Morgan's Tour Blog

Day..? - not even sure - Somewhere in Ireland

Here's some pictures with the group

Day 11 - Waterford

Cancelled a few dates (Limerick and Belfast) because of issues with promoters so, we decided to take a break - Max went back to Galway to hang out at the last remaining occupy outpost in Ireland. Greg and I went to Waterford to continue binge drinking plus I really wanted to check out the glassworks (the factory tour was awesome) - Tomorrow will be heading to Killarney!

Day 10 - Dublin Paer III

Coco headed back to Ottawa today - She challenged Greg and I to find Grogan's without her - So, we did first thing - let the drinking begin - Checked out a bunch tourist sites including Dublin Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral and Dublinia (Viking Dublin) - Mostly we ate and drank but took a well-deserved day off. Snored so loudly that Greg slept in the laundry room - ah beer so wonderful.

Day 9 - Dublin Part II

Up early to check out the city - Greg, Coco and I headed to the National Botanical Gardens - Spent the morning channeling Tonya by photographing flowers (I know not very rock and roll but f*ck you - I love my wife) - I highly recommend the gardens if you're in Dublin - they're beautiful!!! Now time to make up for the not drinking thing - Coco took Greg and I to J.Grogans, a cool old pub and a bit of an art school hang out - Hit Fibber McGee's for sound check - cool basement bar - played the Shell to Sea benefit - bands both upstairs and downstairs - turns out I'm headlining downstairs (due to some scheduling issues) - Had dinner at this great Korean/Irish Pub across the street - Guiness and Korean food surprisingly works very well together - try it if you get the opportunity ... the show went really well except for one really loud drunk who was just an asshole - threw a can at me because I wouldn't let him perform on stage - oh and insisting that, if he was going to yell and swear at me, he call me Canadian not American. The guy actually passed out (completely motionless) for about 5 minutes on his feet in front of the stage - on the upside a group of Swedish hockey players (who loved the music? - go figure) offered to beat him up - I turned down their offer but signed all their CDs - lots of drinking and then back to the hotel!!!

Day 8 - Dublin

It's Good Friday and you can't buy liquor/Beer/wine in Ireland so we made a beeline for Dublin - Yikes - an imposed holiday for my liver - Headed out on my own to see the sites in Dublin City - I'm staying right behind Trinity College, a mere stone's throw from Temple Bar. Checked out buskers on Grafton Street and St Stephen's Green (Irish: Faiche Stiabhna) - got great photos - Things have been going exceedingly well - Playing tonight at Seomora Spraoi with Captain Moonlight (a foul mouthed political hip hop artist - you'll love it - check him out - captainmoonlight.bandcamp.com) - fun show - really weird though everyone was sitting down quietly (completely sober rationing what little alcohol they'd scrounged) and we of course had no liquor but in the end - the music was well received and notably Greg did a blisteringly fast guitar Solo that rocked ass! Heading back to the hotel to get some sleep - no Booze on Good Friday!

Day 7 - Galway City

On the way to Galway, we ended up stumbling through the Burren again by accident and checking out the Cliffs of Moher (awesome)and driving around Galway Bay. This was our 1st opportunity to take a day off although some of us ended up playing sessions anyway - If you haven't been to Galway go ... It was quite a surprise to me - mostly I had "Fairytale of New York" stuck in my head - 'and the NYPD choir was singin' Galway Bay' - I didn't expect it to be a total party town. We stayed right downtown where the action is (particularly true on the Thursday of Easter weekend) - Have to say I used my day off to get drunk, eat local oysters and check out the local version of Bluegrass.

Day 6 - April 4th - Milltown Malbay - the Central

We spent the day driving the back roads of North Tipperary and Clare - We went to the Burren - no signs hard to find but worth it. Stunning landscape with crazy limestone formations and shallow lakes that appear and disappear with changes in the water table. There's also a cool Neolithic portal tomb (30 neolithic people buried on the site) Played in at Pat Kelly's the Central - 4th show in 4 days - very intimate night. Thanks to Sean Malone (mandolin) and Chris Mathews (bodhran) turned into another all night tradition seisiun - Nicola joined in on Tin whistle and vocals - thanks to Pat the guiness kept flowing until the wee hours of the morning and we played all night long - We're all looking forward to a day off tomorrow in Galway.

Day 5 - April 3st - Cloch Shiurdain

Well we started off with a bit of tourism at the Rock of Cashel and drove into Rural Tipperary to visit Nicola's mother's hometown - Tommevara - since we were staying in the area and with the help of Pa at django's Eco Hostel we set up a gig in Cloch Shiurdain (pop 600ish) We didn't know what to expect (neither did the audience) but it turned out to be a highlight for sure - an experience that I'll cherish - we played our set to a packed house - very receptive - sold a ton of CDs and best of all the evening turned in to a killer traditional session with awesome local musicians that lasted until 4:30 - I'd like to thank Pa and Lily at Django's, Boomer at the Railway Bar and everyone that came down to the show - and I like to point out that if you are looking for great session players (no matter what kind of music) check these guys out - Seanie Hogan (guitar and whistle) Noel Mcquaid (bouzouki) Shay Harmon (whistle) Eddie Weldon (banjo) Paul Higgin (cajon) Tasha Sinclair (vocals) and Domo (guitar and bodhran) - I loved playing with them and appreciate their skill - thanks hope to see you soon

Day 4 - April 2st - Cork - Charlie's

Greg, Nicola and Max went out of town to check out St. Gobnait's Holy Well (Nicola would provide the best explanation) - I opted to stay in Cork for a little rest, reading and exploration of some of the town's sites - i'll throw some photos up on Facebook - We were lucky enough to play at Charlie's last night with Hank and Ray - really nice guys - super talented - they've been doing a weekly country show at Charlie's for over 15 years - The audience was great, had a blast - went to an after hours club Crane Lane Theatre - Awesome venue but I left after 1 beer wasn't into the band (retro 80s sound) plus wanted to get some rest - leaving Cork tomorrow for Tipperary

Day 3 - April 1st - Cork - Bru Bar

Well show day was a blast - we started off the day by taking a trip to blarney castle which was awesome - I didn't realize how extensive the grounds would be - the highlight for me was 'the poison garden' which is literally a garden of poison plants - the show rocked ass - I couldn't believe how packed it was and how enthusiastic the audience was - it was an international audience part hostelers part locals - we all had a great time, never had an audience more willing to sing along and scream but not a lot of dancing - we're going to work on that - after the show most people stuck around for a lock-in and we were invited to someone's house down the street for ' a few cans' -so yet another 5am morning

At the Bru

Day 2 - March 31 - Cork

Max and I stayed up drinking until about 5am - our first lock-in (shut the bar down then locked in with staff )of the tour - Surprisingly I was up early for tourism purposes (thankfully , no hangover) oh I should mention we didn't escape unscathed from the trip - the bridge on the bass was snapped in half - thanks Luftanza - fortunately the luthier at Crowley Music is making us a new one for tomorrow! Anyway - took the train to Cobh to see the old Port of Cork - that's where the Titanic left from and where many Irish escaping the famine left for North America - beautiful cathedral and town - we're set for the gig tomorrow (as long as we get the bass back) we were unexpectedly in the Cork News so, should be packed - heading out tonight to catch some local bands

Made the paper

Day 1 - March 30 - Cork - Bru Bar

Max is here drinking with me now. Let the cultural exchange commence!

Me, picking up a little irish

Max, picking up a little irish

Day 1 - March 30 - Cork - Bru Bar

After 20 hours of airport hopping - Yow to Yul to Lha to Ork - im waiting for the rest of the band to show up - I'm sitting in the Bru Bar on McCurtain Street in Cork getting liquored up and eating really good (albeit frozen) pizza - love the place reminds me of the Aloha room (Ottawa) meets the Republic (Calgary)for a blind date circa '96 at the Ivanhoe (Vancouver) and gets pregnant (you older punks know what I mean)- the barmaid (Serena) is super awesome, easy on the eyes and is systematically introducing me to Corks finest low cost draughts - can' wait to rock the place later this weekend before heading out to Galway, Limerick and Dublin.

Bru Bar, Cork