So I went to Dublin

[b-grrrlie]

Black Rebel Motorcycle were suddenly asked to support the Killers on their UK tour and on their nights off they wanted to do some low-key gigs of their own. Dublin gig was the first to be announced and quite a few of us from the forum decided to travel there and get a first chance to hear their new stuff.

I've been to Dublin several times and I've always liked that town. Now it had been almost 11 years since I'd been there last and luckily a workmate of mine (who lived there a couple of years ago) told me they have trams there now I would've been totally taken by surprice.

I arrived very late at night so I headed straight to the hostel I'd booked, very near the Trinity collage. It was cheap and horrible, I ain't staying there again...
The next morning I woke up too early, my phone should adjust the clock automatically, which hadn't happened for some reason. So I was alone at breakfast and then headed out to the rushhour. I decided to check the route to the venue and as I walked the pace of the people rushing to work it only took me 10 minutes to get there. I decided to go and check the St Stephen's Green park to wait until the stores open.
The spring was already well on the way down there! Cherry was blossoming, magnoliablooms just bursting, daffodils and primulas everywhere!!! (and in Sweden we had finally gotten the winter snow....)

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/497/cherryblossomei4.jpg

http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/8836/ststephensgreensa6.jpg

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/6848/yeatsmemorialaf6.jpg

I met my friends in the afternoon and after we'd all gathered together (some came from Stevenage, Nottingham, around Leeds) we decided to go to the venue to see if anyone had gotten there and then to go for a pint before the gig. There was a purple wall somewhere on the way so of course a picture of me had to be taken in front of it!! :-D

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/9229/purplewallmg7.jpg

The sisters from Berlin were already there and a girl from Philly (she's been living in London for the last 18 months and moving to NY in March), they've all been following BRMC everywhere. While chatting there we saw Robert (the bassplayer) arriving on the other side of the street, with a girl videofilming every step he took and some other people. When he came to the door he realised who was standing there and gave me and Disco great big hugs "So great to see you again!" :-D (J got totally jealous cause she likes Rob as well and he didn't recognise her at all...) He talked to us quite a long time, but I doubt if he'd been quite as friendly if the camera hadn't been pointing at him all the time. :/

Then the fanatics went to queue to the backentrance to the venue and we elderly went for a couple of pints and then to the chipshop and I had some chips with cheese.... ! (influenced by.... :-D )

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/5474/chipsncheesebx0.jpg

[na§tee]

CHIPS AND CHEESE FTW!!! so, how was it? the chips and cheese, i mean, not the BRMC concert or dublin, oh nooooo! :cool: would you recommend it to other bbmbers? did you eat it all up and not cruelly discard half of it? i hope so! excellent! (y) haha, i am so impressed.

the blossom looks beautiful. oh shitz, that reminds me - i totally have a PLANT CRISIS (they do exist!) that i need to post pictures of for you to diagnose! my rubber plant may be close to death! :(

glad you had a grrrreat time, b-grrrlie. love the purple wall.

[b-grrrlie]

The gig was great!
We were right at the front, behind this invisible line the bouncers had made up, there was no barrier and the stage was pretty low.
The support band was local Mainline, who were big BMRC fans.
They sounded very much like Brian Jonestown Massacre to me, and the bassplayer right in front of me was a gorgeous cliche of striped long sleeves, pipelegged jeans and converse playing a Rickenbacker.

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/5994/mainline070226bgrrrliets6.jpg

BRMC played quite a lot of new stuff, some were absolutely fantastic! I filmed all the new songs so I could examine them better later...
But when they played their old chomping favourites the crowd went mad and the security were unable to keep us still, giving begging looks to their boss on the balcony, we totally crushed them! :-D Rob even came to harrass the one in front of me and Disco, him not realising it, cause he was behind his head. Rob has done that before, when he gets annoyed with over-ambitious bouncers.

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/2245/dsc05196xxak3.jpg

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/3053/dsc05239xxqz9.jpg

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/7365/dsc05217xxpz9.jpg

On one of the new songs Robert and Peter swopped places and instruments (they've done it once before on one really early track).

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/6475/2xrh4.jpg

[b-grrrlie]

The next day I went strolling around the Temple Bar.

http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/8492/roadclosedft9.jpg

Found this pub Auld Dubliner, of which I have happened to take pics before, first the first time I was there (17 years ago), then later when they demolished the whole place, and now it was back, looking exactly the same!

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/4207/aulddublineroa6.jpg

Next to it was a new pub tho', and how Irish is that, with all the English flags on it....

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/5392/pubhd1.jpg

Stag's Head used to be our "local", but now I just popped in before lunch and it was totally empty.

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/4664/stagsheadhn8.jpg

And I had to take a tourist pic of the Ha' Penny Bridge...

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/4528/hapennybridgejq1.jpg

[b-grrrlie]

Yeah I ate all of the chips! Guess you have to have a couple of pints before being able to do that... There wasn't enough salt on them tho. One guy from the BRMC crew threw his away, well he'd had a burger already...

In the afternoon I flew back home. At the airport it was really windy, it was almost a struggle to walk to the plane, and it was a pretty shakey take-off.

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/2084/runwayti9.jpg

Sun was already going down so you could see the shadow of the plane on the clouds! And look at the little rainbow around it!

http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/4899/airplanexe2.jpg

And Captain Murphy's Space is a cold and lonely place never sounded so appropriate...

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/6410/abovethecloudsct9.jpg

[Documad]

I wish we could send you to concerts and have you do a trip diary every week. That was lovely.

I'm glad you had a nice trip.

[befsquire]

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/6848/yeatsmemorialaf6.jpg
i think this is my favorite pic, though i also really love the first one.

i want my backyard to look like this. only with a coi pond too. and a pool. and a waterfall.

glad you had a great time :)

[b-grrrlie]

Yeah that's the Yeats' memorial in St Stephen's Green. Totally got my garden designer juices flowing! :D

[monkey]

what beautiful photos!!! looks like you had a great time. i sooo want some fries with cheese now.

[DeeJayZap]

looks like a great trip!!

and to all you non-irish, it was a rare time that it didnt rain :P

[b-grrrlie]

Actually it was pissing down at night after the gig....

[roosta]

the english flags can be explained by the presence of the Ireland v England rugby match that was happening.

That's one of the few pub's that i'd seen here that did put up the English flag. Some pubs have all the other 5 flags for the 6 nations and not the english... (!)