How could I have forgotten a great night in Worcester, near Boston where Alan and Caroline came to see us play in a classical concert.??? It snowed in the evening and it was so great to see familiar faces when I've been away so long!!!!
Here's one of me in rehearsal that evening in the hall.









Me an Our Pal in de snow and a smashing self portrait of the 3 of us....Pure savage!










Not long after this was the 1st of March or the Bulgarian equivalent of St. Patrick's Day....as we left the hotel at 8am for an horrendous bus journey of 11 hrs we all were presented with these wrist bracelets, all made by the orchestra to celebrate the day. Here's all the Irish crew with them on at the back o the bus......







Cork colours an all like....deadly!!!

There then insued one of the finest days I've ever had on a tour especially with the people I was with....a 6hr jam session on the bus non-stop no repeating songs no nothing just song/tune reel/jig after another....with everyone involved. It was in a word....staggering, especially for someone with a real 'disciplined' approach to music. Jamming in the real sense of the word. Here are some snaps of the unforgetable journey.......Enjoy


Not a bit enjoying myself!!!!

Here's a few random snaps that I'm gonna put up. I found em on the computer today!!!!
Here's me doing my thing in Savahnnah.......






Finally.......fame at last, with my very own dressing room!!!!!




Frank'you talkin to me?' Cassidy














Can't escape the 'DAWG'
Mike Galvin and Eric Cunningham in full session mode

Preparing for a Happy Birthday....Salsa style
















Rehearsing the Salsa in one of our hotel rooms
Frankie warming up before concert in Lexington and finally the masterful Aidan O'Brien gets his hands on a 5 string Banjo in Sam Ash's music shop, Orland Florida

Well the last week has been....well......a whirlwind. We've been in the New Jersey, New York, Boston area and it's been mad!!!!!

We've done 9 Irish nights in a row and it is really cooking now. Last nights show had loads of reps and potential sponsors present not to mind a few famous actors there too....Patrick Bergin and Gabriel Byrne to name but a few!!!!!

To be honest the best thing I can do in terms of time is to put up loadsa pics and short descriptions....I have over 2000 photos now and it's just too time consuming to put them all up!!!!!!

Firstly some more party snaps. Frankie's Band Hibernian Rhapsody joined the tour 5 days ago to fill out his section a bit. Joining him were the amazing Mike Galvin on guitar and Damian Mullane on accordion. Also, there was Eric Cunningham, the Women of Ireland manager and quite amazing Bodrhan player.

Here they are in action.










And in action after the gig in the hotel lobby, with the legenderay Mike Galvin on Guitar...Eric Cunningham on Whistles and Ingrid Madsen from 'Women of Ireland' sining away...great night!!!!Oh and a few Bulgarians drinking whiskey and wearing my beloved flag!!!!












On Monday we were thrown a reception by the Irish consular general in New York.
Here's a few snaps of downtown in rush hour...what a place. PIty we couldn't stay longer, but I'll be going back...definately
Good ol Mac Donalds... you can't argue with this wan though...full neon lights etc
















The reception was a Black tie affair it was held in his penthouse on the 58th floor of an appartment block just off 42nd st. 360 degree balcony view is what awaited us, the New York skyline in all its splendour. Quite breathtaking.....I think you'll agree.
yep...all the way up there!!!!
































Before and after the ol sunset...what a view....got loads more hopefully get the on tomorrow now tht the inernet works in the hotel!!!!!!
PROST

Asheville is a really nice place and the concert there went great. Following the gruelling few days we'd had I came up with the bright idea of throwing a thank you party for the orchestra who are after all playing every concert. I mean I am too but I felt that it would be great for morale. Myself and Frank Cassidy bought $200 worth of beer and wine and we bought $100 dollars worth of pizza!!!!! The orchestra loved it and I think it made them really appreciative of the effort!!!

Here's a load of snaps of the party......































The other good thing for morale was that the following day we were all off!!!!
And it was superbowl day!!! We had some great steak and watched the game. Here's me with Jim our bus driver. He's a great guy. Originally from Liverpool, he's been here for years, and he's just a really cool guy.









Yesterday we played one of the biggest halls I've ever been in. The Bob Jones university in Greenville South Carolina is actually where Ian Paisley came to prominence! The hall which was called the...wait for it......"The Founders memorial Amihitorium".....which is a real mouthful, seated 7000 and the concert was full, with students of the university who were compelled to attend!!!! When I walked out to make the pre-concert announcement I got genuinely shocked by the sheer volume of people!!!! Didn't fumble the name of the hall though.





Hopefully the pictures do it justice.

Following that we travelled to Athens, Georgia where we played in another huge High School Auditorium.....


It was gas, they invited the soloists to meet some music students before the show. It was hilarious we all got dressed up and proceeded to the cafeteria where we all introduced one by one and fed with........wait for it.....

Corned Beef and Spuds!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was so funny, all of us in our D.J.'s the women of Ireland group all dressed to kill, and Colman Pearce in his Tails eating Corned Beef!




The first thing that they learned about Dublin was that it is the most expensive city in the world!


Opposite the hotel was the first proper bar we've found....here's the post gig drinks/food with all the Bulgarians who come out with us. Most of em have good english but we're helping them improve, and we're learning a bit of Bulgarian too!!!! John Walsh will be fluent by the end of the tour I reckon!!! And I found a space invader game like the one in Connollys in Leap, West Cork......Savage!!!












The next day we'd a day off and took into Athens which is a lovely little town, we had lunch and just wandered about until of course the rowdy Irish has to get up to mischief!!!The local football team are nicknamed 'The Dawgs' which is gas as it's the way gav, myself frost and mick Marshall describe something that's cool...as in '...that gig was the DAWGS biy....'
These metal 'Dawgs' are all over Athens so, I had to get on for a bit o craic!!!!!

The following 3 days we really found out all about the grueling life touring. 8-am bus...6hrs travel...arrive at hotel check in.....barely have time for a shower....go to rehearsal...do gig...return to hotel...sleep...same again next day.

It is incredibly tiring, and everyone was feeling exhausted.....then you arrive at somewhere that knocks you off your feet!!!!

Lexington, Kentucky....totally snowed in and iced over. The Irish concert was a knockout and I'm really getting the hang of the compereing. Also the show is running much slicker even though there's a ton of music to get through!!!

Today we're travelling to Asheville, North Carolina!!!! Famous place where the RTECO were 10 years ago.

enjoy the pictures.

See ye soon.