Kerbside in the Castle
This past Saturday I think I had one of the most exhilarating musical experiences of my life.
Just look at the schoolmaster and I and all the RAWK in the picture to your left there – awesome. Cheers to local photographer David Walsh for a great shot.
To put it mildly, our gig in Athlone Castle this weekend went very, very well. Wifey had cautioned me that she’d be getting dolled up for the concert, so I realised my usual high-class and fashionably elite t-shirt and jeans combination mightn’t suit. Yes, I sadly lack any sense of personal style. This being the case I consulted the mighty fashion oracle that is ciachicken. It was with a mischievous grin and great relish that she doled out her advice.
And so it was that I found myself, guitar in hand, clad in rented black tux and dickie bow backstage. My contribution to said look was to forego any footwear, prompting the MC to comment,
“All right folks, it’s time for the sexiest man in a band without any shoes! . . . as if the smell wasn’t bad enough earlier . . . “
What a way to take to the stage.
As for herself, wifey arrived at the concert resplendent in black lace and a corset. Heeyyyy – how YOU doin’? During the sound check I had realised that I would be able to hear very little of my vocals and guitar while playing and so I would just give it my best and hope all our practice would pay off – which it did.
About halfway through the first song I suddenly hardly had the breath to sing. I quickly realised that, if I was to survive our performance, I’d best stop jumping around like a lunatic. It was a fiesty, ebullient landslide of music for me with wifey belting out some great vocals, the daily show churning out some foot-stomping drums and the schoolmaster ripping everything wide open with some toothy guitar parts.
Kerbside‘s Irish lifespan has mostly been an acoustic, dressed-down affair – I’d imagine the the tuxedo-clad, joyfully blaring rock group onstage Saturday would hardly be recognised for the same group. The castle courtyard was full of enthusiastic people thrilled to be rocking out within the old stone walls and the stage and lighting were absolutely top class – it was truly a festival-worthy set-up.
I was so stoked and full of adrenalin that it was only the gravel stuck to my bare feet after the show that convinced me I hadn’t floated offstage and into the dressing room.
Man, what a rush.
I did manage to shoot the performance with some help from Tullamore-based Sigma Video Productions. We set up 4 cameras (2 mounted, 2 manned) around the stage and ze germanz donated a 16-track ADDA unit so we’ve the whole concert – audio and video – recorded. In that are the bones of an excellent concert DVD . . . should I ever find enough time/resources to edit such a beast! Who knows, maybe someone on the Athlone Town Council will think it’s worthwhile and put some money behind that idea . . .
So below there is the obligatory cheesy band shot from before the gig. Awww, ain’t they cute . . .
