Hiya friends!

Love. Love at first sight, love at first sound, and love at first experience. That's what we experienced when we played at The Dublin Pub in Dayton for the first time this past Friday night. Lemme back up for a minute, then I'll expound.

We got into Dayton at around 3:30 on Friday and immediately went to a radio station to be interviewed on the "Hippie and Jay" show, which is a 2 hour program featuring world music and all that. They'd called us and set up a studio interview where we played a couple songs and gave out CD's to callers who were like the 5th caller or something. It was a really fun time and afterward we got some photos with the crew. Our photographer, Billy Crafton - the Photographing Alchemist - was on hand taking many pictures of the entire night.

We got to the pub at around 6 and set up all our gear. Then we checked into the Crown Plaza and just relaxed for a couple hours before going back and starting the show. That pub was absolutely PACKED to the gills. It seems the anticipation for our show got a little out of hand and people had road tripped from as far as Kentucky to come see us. Dayton, we're in love with you. It's that simple. We want to come back as much as we possibly can because you guys truly know how to make a band feel more than welcomed... you made us feel like family. We are truly saddened that we won't be at the Dayton Celtic Festival this year, because the Cleveland Irish Cultural Festival is on the same weekend and we simply can't be in two places at once. Rest assured though, we WILL be back next year and we'll be playing @ the Dub Pub as often as they'll let us.

While I'm on the subject of the Dub Pub, they made an impression on us also that will keep us coming back for more. They have this item on the menu called Blarney Stones. They look like hush puppies but they're cheese, sausages, potatoes, and all sorts of stuff packed into little balls of heaven. Paulie also ordered a sammich called The Ruck, which was some kind of pulled pork barbecued on a soft pretzel roll. MMMMMMMmmmmmm. We'll be fantasizing about that place.

Thanks again go out to everyone who came out to see us that night. For those of you who were asking if the kid sitting next to me onstage was my son... NO, he's not. That's Twinky! He's been a helluva fan of ours and there really wasn't any place for him and his family to sit, so I just set a stool down next to me. He helped out holding my sticks, fixing my hi-hat, and even belted out a few songs with me and got the crowd on their feet and clapping. Twinky, you're hired man. You will always have a place onstage next to my drums.

Thanks also go to Billy Crafton for all the photos he took. HUGE thanks go from me to him for fixing my hi-hat during the songs. If he hadn't done that, we might've had to stop the show early. You literally saved the show brother and I thank you. I went out today and picked up a Guinness hat like mine for you, but I'm not sure you'll be getting that Utili-Kilt back. That is absolutely the most badass kilt I've ever worn and I love it. I'd forgotten my regular kilt so Billy let me wear that one, and it just fit perfectly and looks AWESOME!


So the next day, we got up and went back to the Dub Pub and broke our gear down and packed it up. We also had some lunch and then headed on down the road to Columbus and Byrne's Pub. Ahhhh Byrne's Pub. We had played there last summer and had a great crowd, and last night's crowd was INSANE! If you read back in our blogs back to the Cincinatti Festival, you'll recall a night where we gave an impromptu show on the rooftop lounge of our hotel for a wedding party. Well, when we showed up for our show, they were all sitting front row @ Byrnes' place and were raring to go! Thanks to the guy who came up and played tambourine with us. And ladies, I'm sure a few of you woke up with a handprint on your ass from my application of Kreellers stickers. Sorry 'bout that. Guess I got a lil' too carried away... heh heh. More than a few people came out to see us after finding us online. We met an AWESOME British guy named Ian and his Irish girlfriend Ann-Marie, and they called a few of their friends to come out. By the end of the night, Pat Byrne - the owner - came up onstage with his bodhran and ripped it up for the last 5 songs. MAN can that guy play! He was jumping around, down on his knees, and just adding loads of Craic to the show. Thanks also go to his son Murt for running sound for us. We truly appreciated that. The Shamrock Club of Columbus also came out and hoisted a few pints with us and just really made us feel right at home.

We also orderd 2 pizzas from Granddad's Pizza right next door. We've blogged about it before, but man oh man, I gotta write more. I have dreamed about that pizza. I've written songs and sonnets about that pizza. I've considered naming my pets after that pizza. It was THAT DAMN GOOD!!!

After the show, we had a few more pints and then headed back to the hoel. Woke up this morning and hit the road at round 8:30 and now we're home! Thanks again to everyone this weekend. We sincerely hope you had as good a time as we did, and we seriously can't wait to come back and do it all again!

To look at the photos of us in the studio and the Dublin Pub, go to Billy's Website and make sure you shoot him a note telling him how badass he is with a camera!


Cheers!!!

The Boys