto. After long taxi ride to LaGuardia we checked in our bags. We have SSS written our tickets, so when we go through security, we get "chosen for random extra checks". This means as well as normal security, our bags get searched, we get frisked and they run tests on our runners and phones. My runners probably aren’t the most pleasantly fragrant, so I can kinda understand the caution. As soon as we get to the gate our flight is delayed. Currently, we should arrive in Toronto around 8, giving us about 3 hours until we have to be onstage. It’s tight, but it should be fine. Then our flight is delayed again, Giving us 2 hours.



There isn’t much food at the gates, so we have a nutritious meal of hot dogs, coke and crisps. At 3 o’clock our flight gets canceled. The helpful but massively stressed staff book us on another flight that will get us into Chicago at 7.30, then the connection leaves at 8.25, and we’d get to TN at ten. I text Angela and she assures us we can play at midnight. Perfect. As we had a further two hours to wait until the 5 o’clock flight, we went out to get some food in the main hall, back past security.
After a fruitless search for some fruit, I settle on a Wendy’s chicken burger. (I figured it was healthier than McDonalds, Dunkin’ donuts, some faux Italian slop or KFC). I felt a bit better today, and confident I could sing when we reached the gig, but I needed to eat healthy. My vitamins were in my bag, checked in somewhere, and I couldn’t get to it. I returned to the gate through the security again (another "random extra check" for 20 minutes) and arrived to find that the flight was again delayed. It also seemed the whole airport was grounded, with flashing red lights all over the boards and people shouting down mobile phones everywhere. The math was now tight, we’d 15 minutes between that flight landing and the connector to TN. We talked about cutting our losses, and going back to hostel, but we hung on. Then the flight got delayed again, and it would now arrive into the windy city ten minutes after the Toronto flight left. We decided to cancel. It was over, No gig. We texted Angela to apologise and she said she understood, and we asked at the desk for our bags.
The middle aged moustache behind the counter made it very clear, your bags are booked to Toronto, and they are going, even if you’re not. We asked was there anything we could do. He suggested the baggage area. Myself and Ro ran to the other side of the terminal to ask the handlers if they could go get our guitars and drum stuff, and they said no.
What could we do? We had to go now. We’d missed the gig, and if we stayed in NY the weather was that bad there was a good chance we could miss the other gig too. We decided to get the flight and whatever happened, try going to Toronto anyway. After a third "random extra check" (it doesn’t feel that random y’know) on the way back to the gate the news came through, the connector was delayed. We still had a chance.
We’d get in at 11, but we gone this far. We texted Angela again and she changed our set time to 1.
We got on the plane pretty upbeat; it was actually going to work. We thought of the scene, the saloon door bursts open, the crowd cheers as the band arrive despite all odds... What then happened to was one of the scariest flights we’ve ever taken. Flying through a storm the cabin lurched, dropped and shook, people gasped and screamed, and some folks got pretty upset. It leveled out, but I spent the rest of the trip with my nails dug into the seat.
When we landed, we ran all the way across the huge airport to the gate. It was deserted, We’d just missed the delayed flight. The next one was at 10.25. We’d get in at midnight. It was starting to be unlikely that we’d play.
It had been a long frustrating day. Airports are boring, stressful and expensive.
At last we got some good luck after a stinker of a day; the flight to Toronto was going to fly. We’d be in before 12. As we sat on the flight waiting to take off I texted Angela to apologise, but she said we could go on at 2am.



Wearily, we figured this was it. I told her we’d go for it.

Then, while we sat waiting for takeoff, the plane broke. Mechanical failure. Eventually, 2 hours later, it took off and the clear night over Chicago made the city below look like a massive twinkling motherboard. When we finally arrived in Toronto, it was 2.30. No gig. Just lots and lots of snow.

Nothing went right for us all day. Jamie from Fight like Apes valiantly tried to keep the bar open for us to have a beer, but we never made it to the venue. On the way to the Hostel our taxi driver told us the clocks went forward, It was suddenly 5am. Just when we thought nothing else could go wrong, when we got to the hostel, our driver told us to be careful. It was a very dangerous area, he pointed out a few crackhouses and right on queue the crack zombies began to trudge through the snow towards us, arms outstretched, mumbling about dice and change. Disappointingly the dingy hostel had quite spectacularly mis-portrayed itself. When we got to our room (with a door to the street off its hinges and only one light) we decided it might be best to sleep in our clothes.

At least my cough has got better…

Sunday 9th.
We woke up in the crappy hostel with the fresh smell of recently brewed crack wafting through the broken window and decided to get the hell out of dodge. Our nights sleep was punctuated by random junkies shouting about various things loudly all the way through the night. We packed up, had an argument with the owner about the booking, and headed off to the Global village hostel on the main street. Instantly its friendlier and we booked in and went and got a huge all day breakfast thing in Café Java, a cool little cafe a street or two away. The snow is pretty thick on the ground still, but its sunny and not too cold so the paths are slippy with deep slushy puddles on each corner and our feet get soaked. After that we strolled around and later went back and badly played pool. Coincidently Fight like Apes are staying in the same hostel, and we chat about the gig and explain our tales of woe so far. They’re heading to Austin tomorrow, and we talked about the festival and how warm it could be. Ahhhh… If we can get through the rest of the trip without too much more shit going on, SXSW is the prize at the end of the tunnel.



We headed off to the cinema around 8, and in true North American style they had a big Burger King in the foyer. Beside the popcorn and ice cream. I laughed and pointed it out to the lads, who I quickly realised weren’t behind me, but were in fact in the BK queue ordering. So much for starting to look after ourselves on tour... Semi Pro was kinda funny (Will Ferrell seems to be on a mission to make lots of average films about sports where he takes his top off and shouts stupidly a lot), but Ro and Nial beside me noisily eating quarter pounders was far more entertaining.
Later myself and Nial went for a beer in the hostel bar, and realising Fight Like Apes had gone to bed, robbed their key off Dave their soundman and we went and annoyed them and sat on their beds til they sleepily came down. Beer was drank, snowfights were had in the smoking area and various coloured cocktails were lowered.
Around 2 am everyone decided to return to the hideout for beer and pool and I had to head off to bed. Doctors orders. Its getting pretty annoying all the nights I’ve missed, but all I care about is being able to sing so I’ll endure it for another night. I lay in bed listening to Sigur Ros and listening to the trams click-clacking outside, thinking about worst-case scenarios befalling tomorrows gig and what i would do if i had to stop singing altogether. Its a funny frame of mind to be in, but i drifted off pretty quickly nonetheless.



 Monday 10th
I woke up around 10 and had a shower. The lads stumbled in from the Hideout at around 6am and nobody was into moving or getting up. I spent a little while on the net and went for a walk around bright white toronto. (Except for the paths, on which the slush is dirty brown). The snow is very deep in parts, a shame, because it made sightseeing pretty difficult. I cut my losses and headed back to the Hostel to see if the lads were stirring but nothin’ would get them up, even my poking and singing Sharika songs at the end of their beds.
I feel like the chest infection is gone and i figure i won’t miss too many more nights like last night at least. Around one o’clock the FLApes woke up and after they checked out they left their luggage in our room. I brought them to the Java Cafe we went to yesterday to get soothing all day breakfasts, tea and chinese salad . We’d a good laugh sitting around talking shit and telling band stories, its cool hanging around with another band that act like their own little gang. Its a cool thing if you have it, you hear so many stories about bands that hate each other, and makes you remember how lucky you are. I’d would’ve gone back and made a speech about how being in a band is deadly but Ross would have probably thrown me out the window and gone back to bed halfway through it.
Around 6 we said goodbye to the Apes and and trekked up to College street to find the venue. It looked pretty close on the map but after a half hour walked with the gear we were wrecked, lost and cold and we grabbed the next available taxi to the venue. After a good, oh, three minutes driving we arrived and sat outside the wrong door for a half hour waiting for someone to come til we found the way in. We were worried we were late, but when we got in it had only just started. There was no soundcheck so we left the stuff and went and grabbed donuts and coffee in a Tim Hortons across the road. I was pretty worried about the lack of soundcheck, i wanted to run through songs and see what i could or couldn’t sing and try and get the set right, but there wasn’t time, and the other band had kindly lent us our gear.
We arrived back a half hour before the gig and changed strings and tuned up backstage. We got a text that a A&R man was coming to see us, and i got more nervous. Usually we kinda think, you don’t play to one person, you play to everyone, so we don’t change sets or drop songs no matter who’s coming, but i couldn’t help worrying that we’d be tired and i wouldn’t be able to sing properly. I did some warm ups and tried to shake out the nerves by pacing the tiny room.
When the time came we rushed out and hurriedly set up, and the first song was sung by me in the setlist that we’d written up. We played well, the reaction was nice and the new songs sounded good, but i didn’t really enjoy it as i was so conscious of getting the notes and it felt a bit rushed. Afterwards we all felt we could have played bit better and engaged the crowd a bit more, but we were happy enough.
The A&R guy hung around after, he was a nice fella and he bought us beers and chatted. I never really know what to say to A&R fellas, but he was friendly so i didn’t mind. Afterwards we finished up our beers and left wondering what to make of the gig and whether we should move about songs and stuff. We won’t have much (if any) soundcheck in SXSW and the amps won’t be ours either so we’ll have to be sharp. I guess if you can get the songs across and just enjoy it it doesn’t really matter who comes to a gig or who doesn’t, as long as you give it as much either way.
When we got back to the hostel around midnight we booked our cab for 4.30am and packed and went to sleep. All that stands between us and Austin is US Immigration and two flights. Fingers crossed nothing mad happens..
We’d better be rested.

Tuesday 11th
Stuggled groggily up at about 4. Shave, dress, brush teeth, taxi, airport. We’ve had a few crazy taxi drivers but mercifully this one says nothing. We throw coffee into us, make sure we’re awake for the interview by US Immigration. We flick our cigarettes into the snow and get in line. Technically we should have nothing to worry about, but scary immigration people could decide on a whim to not let us through, and after our previous episode i can’t help but be nervous. When i get to the desk, Norm stares me up and down. "Musician sir?" i nod. "you going to Austin for Sxsw sir?" I nod. "Dude!" says the 50 year old bald man in the glasses in front of me. "that is awesome! Do you know Bono?" After i explain that we hang out all the time, i go through, and one by one we clear customs and get on the flight.
After the turbulence on the last time i was a little nervous about this too, but the flight was fine and when we landed in Austin and were finally at the baggage claim, watching the conveyor carry guitar case after guitar case, we felt we’d made it and breathed a collective sigh of relief. A camera crew was videoing bands arriving - loads of skinny boys with fringes and hats - so i waved my guitar around until we got their attention and did an interview for the nightly news. "Austin is cool" i said monosyllabically.



We are part of the cool housing scheme where acts are put up for free by generous homeowners, so shortly Ame and her sister Amber arrived and brought us in their pick up truck to their beautiful house in the city suburbs in Austin. Ame and her husband Ryan run www.austinstarmaps.com where they bring tourists around to famous peoples’ houses. We decided to drop in to Sandra bullock and Mathew McConaughey for a cuppa before we leave.
Ame warns us not to walk around the streets as there are lots of crackhores and criminals around. This whole crack thing seems to be really catching on, fair play to Amy Winehouse.
After a shower and a lie down we head into the city for a beer and some food, but after our steak burgers and stuff we’re pretty wrecked. Last year lots of the Irish folks went to a deep south bar called Coyote Ugly, where the attractive young bar staff danced on the bar and generally had some conservative fun, so we decided to pop in for a beer. It was pretty different, the three bar girls all looked tired, overly made up and drunk. The blonde one kept calling people f**kers and doushebags and shouting about buying bodyshots. It was pretty depressing.
Just as we were about to go Gugai, a promoter friend of ours from Galway called us to meet up. A few minutes later he arrived, drunk but in great form, hugging everyone and dancing about laughing. We got another drink and moved inside, where the blonde girl and a red haired girl were drunkenly singing "simply the best" or something. I was pretty happy to get out but, someone thought it would be a funny idea to get Gugai a bodyshot. What this means is you pay twenty quid, the girls do a sexy dance, and feed you a tequila. She staggered along the bar, knocking over glasses, and did a fairly awkward dance, then spilt some beer on gugai’s face, then lent him over the bar and whipped his bum with a belt. It was pretty ridiculous, and we were all pretty awkward at the whole thing.
it was a car crash, and we couldn’t look away. The other girl, "Red" came down and asked, "did you like your bodyshot?" Gugai said that he hadn’t really, it was pretty weird. She asked why. Gugai said, "Well i thought you were hot, but now i’m just scared!".
oops.
This escalated eventually into her drunkenly screaming into the microphone to the (5) other customers that "this doushe called me ugly!" and Gugai shouting back trying to tell her he did not, and us sitting with our heads in our hands cringing. Then she pressed the Panic button, We got Gugai to leave and quickly left as a load of police arrived, while we wondered what just happened.



We headed back to the house and bed, and later Gugai rang me from a nightclub somewhere. "Where did that come from?" I told him i didn’t know. "This place is mad..."

Wednesday 12th.
GIG: SxSW Showcase, Ninety Proof Lounge
We got up early and got the bus into town to register. We queued for a while, watching the steady stream of skinny indie boys in little hats potter about with their starbucks and mac laptops. When we got our schedule we quickly realised we were on at the same time as REM. So a nice quiet practice gig then. There’s lots of industry panels on and we visited a few interesting ones. Apparently the "internet" is great for "music". Seems a bit futuristic for me.
We wandered around 6th street in the heat for a while, and after a massive steak burger and a read of the schedule we headed back to our foster house to pack for our gig. We had some crazy taxi drivers on our trip so far, in New York an Indian fella started giving out about black people, in Toronto one started giving out about the Spanish, but this one really pushed it up a level. After ranting about "towelheads" and muslims for ten minutes he started telling me how Ireland is full of dicks cos we don’t fight wars and we need to get our asses in gear fighting middle easterns and stuff. He then went on to explain how he wasn’t a racist, but a realist. I don’t really know what to do when a taxi driver, or anyone, starts ranting about another race. Nial suggested we should outdo them by ranting about sick babies. I thought about it, but when he started talking about guns i decided to stare out at the strip malls and burger joints.



We found out there would be more A&R coming to the gig later and i began to get a little nervous again. The reason we’re here is to showcase ourselves to various people over here that can help us play and release our records, so i guess there is a little pressure. I don’t really like showcasing, it takes away from the enjoyment of the gig and i don’t want to be playing for approval, but i understand the need to let people see you, so i can’t complain too much. Plus, as i already mentioned, i never know what to say to A&R people. We booked the taxi early as there was a chance we could get a soundcheck from 6-6.30, i could warm up my voice with some songs, and be prepared. We waited and waited, i called repeatedly, but the taxi was a half hour late and we got stuck in traffic. We don’t seem to be getting the breaks on this tour. We arrived at the venue at 7, soundcheck missed, and sat around pissed off, nursing a beer.
We split up and headed off to see bands and check out all the venues, all individually trying to get into the right frame of mind for the gig. I popped up to the convention centre and use the free internet, watching the steady stream of bands signing in and registering. Its a pretty daunting task to rise to the top with the thousands of bands here, but it was funny to think that every one of the thousand bands, however cool or jaded, dreams of doing something with their music as much as us.
After a few beers in Stubbs, where we bumped into our usual van driver Cathal, we headed back to the venue and watched the band before us play and set up the gear. I scanned the crowd trying to work out who was here from who. When AM Syndicate finished their punky set Cathal gave us a hand moving Nashville band November’s gear onto the stage. They’d very kindly lent us their gear for the gig, and we maneuvered the massive Marshall stacks onstage and set up our pedals. We had 15 mins change-over and a 35 minute set. With 5 minutes to go, i realised the guitar amp wasn’t working. The guitarist from November came over to help out, and it became apparent that the amp was broken. Of course! Come midnight, the rest of the band were scratching their heads and i was down the street begging AM Syndicate to unpack their guitar amp and allow me to use it. They relented, and very kindly allowed me to use it. I plugged it in, made sure it worked and the sound was fine, and ran backstage to change my clothes and get myself ready. If i was nervous before, it was twice as much now.
Ten minutes late, we got onstage and started. Within a song or two i’d adjusted the amps and it began to click. Excitingly, we played a great set. It all seemed to work out, and despite all the messing that went before, we got a great reaction and played every song perfectly. The venue was full by the time we were finished, and when we got off stage we handed out all the cd’s we had and got very cool compliments of lots of nice people. We packed up and went outside and had a smoke, delighted with ourselves. Then we got the news, no-one we’d asked down showed up. It was tough to hear.



We consoled ourselves that it felt good and people had enjoyed it, and resolved to do the same tomorrow.
I couldn’t help wishing someone that we’d asked had arrived, but no matter. I was shattered and hoarse so i went home straight away, leaving the lads to go out and have another night on the beer.
All through this tour I’ve been missing nights out, only imagining the debauchery that is probably going on. When they came back in i was still awake so i asked them what they did. The amazing night out?
They had a beer and went to Wendy’s...

Thursday 13th
Gig: Irish Breakfast, BD Riley’s
When we got up at around 11 i had a shower and had breakfast in the kitchen with Ame and her baby daughter Azelia. When i put the milk into my cheerios two dead crickets rose to the surface of the bowl. I gagged and left it aside. I decided against any more and called a taxi to get us into 6th street for the Music from Ireland showcase for one o’clock. At half one the taxi hadn’t arrived, so our host Ame’s sister Amber kindly dropped us into the city and we got there late. The venue was packed and Cathy Davey and her band were in the middle of a great set. We watched her for a while and then brought the gear through the crowd into the back and set ourselves up for the gig, tuning guitars and drums and checking all the various equipment. There’s a lot of bands on at this showcase so when the band before us finished we quickly arranged ourselves and started into the first song, She’s So Modern, which thankfully sounded good. I began to settle, and then, i broke a string. Pulling the string off in frustration caused a whale of feedback and i felt like just throwing the guitar out the window and going for a lie down. When the song finished i picked my spare, which stupidly I’d forgot to tune. The next song started and i tried to tune and sing to no avail, so I couldn’t play guitar at all. In line with the rest of this tour, this gig had to be a rollercoaster, so after i’d tuned up properly, things started clicking again, and it began to feel good, and i relaxed. Phew.




After the gig, it was clear that the people that didn’t come last night were here today, and i spent a bit of time chatting to various people all the while trying to sneak a glance at their laminate to see who they were. At SxSW there are three classes of people - the people with laminates (no queueing for gigs! free booze!), the artists (admission to gigs and some free booze) and the general punter (pays for stuff as they go). No matter who you are everyone looks at everyone else’s laminate to see if they’re important. The laminate folks talking to use were very friendly anyway, so it was ok.

We hung around afterwards and watched great sets by the other bands, it was a really good lineup, and then went back and got burgers in the same place as yesterday. There’s a lovely atmosphere around the streets, lots of attractive indie kids excitedly seeing their current favourite band and lots discovering new ones. We split up and I went off to watch some bands i’d written little x’s beside. Popup from Glasgow were really good, but couldn’t understand them as the singer talked so fast. I saw another band called Pete & the Pirates but they weren’t great. The venue was packed though, so lots of others seemed to like them. Fair play to them i say. The streets were packed and all manner of folks were wandering around, some selling, some singing, and lots just looking. I talked to a friendly guy who offered to help me save my soul. I told him i was ok with my soul’s current level of damnation. He followed me around for a while. I hid down an alley.

Later that night we sat by the houses’ pool and heard details on who’d come to see us and what they’d thought. Tomorrow’s lunchtime gig in the convention centre was our last time to impress and we were looking forward to it. As we sat in the dark looking up at the clear night sky listening to the sound of crunk from the affordable housing scheme across the road it felt like all the hassle was beginning to be worth it.

Friday 14th
GIG: Day Cafe, Austin Convention Centre



We got the bus in early to our gig in the convention centre and set up our stuff. It was a pretty weird place to be playing, especially when we had folks along to see us, but we didn’t think about it and tried to treat it like any other gig. The band before us was a Russian mountain band, and they played bells, bongo’s and did kinda throat singing. I didn’t really know what to make of it. We had a five minute changeover so we jumped up, set up, and started straight into it. Our stage time was at half twelve so there was lots of yawning laminate wearers wandering around dizzily squinting at us when we started. The venue is like a factory canteen, complete with little cafe, but we gave it our best and actually kinda enjoyed it despite the weirdness.
Afterwards we gave out the rest of the cd’s we’d brought over and chatted to the people who’d stuck around to say hello. One lady wanted us to play for the American troops in Honduras. Another was a blogger who wanted us to describe the gig entirely in emotions. I didn’t really know what that meant. I said i was hungry. He didn’t think it was funny. there was also a few industry folks there so after we’d packed up we went to the Four Seasons acoustic brunch and sat in the hot sun on the grass drinking. Today was apparently the hottest March day in four decades, and we had to move to the shade because it was so bright. We spoke to lots of cool folks and thankfully it was all very relaxed.

When we finished we grabbed some food and then strolled around getting presents for people back home and talked about the trip. Poor Nial couldn’t think with the heat so we got a bus back into town and went to Stubb’s to watch a few bands and relax. Stubb’s is the biggest SxSW Venue, a natural amphitheater by the river, and a cool place to watch bands. They’re famous for their barbecue, but i don’t know why, the thing we got last time tasted like dog food. As i had a $30 bottle of Bailey’s (for our host family) hidden in my bag, i tried to sneak past the bag check, but i got stopped and had to go around the corner and stash it ’til after the gig. Stashing a bottle of spirits in a city centre where there are thousands of people (and lots of tramps) is pretty difficult and i didn’t hold up any hope that it’d be there later, but i certainly wasn’t going to see it thrown in a barrel. We stood about drinking and chatting to Conor and Ross from Cathy’s band. We saw the drummer from Kings of Leon and Ro went over and had a chat. We also saw the Pigeon Detectives. We left them alone. Of the bands onstage The ting tings and Santogold were ok, but MGNT were brilliant.
At 11 we went to the Irish showcase in the Soho lounge and watched Cathy Davey and Fight like apes again. They were both great, but i preferred their sets in the BD Riley’s the day before, i guess for the intimacy of that venue.
Earlier in the day I’d tried to swap our flights so we could stay an extra day in Austin, but unfortunately tonight was our last night and we have to fly home tomorrow. To have played such a great festival is fantastic, and despite all the messing that went on for the rest of the trip, its been totally worth it.



Hanging around with the others bands and crew everyone was in high spirits, so it was a shame to say goodbye, but walking down sixth street through the carnival of musicians, entertainers, fire eaters and madly dressed hobo’s i promised myself i would make it back again. soon.
When i made it back to the spot where I’d hid the bottle, mercifully, it was there. Our luck had finally turned around.

please click here if you’d like to read more diaries like this...
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Monday, March 03, 2008 

Current mood:  accomplished
Category: Music
Hey peoples,
Lots of interesting and some odd stuff to tell you about.
The month of February raced by. You can check out our last blog to see how our first touring experience in Italia went. No sooner had we arrived back and we were plunged (willingly I'll admit) into awards season and rag week festivities around Ireland.We faired ok actually. I'll leave the good stuff to the end: Resounding losers at the meteors, but we did get to see the first "live" performance from reunited Boyzone.We then went over to Cricklewood in London where we were presented with the "Best Rock Act" at the Irish World Awards. A surreal night was enjoyed, hanging out with Dana, the Furies and all the great and good of the Irish diaspora. We were well looked after and it was while sitting in the hotel's comfortable bar that we got a call from Gugaí in the Róisín Dubh, to tell us "In Love with Detail" had won their album of the year accolade. The Róisín in Galway is one of the first venues that gave us a chance to play and we love it there, so to get the award is fantastic.

Interspersed with all this winning, losing and meeting our heroes, we've had some great shows at various RAG events around Ireland, particularly Tralee, Carlow and Limerick. We probably had our best Cork show yet at Cyprus Avenue the other week, so thanks to everyone who came out. Hope you liked the new songs (some of which are already on youtube... *Shakes fist at internet*)

That brings me to last week and the Choice Awards in Vicar St. Dublin…….we didn't win…..but we'd a great evening. We got to play two songs and the crowd was excellent. It felt really good to be playing with all these other great acts, all of them Irish. Congrats to the Brilliant Super Extra Bonus Party. Early in the day we'd a photocall for an article to be printed in a Canadian magazine about emerging Irish acts. They wanted us to pose with Bodhrans, Galtee sausages and pints of guinness (we did the guinness)…. looks like we've a bit to do, to prove to the world our culture has evolved since the 1920's. So we're heading stateside this Thursday, in search of more awards, women and treasure of any sort, laden with casks of guinness and reels of pudding for barter.

I've just been informed foodstuffs are not permitted through customs?

NEW PLAN We're gonna bring GUITARS and play FESTIVALS in NEW YORK, CANADA and we'll finish at SXSW in AUSTIN, TEXAS.

Click here for updates

rock.
Ró
Currently reading:
New Perspectives on the Irish Diaspora
By Charles Fanning
Release date: 30 October, 2000
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Thursday, February 28, 2008 

Current mood:  catalyzed
Category: Music
Saturday
Woke up around 4.30, after two hours sleep. Myself and Nial were djing last night and we ended up having a late night. Which probably wasn't sensible. Mashed loads of clothes into a shoulder bag and headed for the airport, where i met the others and our tech, the legendary Adrian "Goujons" Garry. Checked in around 5.30 and by about 12 we were standing outside Eurocar arguing with them about getting a GPS system. When we eventually got the GPS (off a different company) we collected the car and quickly realised all our guitars, drum stuff and pedal box wouldn't fit. Our trusty GPS informed us it was five hours to Rimini, so we sent a text to our promoter saying we wouldn't be on time for the 4 o'clock soundcheck... Got a new car, which turned out to be slightly bigger. After plenty of head scratching we set off and the Gouj began to get used to the wrong side of the road driving. Slowly. We sent a text to say we'd probably be at the venue around 7.
Pretty soon i realised I'd left my passport, printed confirmations and various other stuff in the other car. Great!
The GPS tried to take us up a road that was still under construction at around 5. We got lost. Another text was sent. We decided not to stop to eat because the GPS voice lady told us we were gonna now be there around 8.
Sometime around 9 we arrived we collapsed out of the car, stretched our numb arses, apologised, rolled on stage and did a quick soundcheck.
The Venue was great, a big warehouse on the outskirts of town with crazy art and lots of little rooms and stuff. After a quick pizza we went on and played. The sound was good and we tried out two new songs for the first time, currently called "You can make sound" and "Water over our heads". They sounded good, if a little nervous. The crowd was stuffed with kids in full fancy dress, some as lego men, clowns, a group as tetris blocks and a couple of Leprechauns. After the gig we'd a few beers by the book shop (yes, there was a book shop in the niteclub) and ate all the crisps and chocolate and little cakes on the rider. I wonder could we survive just eating the food after gigs? Bring on the mouth ulcers.

Gouj quote of the day:
"Whassa story with them black cats? Cos one passed me there and i got me luck straight away cos the bus came quick. How long does my luck last?"



Sunday
Woke up in the hostel around 10.30. Full European Breakfast was some easy singles on some tiny bread and some Coco pops. The rest of the lads arrived. Ro and Gouj had chocolate cake and coffee. Then me and Ross ate the last of the Pretzels from last nights rider. I took plenty of vitamins, it might end up being a tough week.
We haven't a gig tonight so we headed up to The Republic Of San Marino. We drove up and up and up Mount Titano to the tiny tax free state. Ro is driving today, and its the foggiest day we've ever seen. He did a great job going up the bendy roads. We'd be lost without our GPS, you couldn't see past the bonnet. Its very beautiful and historic, as well as being very touristy. Every second shop is a souvenir shop. As its Sunday everything else is closed. I looked for a fridge magnet. If i wanted a laser sighted bb gun, a massive engraved sword or giant boxes of cigarettes i could've had my pick, but little novelty magnets must be banned.
We took lots of impressive photos, but unfortunately the amazing views weren't available unless you wanted to see lots of different types of clouds. Afterwards we drove about 3 hours through beautiful valleys, along mountains, though massive tunnels. It was like the backdrop of a eighties Bond film.
When we got to the Lochness pub in Riva le Garda we were wrecked. They were very kindly letting us sleep in the venue on couches. It was pretty cold, but they were very hospitable and we watched the superbowl and drank enough to sleep soundly. At the halftime show we discussed Alicia Keys Ghetto Booty. Its big. Probably shouldn't have worn white zebra skin pants.

Gouj quote of the day: (when the fog lifted)
"does this mean we're driving above the clouds now?"



Monday
Woke up shivering at around 9 o'clock to the sound of a kango hammer outside. Did a quick phone interview, and then the very enthusiastic Manager made us a pot of penne and mince, and as a pointer of the day to come, he encouraged us to have traditional liqueur aperitif. It was pretty revolting, but he was so friendly that we tried to drink. At least the rest of the lads did, I did a sneaky spill in the sink. I hope he doesn't read this… We're gonna have to get different accommodation tonight. Getting six hours sleep isn't a good idea, regardless of how much we want to experience everything.
We went for a walk and quickly realised we were in an incredibly beautiful little holiday town. The surrounding mountains seemed to completely enclose it, with snow capped peaks above us in every direction. Its pretty deserted as its off season, but we found a nice hotel, and then went for a walk along the beach. Ross and the Gouj muck about with the camera. I got a text this morning saying that Mainline, a band we kinda know of from Dublin, have broken up. Myself and Nial talked about how hard that decision must have been, as right now we couldn't imagine not playing gigs or us not being a band. Wandering around an Italian Mountain village before souncheck reminds us how lucky we are and not take things for granted.
We popped in to "Marilyn Irish Bar" (not sure of the connection there…) and had some cappacino's and played electronic darts. It wasn't very Irish, there was a Union Jack outside and a French tricolour. An English fella asked for a Latte in front of us. He wasn't very happy when he got a glass of milk.
Soundcheck was great, Tiny little venue, but it sounded lovely. Milo, the soundman, recorded it so we could listen to the new songs. We had a few beers, pizza and more darts, and after a quick lie down, we returned to the find a small crowd outside. Its "Carnivale" so all the staff and a couple of people were in fancy dress again. Buoyed by the soundcheck playback, we opened with "Water over our heads" and after a great gig and lovely response encored with "until the next time". So far Italian audiences don't go wild, but they kind of listen appreciatively if they like, or go out and smoke if they don't. Afterwards, the manager made us drink all "Irish Carbombs". Bad idea. You could see the bailey's curdling with the coke as you drank it. He told us we had a free bar. We lived up the stereotype and got pretty drunk. There was lots of hugging. There's a picture of Nial with a motorbike helmet on, and I've no idea when that happened. Packing the car with rain dripping from our faces in the pitch blackness while drunk – for some reason – is the last thing I remember.

Gouj quote of the day:
"I've a small mickey, but a fast arse. There's your f*cking quote of the day..."





Tuesday
Woke up with a hangover and promptly decided never to drink or smoke again. We had kinda half planned to drop into Venice as its on the way to Udine, our venue tonight, but we slept in and nursed our heads. The Gouj took the wheel again today, and we took our time driving up through the mountains and later through fields and fields of vineyards. The amount we have to do is fairly mad, probably four or five hours a day, and there's no radio worth listening to unless you like faceless emo or European pop punk. Over the last few days I've listened to Sigur Ros on my mp3 thing or read magazines to pass the time but as everyone else was asleep I read the map and talked to Gouj about Steve Staunton going to Leeds. As a Leeds fan, I dunno if that's a good thing. There's lots of cloned "AutoGrill" roadside restaurants along the motorway, and when we've been stopping we've had Pizza and ragu penne. I'm pretty sure I'll get sick of Pizza soon, but right now, I'm starving and its cheap.
After some mild getting lost, we found the very cool "No Fun" club and met Guy, the eccentric but wonderful promoter. The club is kinda like a music obsessives bedroom, with shelves of music books, racks and racks of cd's and music magazines and drawers full of music documentaries and recorded videos of all sorts of music.
Udine is close to the Slovenian border and the culture has a mix of both nationalities, both in Architecture and lifestyle. Guy brings us to a local restaurant, which is basically a big room in someones home. Our meal is delicious, tomatoes on pasta and some Slovenian beer (there goes resolution one). We finish that in a flash and when the waiter comes over we polietely ask if that was a starter. It wasn't. He asks do we want more, we say Si, and he brings some slices of ham and some lettuce. The Italians don't seem to eat as much as our hungry Irish selves, so we resolve to grab some pizza later.
When we return to the venue (which is off a main road and in what seems to be the overgrown courtyard of some apartments) we're surprised to find a big crowd outside smoking (there goes resolution two). We've been lucky so far in that we've had pretty good audiences since we've arrived, and tonight is no different. They clap loudly between songs and there's even a few who've heard of us which is cool. We sell a few cd's, have a few beers and chat to the locals (some of the cd's are getting cracked because we're mashing everything into the car, so we just give those ones out). Before we leave for an early night to our cottage b&b, One regular (his picture is behind the bar) tells me that Guy is crazy, but a wonderful drummer and completely passionate about music. For us, it would be perfect if every promoter was like that.

Quote of the day: (from me this time)
"there's a smunny fell in the car, y'know…"


Wednesday
Had a fairly sore throat this morning, and felt fairly wrecked, but we still managed to get up and have breakfast around 10. The little cottage is beautiful, but breakfast's fairly simple. There's some stupid rule that B&B's can't serve anything that isn't in a packet (why? What about the personality of the owners? The girl who ran it told us her mother made fantastic jam but they weren't allowed give it out… shame) so we had tiny slices of pre-packed toast and Nial and Ro got their coffee fix in. We were up early, and with Gouj in the driving seat we raced down to visit Venice.
We parked in the massive carpark and got the public ferry around the Grand canal, taking photos and marveling at the buildings, the people (texting while driving is one thing, but texting while driving a speedboat is another) and of course, the smell (which isn't as bad as we expected). Its very commercial and busy and as we sidestepped through arcades and laneways taking photos, sampling ice creams, trying on masks and generally being tourists we couldn't help wishing we had more time. seeing Venice in an hour might be an experience, but it certainly wasn't a perfect one.
After a few photos (Ross feeding pigeons, Ross covered in pigeons, Ross with pigeon crap on his top) and a visit to St Mark's grave we headed on to Piacenza. Another long drive was broken up by another half hour stop at another shitty AutoGrill, with more pasta. The whole pasta/pizza thing is beginning to wear thin at this stage.
Arrived at the venue (after a bit of being lost) and was greeted at the venue by the friendly and enthusiastic Alessandro. He's got great English and we set up, have a few beers, more pizza, then do our soundcheck. The venue, a converted paint warehouse just outside the town centre, has a sound limiter installed so it's hard to get into the songs, but the Gouj stepped in and it sounded pretty good by the end. On the way to the hostel (a converted school we think) Alessandro takes me to the practice space he's set up so I can get the itinerary for tomorrow. Himself and his friends set up a little company and run a festival, gigs, and practice rooms in their free time. Again, a dedicated music fan enabling music to get to people. I wonder if I'd be doing that if we'd never started. "Are you writing your blog?" he asks. He's been reading it. I'd better write something nice…
Unfortunately when we get back to the venue there is only a handful of people there, the gig is a victim of last night's Carnivale and tonight's Italy v Portugal match. We play to 9 or10 people, comprising the gentle support band, the staff, and girl who's driven from Milan to see us. The presence of someone who travel so far encourages us to play as well as we can. There may have been only a few folks but they seemed to enjoy it. It's a long way from the ambassador I suppose, but as Ro noted we met our worst Italian crowd, but our first Italian fan.

Quote of the day: Ro:
"When I went to Ghostbusters 2 I got so scared that I begged my dad to take me home. He didn't."




Thursday
We got up and went for a stroll around Piacenza. Another day, another very nice city. Myself and Nial got a cappuccino and a croissant in a little side street café while Ross and Ro and the Gouj took photos of each other in front of various buildings. Gouj is doing a kinda documentary on DV camera and its pretty funny so far. Might not be able to show our families without some heavy editing though. After a moment of panic where we lost the car, we paced it down the Motorway to a little town called Castillo Fiorentino. After last night we were dying to have a great gig so we didn't know what to expect when the ancient walled city appeared in front of us. By far one of the most visually arresting places we've been, the mountaintop village is enclosed within high thick walls and the tiny streets play havoc with the GPS. When we pull up at the Velvet Underground (after lots of funny looks from locals and some precision steering from Goujons) we emptied the car and surveyed the damage of our trip so far. Two guitar cases are broken, a few leads need to be thrown out, lots of the cd cases are cracked and broken and a few of our power adapters are held together with tape. It's a bit dispiriting, especially since we just bought new cases after the last airline broke the old ones. The venue, like the rest of the town, is spotless and after soundcheck we stroll about looking at the stunning views. "Beats the bollix outta Bray eh?" says Nial as he pans his camera over the landscape. Later we watch some Italian telly while we have a few beers and wait for dinner.. They love monkeys in adverts on the continent, and sexy girls in skimpy tops dancing about while a live audience claps. And why not? After a proper meal – pasta, lots of salad and cake (we'd all murder some vegetables and potatoes at this stage though) – we resign ourselves to a small crowd of older people from the old town and check into our pretty self service b&b at the bottom of the mountain. After a lie in we return to the Castillo, the gates of which close at ten. Using the key to the city we were given earlier (it was more of a garage door clicker than a big ornate steel key, disappointingly) we returned to the pub and to our happy surprise its stuffed. There's an American school nearby and scores of art students from Colorado and Texas are sitting in front of the stage. From the start the reception is fantastic, and we go on to play our best gig of the tour so far in the most unlikely place. Encouragingly "You can make sound" gets one of the biggest cheers of the night. Afterwards we drank with the Americans until the owners asked us to leave, then stood outside being loud on the steep thin streets. Despite getting completely lost on the way home and driving round in circles til Ro spotted a landmark, it was a night to remember all round. "I had never considered Italy as somewhere I could live" said Nial later "but now? Now i can imagine it…."

Quote of the day: Ross
"Whats the story with all this salad shit? I may as well be lying in a field with a face full of grass…"

Friday
We got up around 11 when the landlady knocked at the door. We've had some funny sleeping arrangements on the tour so far, for example Nial and Ross shared a double bed in Riva De Garda while Myself and Ro shared in Udine, and so this morning Ross wasn't too happy as Nial had taken all the covers and kicked the crap out of him in his sleep. We went back up to the Castillo for breakfast, videoing the drive and the view as we went, and played some pool and video games before we headed to Rome. The drive was only 3 hours and we were determined to avoid the dreaded pasta/pizza axis of evil from another AutoGrill so we didn't stop, and arrived at the venue at 4. There was a poster outside of a bloodied male torso holding a decapitated sheep foetus baring the slogan "queers not lambs" and the area was covered in (crap) Graffiti and dodgy looking characters so we didn't really know what to expect. We went for a walk, stopping into an internet café to have a quick listen to a version of "basis of everything" we'd recorded in Irish, and grabbed some coffee and looked over some pictures of the tour on the Gouj's computer.
When we returned we did our soundcheck and waited for our food and to be brought to hostel. Unfortunately the fella looking after it, Manuel, was delayed and so after a fruitless search around the neighbouring streets for the hostel we ended up inhaling some kebabs (no pizza!) and getting changed in the pizzeria across the road. The staff didn't know where to look. We legged it back in and got on stage just in time to play a full set and encore to a great crowd. During the gigs we've been trying to speak Italian as much as possible, a few phrases, picking up words on the way, and tonight was the first time we tried all of them, some worked, some didn't, and we even got corrections called up to us. I think some of the audience thought it was funny. It's a deadly venue, with mad abstract paintings and (cool) graffiti on the wall.
Afterwards we sold lots of cd's and gave away some of the broken ones squashed in the car. There are some Irish girls here who've travelled down from Siena so we chat to them. "Where's the Gouj?" one said. We pointed. "That's him? Holy shit!". The Gouj just nodded, as is his mysterious way. When we finally found the hostel, Ross, understandably, dived into a single bed, leaving poor Ro to face the wrath of Nial's sleep Kung Fu.

Gouj Quote of the day:
"There's no way in the WORLD I'm gonna let no FIAT pass me out!"



Saturday
We could probably write a few guide books now, How to see Venice in one hour for example, and today we got up early for a bit more short-of-time tourist action. Rome is so littered with ancient buildings you find yourself stopping every other street to try figure out what some ruin was. We headed to a walled square from where we got a tram up to the Colosseum. After a bit of looking around we grab lunch down the street from the Arena where the "wacky" waiter serves us suspiciously microwaved food for a reasonable price. I'm going to need a pasta detox after this. Ro and the Gouj got some string beans, our first glimpse of green vegetables that weren't on a pizza in 8 days.
We payed our 11 quid and went into the Colosseum, While The Gouj quoted Gladiator and compared it to Croke Park. Its very impressive, nearly 2000 years old. Criminals used to be torn alive at the mercy of the crowd here, and their bodies dragged through the south facing exit. Something similar happened to us at punk gig a few years ago.
I was just wondering if we would always try to sightsee if we visited places we'd never been, when we saw a few members of the England Rugby team, in town to play the Italians tomorrow. They pretended not to recognise us, so we did the same to them.
We grabbed a coffee and strolled back to start the short drive to Froisinone. Its only an hour away on the motorway, but in Irish terms its Dublin to Tipperary. When we get there we're slightly outside the town and we drive around industrial estates until we get through to someone on the phone who can direct us. We were pretty tired when we finally found the tiny Cantina Mediterraneaneo pub, and we kinda didn't know what to think. We decided not to hang about and wait again like last night, so we went straight to the hotel to find out where it was. Its quite, um, grotty, and bit like the Outlook hotel from the Shining. We don't hang about there either, and return to the venue for soundcheck. The Soundman and staff are very friendly and they put us on a great feed but we can't help wonder if there's gonna be anyone at this gig as its so remote. The owner, max, gets us to have shots of Grappa (bleurgh) and after a half hour kip in Hotel Eighties we head back to find a load of people inside, with scores of cars parked outside. There's about 50 or 60 people inside and another load outside smoking while the punk support band play. Its mad how people are so willing to travel to a venue to see a band they've never heard of, It doesn't seem to happen as much in Ireland, but its great and to our benefit. The venue is small and bright and it's a little naked playing the songs, I think the tiredness of the last 8 days affects us a bit, but it still goes well and lots of people are very complimentary afterwards.
Afterwards we wade through a few drinks and sometime around 2.30 head back to the Bates motel for a few hours kip before our flight. We're all pretty shattered and as my passport is in Lost property in the airport we're gonna go up a little early, and will leave the hotel around 8. We do a short piece to camera for Gouj's video and we summarise the last week and a bit. Its been a great experience, lots of people have enjoyed it and lots of people now have our cd. Hopefully we get to come back…

Quote of the day:
Goujons: "I'd say I could learn Italian in two days."
Kieran: "You've been here a week and you can't even ask for a sandwich!"



Currently watching:
World Cup Soccer: Italia '90
Release date: 06 November, 2006
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Thursday, February 07, 2008 

Current mood:  bouncy
Category: Music

Greetings from Italy!

The tour is going well so far, you can check out Kieran's blog here:

*Italian Tour Diary*

...and feel free to post your comments on the thread, we've enjoyed reading them so far, in petrol stations and cafes on the side of the Italian motorways.

We've been playing a couple of new songs on this tour, which at the moment are called Water over our heads and You can make sound. They're sounding better each time we play them, hopefully you can hear them soon (unless you're in Italy and have been at one of the gigs, in which case you've probably already heard them)

Just a quick reminder that we are up for two awards at the Meteors, best Album and best Irish Band, which you can vote for here:

Meteor Awards Website

Voting closes this Sunday Feb 10th, so if you're going to vote now is as good a time as any (you can win tickets to the awards show by voting too)

We'll be putting up a bigger, longer with pictures and stuff when we get back,  if we come back.

See you then,

from Kneel, and Ro, and Ross, and Kieran

(delorentos)

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