A memorable Gig

I set off today to do a gig for some 70 (upwards) year olds. They were a good attentive (no not asleep) audience and I had some fun persuading them that Obama was Irish ..... Tooral o Tooral u Tooral s Tooral ama There's no one as Irish as Barack Obama. I started off on an Irish note..... a medley then a bit of religion with The Unicorn Song and Lord of the Dance. Then into The Garden where the Praties Grow and Shake Hands with your Uncle Mike.

I then tried out for the first time I Just don't Look Good Naked Anymore. Have a look at how Stan does it. http://heraldnet.com/article/20071221/MULTIMEDIA/283841756

They seemed to love Oh Lord its so hard to be Humble but I don't think they quite got the point with I Don't Remember Blues.

I followed up with Going Back to Dublin which I do with a reasonable backing I made for myself then Maggie and Frank Sinatra's version of Swing on a Star.

I ended up with a real medley of Oldies. Carolina Moon, If You Were the Only Girl in the World, Red Roses for a Blue Lady, If I Knew you were Coming I'd a Baked a Cake... A You're Adorable, Making Whoopee, Don't Bring Lulu, Bless em All, Five Foot Two, When Irish Eyes, Barrel of Money, Yes Sir thats my Baby, Hello Who's your Lady Friend, Are you Lonesome to Night, Lilli Marlene, Bunch of Coconuts, All the Nice Girls Love a Sailor, I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside, My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, and ended up with Show me the Way to go Home. As I was packing up I noticed my unplayed flute so I performed a quick Danny Boy encore. I do hope they had a good time. I certainly enjoyed myself.

The Boat That Rocked.

I DO remember listening to Radio Caroline which I presume what the movie is sort of named after. We lived through a very fortunate time in the 60's. The culture was changing, the world was getting smaller and lots of people appreciated everyone else! The music was scintillating in the quality of the rhythms. Perhaps the structure was a little simple ( i.e. 3 or 4 chord changes) but the beat was right on. Here is what Bill had to say

Bill Nighy: "All the usual suspects... I'm a big Stones man, I've never really recovered from that, and The Who, and from the movie I particularly dig those two tracks. I like American black soul music, that was my first big enthusiasm, and I like Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin and all of those people - Otis Redding, Atlantic Records, Tamla Motown when it came along. I love them all I guess. And more than anyone, Bob Dylan. I listen to Bob Dylan on most days and he remains the single most important artiste in my life. Van Morrison also is big on my list."

He forgot to mention "THE BEATLES" and all those groups from Mersey side. We even had a little jazz .... Acker Bilk etc. and Skittle Groups like Lonnie Donegan. Donovan also deserves a big mention as do many others. I was a fan of Leonard Cohen. Still am. Have a look at some of the items on Utube. Just type in Utube and his name. Some fabulous stuff. Have included one link if you need it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJAcACBMa70&feature=related

We maybe did not use the espression then but hey THAT"S COOL.

St. Patricks Day

Sorry about the time it has taken me to write about this but with FIVE gigs during the great St. Patrick's Celebration, I was understandably a little tired. Not only did I sing about Barack Obama being Irish but I included a new song written especially for the occasion. The words are as follows and the chorus is the words of the verse repeated with a different melody.

I am a little leprechaun I come from far and near

I'm welcome in the parlour where I sip me pint o beer

I am everybody's hope I am everybody's dream

I am a little leprechaun who wears the emerald green.

You Can find me in the woods You Can see me through the trees

You can hear me in the cornfields if you get down on your knees

You can see me in a flash you can try and chat to me

And I'll tell you that old story of how we came to be.....

You can ask about that pot of gold that people seek to find

But the only gold that's valuable is deep down in your mind

And the story I will tell to you It's one you've heard before

That leprechauns are real and the rest is just folk lore.

A Catholic Wedding.

I was at a wedding recently and was not only impressed by the ceremony but also by the multicultured nature of the ceremony. The groom was originally from Uruguay, the bride from Australia and I believe her family were from Wales. The priests were from Vietnam and Ghana as perhaps can be seen from the small photograph. Small here because of confidentiality! I read some prayers and as you might know I am originally from Ireland. I was aided my a lecturer who was originally from (in his words) Persia. I think in modern terms he was from Iran. At the reception they had relatives from England, friends from Thailand ( I pretended I was from T'ireland .... well it was quite a few toasts later!) I love meeting people from other countries especially when we all get on so well. Yes the Thai people DID have an Irish sense of humo(u)r OR they were very patient listeners. As the song goes "I am, your are, we are AUSTRALIANS.

A Strange Gig

When I was told a few days before the actual gig to sing a few songs other than my usual Irish repertoire, I did not realise the audience was going to be different. They all had Huntington's disease.

Huntington's Disease is a progressive, degenerative disease that causes certain nerve cells in the brain to waste away. As a result, a sufferer may experience uncontrolled movements, emotional disturbances and mental deterioration.
More information and support is available from
Australian Huntington's Disease Association (NSW) Inc. [Australian Huntington's Disease Association (NSW) Inc.].

Of course it turned out to be a good concert for all of us. They accepted my "new" songs about Barack Obama being Irish, " oh Lord it's so hard to be humble when you are perfect in every way", "Underneath a Scotsman Kilt" and an appalling song namely "If my nose was running money I'd blow it all on you".
I overcame some apprehension to play five songs with a backing I had recorded on the keyboard. "Grandma's Feather bed", "Hotel California", "Brown-Eyed Girl", a Beatles Medley and "Would You Like to Swing on a Star". I included two original songs about the Bali Bombing and 9/11 and ended with an average version of "King of the Road". I think they enjoyed it! One or two were even able to catch on to the rhythms. I am not sure whether they wanted encores or not but I did three (as the careers turned up late and it seemed the right thing to do).

If you are a little bit down, remember ALL the parts of you that are going well.

Victorian Fire Disaster Feb 2009

Twenty five years ago I was doing a gig in Sydney when the house next to the pub went up in flames. The speed of the fire, the sound of the flames and the immense heat generated was most terrifying. Nothing to what is happening in Victoria at present. To lose your life in this way could not be described accurately. To lose your possessions or be burned must be truly horrific. Over one hundred people have been killed; much worse than the Bali Bombs. (see my blog a few below "Closer to Home". We have to do more than give the survivors our sympathy. We will all have to act to help them.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1878114,00.html

Remembering items.

As I was leaving the tennis club yesterday, I had trouble with all the things I had to remember. When my Grannie was alive 50 years ago, she had two things she did not like to forget. Her glasses and her walking stick in that order! That number has increased significantly over the years. Besides the obvious items like sneakers, racquet, racquet cover, clothes, towel etc. you now have to remember keys, mobile phone, ipod, wallet, card holder, sun glasses, water bottle, sun screen lotion, hair brush and in my case my photographic equipment. As I am the web master for the club, I need the camera nearly every time I go there. Murphy's Law is quite applicable here. If I forget to bring it; sure enough someone or something demands a picture. My daughter turned up yesterday with a $900 mobile complete with some sort of bluetooth box for the car. (My phone was $90 and it performs many more functions than I require). I wonder what you can do with a $900 phone? Perhaps send an f mail to Outer Mongolia. I can only look foward with amazement and anticipation for the gadgets of 2020.