Aerosmith/Chris Cornell/The Feeling, Marlay Park, Dublin Tues 26th 07

It rained again although nothing compared to last Friday (see older post) but it was worth making the effort. First laugh came when the Feeling hit the stage around Six (I don't think I've arrived as early to a stadium gig since I was teenager but I was anxious to get a look at this crowd) and the singer had to avoid not one but two flying flagons of cider (at least I presume it was cider...). He took it in good spirits and spent the next hour winning over an initially hostile crowd (one girl I spoke to at the bar stated that she'd like to stand in his eyes while wearing high heels. Charming) with their glorious mix of Jellyfish, Queen and ELO. Their harmonies were spot on and a guitar heavy cover of "Video Killed The Radio Star" is always welcome. Top marks all around.

The same could not be said for Chris Cornell, he gave us blasts of Soundgarden, Audioslave, his bond theme and his new material but it was lost to a band who couldn't quite match it, although in fairness the wind was up and I was at the bar for most of the set so this possibly accentuated any problems.

The 'Smith took the stage like men possessed (let me qualify that: like two men possessed -Tyler & Perry. Imagine being one of the other three in the band - the money would be nice but you'd live your whole live sickened) and threw out the hits. Special mention goes to Jaded, Living On The Edge, Love in An Elevator and Sweet Emotion but I would have loved some more stuff from Toys In The Attic and Pump. Still, good show and those two bastards look remarkable. The paintings in their respective attics must really be a state at this stage.

Man of the match award goes to Jason Quinn who drove myself and The Coff back into town after the show, and played Born To Run in the car on the way, ensuring that we got a few more pints into us before hitting the hay.

Peter Gabriel/Crowded House, Marlay Park Dublin, Fri 22nd June 07

My summer season kicked off last Friday night, the first open air show of the year for me, attended in the estimable company of our friend from the north, Jason Quinn. Let me start with a tip, getting to Marlay park from the centre of Dublin is a pain in the arse, especially when you factor in that great annoyance, work. If you decide to go with the bus option any time after four, as I have done in past campaigns, then make sure you do not have a drink first as you risk bladder damage on a journey that can take as much as two hours to cover a few measly miles. A better option is to hop on the new fangled LUAS, head to Dundrum, stop in the Eagle for a few jars and then get a short taxi ride up to the gig. All sounds good so far, right? Wrong. One always dices with death going out the same weekend that Glastonbury (did you see the Who on the telly? Amazing) takes place, as it always, always rains. Rain however is too small a word for the deluge that fell on Dublin last Friday. We waited in the aforementioned Eagle as long as possible but wanted to see Crowded House so headed up around 7. Got absolutely soaked as the antipodeans played (see photo for evidence, look at the state of my barnet for the love of jaysus), and they even tried a weather joke before launching into "Weather With You", I felt this to be a mistake.

Crowded House delivered with the hits and some pleasant enough stuff from the forthcoming album. A Good show and I'm looking forward to seeing them indoors when they return here later in the year. Peter Gabriel was a different kettle of fish however. I spotted a tee shirt in the crowd before he came on which referred to this series of gigs as the rehearsal tour (or something similar), a bad sign for sure. I'd heard stories of his live gigs being great visual as well as musical experiences but this was not to be the case. Nothing apart from a few lights and then he announced that this was to be one for the serious fans and he'd be playing all the stuff he hadn't played the last time. The resulting show leads me to believe that he played almost every thing he's released that could be described as a hit the last time he hit Dublin. Now this is fair enough for some of the people in the audience who certainly seemed to enjoy it but I wouldn't be that serious a fan, although I love the 'Us" album and his great soundtrack to "The Last Temptation of Christ", so it was a let down for me although there was a fine version of "Blood Of Eden"

Oh, and he did play "Sledgehammer", of course.

Further Memphian Tales

We also checked out the Memphis Rock N Soul Museum while we there. Isn't it great the way Americans are willing to spare no expense on their heritage, you could easily spend a day in this fantastic museum which covers every aspect of the marvellous music that this town gave the world. You're given a headset to guide yourself around the exhibits which not only gives information on everything but allows you to hear full songs from every era, from Hellhound On My Trail to Flying Saucer Rock N' Roll (they came down to help us do the bop indeed!) to Call Me to September Gurls. Worth the entrance price just to see Isaac Hayes' stage costumes. No photos allowed inside the building but here's one of my kicking the over sized football statue outside for intended, but failed, comedic effect.

A word of warning: you might be tempted to visit the Gibson guitar factory across the street and take the tour but do not. Rubbish, frankly


If you do ever get there, do not miss the Stax Museum, and you may as well do it right by taking the tours provided by this crowd, Backbeat Tours. We had the great Gary Hardy as a guide, which meant we got to hear inside stories and see Willie Mitchell's Studio, Aretha Franklin's birthplace and the motel where Martin Luther King was gunned down as well as Stax.

The Stax tour starts off, like them all, with a short film and you then go through excellent presentations on the history of soul, from the early days of field hollers, gospel and blues, up through the various successes of the record company. Again, no photos allowed, but I did get to stand in the reconstructed studio beside Steve Cropper's guitar and saw more of Isaac Hayes' gear. The man must not have had a mirror in his house. Exit is through the gift shop, as always, but it was worth it this time as I managed to pick up a Booker T. & The MG's box set for next to nothing.

Graceland, Sun & Tupelo

Of course the main point of any trip to Memphis is to take the tour of Graceland (and Sun). The first thing one notices on driving up to Graceland is that it's in a pretty run down part of town, not at all what you'd expect although I presume it was different in the King's time (which has past, he's really dead, you know?).
The tour we got was the premium one, which I think is the middle one, this allowed us a tour of the mansion, the car museum and the planes. The Mansion itself, while offering a fantastic experience, does somehow resemble the set from an old seventies detective show where the main character was a bored millionaire who solved crimes on the side. As the guides will tell you several times, it's been preserved just as it was when Elvis passed away. The basement is a site to see as is the Jungle room but my favourite moment was walking into the kitchen just as the line about making some noise with the pots and pans in 'Shake, Rattle & Roll' sounded out in the headphones. The tour also shows a massive trophy room containing items from his career, a racket ball court that's been converted to hold gold records and his offices. Now I've heard people going on about the grave and how affecting it is before and I wanted to hit them with a plank but it does catch you a bit. It reads; "God saw that he needed some rest and called him home to be with him". Nice.

The tour continues with a walk through the car museum, I was particularly taken with all the various classes of buggies that he used for arseing around the estate with the boys. His two planes, the Lisa Marie and the Hound Dog II, are things of rare beauty - so far over the top that they're coming back up the other side. Want gold plated taps in the jacks on your next flight? well here they are. The world would be a more fun place if Elvis was still in it.
Don't worry if you have a hankering for some Elvis tat on the way out as I counted at least four different souvenir shops. You cannot buy this kind of class.


While attempting to find Sun Studios, I made the stupid mistake of believing one of those free tourist "maps" and assumed that it was just around the corner from Beale Street on Union Ave. and convinced the boys to walk. This was a foolish move. The heat and humidity nearly killed us as we made this, at least, twenty minute trek and things weren't helped by a local "character" following us as we got further and further from the centre of town, talking excitedly into his cell phone about this "business opportunity" that had just landed in his lap.

We made it, despite ourselves and it really does take your breath away to walk around a building and be faced with the location of several of the greatest moments in history. The tour itself is great fun, our guide really knew her onions and let us take photos in the studio itself. Don't forget that if the mood takes you, a demo at sun will only cost $90 an hour. That makes no sense at all but it's apparently true.




Being complete gluttons for punishment, our touring party of four (Willie, Dec, The Coff and myself) also drove to Elvis' Birthplace at Tupelo, Mississippi. To say we were hungover while doing this akin to describing the sea as being a bit wet but we pushed on, for little reward as it turned out. It's nice to say I was there but the museum was very poor ("here's a coffee cup from a hotel room that Elvis once stayed in!") although it's interesting to see the two room shack he came up in, and we did get a nice photo of the Coff reaching across the table while the guide's back was turned.
As I paid for my ticket the woman behind the counter informed me that the Chapel was over to the left. "I need that today" says I. "You need that every day, Son" was her reply. Wise words madam!

The Trip Part 1

Well I'm back, Dublin seems to be in black and white after glorious Tennessee which has me a bit down but there you go.
We arrived in Memphis after what seemed forever (flew to Amsterdam first, hung around for a few hours and then about 9 hours to Memphis), rented a car drove into town, droped the bags at the hotel and then down to Beale street. Enjoyed a few "Big Ass Beers" (see photo) while walking around in the crippling heat and Humidity which is not meant to be experienced by white Irish boys. Grabbed some eats in the very fine Blues City Cafe and did our best to hang out on the strip but we were knackered after the long haul so hit the sheets at the relatively early time of 1 in the morning.

Woke up on the Sunday morning with great intentions of going to look for Al Green's church to hear him preach but while having breakfast down the street, noticed how well turned out people were (Jesus is serious business in the south), and decided turning up with my head hanging off me would show a serious lack of respect so instead I went off and got properly drunk. We had decided before hand that Sunday would not be a good day to take any tours so by a completely random process of selection, we sat down outside The Pig On Beale and proceeded to get stuck in. There are many great places where I have gotten drunk in the past but Beale street ranks up there with any of them. Junior looked after us very well as we chatted and drank with a fantastic variety of heads. Perhaps this photo will help illustrate the kind of heap I proceeded to get into.

The video below shows more messing from the same day where one of the hawkers tried to announce myself and the Coff but gets the names mixed up.

How I would love to tell you about the rest of the evening but it escapes me frankly, I have images of beers, screwdrivers, blues musicians, stupid hats, barbecue, standing on a bar rail singing the Irish national anthem (can anything beat the charm of the Irish drunk abroad?) and breaking the lamp in the hotel room while Coff and I pretended to be the "Leprechaun". Arseing around on a grand scale.

At Last, it is upon us

At last! Flying to Memphis first thing in the morning. Beside myself with excitement despite a heart threatening passport worry earlier.
Celebrate with the King and Never Been To Spain (so obviously, passports didn't trouble him).
Reports on our progress when and If I can.