Yeah, this is what I’m talking about. Rock n’ roll. As I woke this
morning, opening my eyes, the curious looking laminate on the beside
locker drew my attention. A backstage pass. It’s MY backstage pass from
the other night at the Gramercy Theatre in NYC. My first experience of
jumping the queue of concert goers, flashing the badge and proudly
announcing “I’m with the band.”
It could all be so different.
I know what you are thinking. “Who the hell is this?” Kevin and I
have been mates since we were kids and I’ve known Mick for over a
decade now. I consider myself a serious Guggenheim Grotto fan with
insider knowledge. I hear people talk about the bedsit* that the
“Lifetime in Heat” EP was recorded in and I think, “Yeah. I lived
there.” Before they were even The Guggenheim Grotto, I’d riffed a play
title from Portmarnock Beach Boy Blue*. Until a few months ago I was
just your average schmuck* working in the corporate world who’d gazed
longingly out the window and thought “those b@st@rds” whenever the guys
had hit off touring the States previously. Then the recession hit and
finding work in Ireland became more akin to finding a particular strand
of hay rather than the needle in the proverbial haystack.
Against this background I met up with Kevin for a stereotypical late
afternoon breakfast (full Irish of course) in Dublin a few weeks back.
I was hoping for the inside scoop on the new album. What I got was the
stuff of myth and fairytale. The chance to join them on the road
Stateside for a month. Crossing from Boston to LA. Part driver, part
roadie, part merch seller, part blogger, part “AN other”* - all-round
“Maor Caman”* if you will. How could I turn such an opportunity down
and after all, the winner of a rat race is, let’s face it, still a rat.
Well, would you let your heart take fire, course you would …
And so here I am, experiencing a Boston Fall* with all its wondrous
colour instead of grousing about the rain, misery and misfortune in
Ireland. I arrived Wednesday afternoon and its been quite the adventure
already - from being welcomed from the stage in Club Passim and crepe
melodrama to trying to snatch the last rental car in Boston from the
“leaf-peepers”* - its been rock n’ roll all the way. Boston, YC and
Ogunquit have been taken on so far and tonight’s destination is
Freeport or is it Portland? I fear I’ve not quite adjusted to the
jetlag yet. Mind, it makes little difference to me as such, so long as
we key the correct address into the SatNav we’ll be golden - like I
said, rock n’ roll …
Glossary:
* bedsit – small, often tiny, self-contained apartment i.e. kitchen, bedroom, living area – all in one room.
* Bondi Beach Boy Blue -
www.ociproductions.com
* schmuck - dimwitted fool.
* AN other - anything else that may come up.
* Maor Caman - the person who looks after all the hurleys
(approximately feet or so of ash wood) for a hurling team. Considered
the fastest and oldest game on earth, hurling is one of Ireland’s
indigenous Gaelic Games.
* Fall – autumn.
* Leaf-peepers - people who travel to see the beautiful colours the leaves turn in the Fall.
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