Sorry for my absence. Not a lot has been going on for awhile. I had been planning on updating the site as much as possible throughout our trip abroad, but lack of internet access combined with lack of time prevented me from making a single post. Sorry about that. In a feeble attempt to make up for it in some way, this post is a retrospective about the entire run, with a whole bunch of random photos (mouse over the photos for a brief description). Here we go:
We started out in Glasgow, Scotland for the opening ceremony of the Celtic Connections festival. We had a couple of really close connecting flights (one of them was just about ready to leave without us), but we made it. The first performance we did was very brief. We just played one song with the four of us bunched up around a couple of microphones. There was so much chaos with the number of performers that were sharing the stage throughout the night, that we decided that this would be the simplest solution for us and the sound guys.
The next day we flew into Northern Ireland. We played shows in Belfast, Portstewart, The Bronte Center near Rathfriland, and one other place that I can’t remember the name of. We played at all of those places (except for the one that I can’t remember) last time we were here. We also stayed at the same apartments. It’s just recently that i’m repeating cities on tour - it’s nice to return to a familiar place.
After a few days in Ireland we flew to England. We made the genius decision to rent a van and drive into central London. . .during rush hour. . .in the dark. . .in the rain. If any of you out there have the opportunity to do such a thing - don’t. It is quite a nightmare. There is no pattern to the street layout, and all our directions failed us after about 3 blocks. We finally resorted to Kevin getting into a cab and following it to the hotel. After London, we drove to Bristol, which was still bad for driving, but not as bad as London.
We flew back to Glasgow for one more show before heading home. It was our actual Celtic Connections Festival show - it was fine. Overall it seemed like a pretty good trip - exhausting, but good. I didn’t get enough sleep and i got rained on pretty much everyday, so i got sick the day before we left. I’m still sick now, but i’m feeling a little better.
