Johnny don’t go…

Well ladies and gentlemen, I managed to see John Spillane three times in the last five days.  Fair play to me.

At the last minute we wangled a babysitter last Thursday night and made it down to the Marquee for John and Mick Flannnery.  John literally rocked the house, great concert, nice to bring Mick into it too.  Cheer the young fella up a bit.

Then I was putting the kids to bed (late) on Saturday night and the call came up the stairs, ‘John Spillane’s on Miriam’.  And there he was in a Blaze of Glory, Another Ball Safely in the Back of the Net, doing his stuff for Miriam.

Sunday we headed West through the storms to Dzogchen Beara.  The Misses as been interested in seeing the place for ages (I feel a retreat coming on soon) and they have had a ‘Free Spirit’ weekend with events, meditations and free concerts.  It was a bit further out along Beara than either of us remembered but we made it without too many ‘are we there yet’s.

Wow, what a wonderful haven of a place.  At perfect spot.  And there in the evening was John.  Fresh from Dublin and RTÉ.

Now believe it or not the kids are big fans.  The girls have been since the Live at the Speigeltent DVD came with Hey Dreamer.  The small fella gets off his chair to dance and sing to most of Irish Songs we learnt at School.

Another great show.  So not-the-marquee.  A tent on Beara with 200-odd people.  Same great performance (no one getting up for more beer throughout).  He even didn’t run a mile when the Mad Woman from Cork (aka my wife) came up and told him our 2 year old was a fan. Oh no, he sang a few lines of An Poc ar Buile specially for him.

So the kids got their dream to see him live, in the perfect circumstances.  We got our John Spillane hit (until Christmas anyway).  We drove home late (again, thank goodness for school holiday), four in the car asleep but all happy.

Thanks John.  Thanks for the Songs From Your Own Imagination.  Thanks Dzogchen Beara, you have our support and best wishes.

John Spillane at Dzogchen Beara
John Spillane at Dzogchen Beara

James O’Sullivan Live On-line

James is a local musician who seems to have worked with just about everyone in the area as well as touring Europe and the US with various bands.  He is extremely talented (and a very nice guy too) and I had the pleasure of shooting some portraits and other images for his new web site.

So you no longer have to take my word for it, check out the site at http://www.shambobala.com/james and keep your eyes open for James gigging in the city and county.  He can also be booked for events, weddings and all that (check out the details on his site)