Anyone who knows me will have gotten the recommendation from me to listen to John Smith, so I was very excited to open for him at his Dundalk show at the Spirit Store.
As ever there was a gorgeous crowd in, along with a few of my cousins who had never been to the Spirit Store, and friends who came out to support me! Derek and the Spirit Store team made it the loveliest of evenings and a singalong to Great Lakes topped the whole thing off. Like I said - check out John Smith!
0 Comments
I left Rob to head to work, with thoughts of a move to Berlin, I headed to Adrian’s super cool apartment and we spent the afternoon chatting. We got to Frollein Langer about 7 to set up, in a gorgeous living room style room, with a bathtub at the centre of it all. I played to a load of familiar faces and a few new ones too, at what was a beautiful night. Off to PragueThe next morning I was up and at 'em, and on a train to Prague. Just over 4 hours railing though stunning countryside and I’m in another country. Travis O'Neill came to collect me from the train station and take me to my AirBnB. Travis is Irish and has lived in Czech for 7 years, playing music, currently with two outfits – Travis O'Neill and his Cardinal Sins, a rocking folk band who were got to see on St Patrick’s Day and Pipes and Pints a super popular Punk band. It was Travis that suggested I be booked for the St Patrick’s Day Festival. We hung out for a bit and had a few Czech beers before I went for a wander and got my bearings. I'd missed out on a lot if sleep the previous two nights, so took an early night and got up to go for a wander round the city, in search of goof coffee and insta story shots! Travis suggested I find Onesip Coffee and he was right! Great coffee and a little barrista store in the old town. Friendly staff asked what I was up to in Prague and I told them I was playing for the St Patrick's Day celebrations. Two flat whites and a few insta pics and I’m off on my way round the city. Along the river and over a bridge, back over Charles bridge and back to the apartment. I get an Instagram message from the guys in the cafe asking where I’m playing that night and Zdeněk who made my coffee came along with his girlfriend Teresa to the first of two shows in Prague, AND took some awesome photos!! Myself and Travis had a gorgeous wee gig that we didn't want to finish - and the fact that the girl who was stage managing disappeared, meant we did a good few extra songs for a really beautiful audience! Prague was off to a great start! Saturday was St Patrick's Day, the day of the Festival show, and also the day for Ireland to beat England in the Rugby and become 6 Nations and Grand Slam winners. Myself and Ivi headed to an Irish bar for food and to get a seat in advance of the match to revel in the atmosphere. I had to control myself and try not to shout and scream at the screens to keep my voice for the gig that night! Back to the amazing Rock Cafe in the city centre to see Jameson had the place decked out fabulously, cocktails flowing and a face-painter installed painting flags and shamrocks all round! I was a bit anxious of how the gig would go - given St Patrick's Day is hardly the day for a singer songwriter to stand up and sing about their feelings! But the audience were amazing and listening and I met some great people! After my set Travis took to the stage with his brilliant band and was followed by a brilliant cocktail display and Blood or Whiskey! Gig photos below by the incredibly talented Ivi Rebova.
Ended up spending the whole day at the airport with majorly delayed flight - but it didn't dampen the mood! Looking forward to a return visit to Prague! It's not every day you get asked to play at Twitter - but I was invited to take part in their International Women's Day lunchtime event!
I played a few songs at the beginning and the end of the event (after some string breakage, just as I was about to start!), and got to hear the lovely Lousie McSharry and the inspirational Sinead Burke speak about women who inspire them! #SheInspiresMe The Open Door Sessions Was invited to play at the Open Door Sessions in Bailieborough on the 16th of February and it was brilliant! Got to share the stage with fellow Carrickmacross band Native Talk - who were fab! Played new song 'Sorry' as a worldwide exclusive for them! ![]() The CO Club Then it was back to Oldcastle to one of my favourite ever gigs, in Crean's Bar. Sharing the night was Robert John Aldriff and Nuala Leonard was a total pleasure and once again the audience were quiet and listening intently! New song 'I've got news for you' got a first time airing, and even had some singing along! Live at the Underground
Finally I was playing a headline gig at the Undergound on Dame Street, Dublin. The incredible Niall McGuigan opened the night with songs off his album Awareness and some Monoglian throat singing. My turn came and felt like it went very quickly - playing to a very quiet room, listening to every word - especially of the newer songs! There were some laughs, and apparently some tears - so a good balanced gig! Ha! Thanks so much to everyone who came out on a Sunday night to see me play, especially those who had to drive a distance! |
NewsNews from Grainne Archives
July 2019
Categories |