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The Errigle Inn, Belfast

Posted by manicdrums in 2002 John Jorgenson & Friends UK Tour

Whoever arranged this part of the tour routing has a sick sense of humour! From one end of Ireland to the other, PLUS a gig at the end of it. We set off straight after breakfast. Swirling mist gave way to watery sun on the road out of Waterford. Ireland are playing Spain in a World Cup match at lunchtime today, which might help the traffic situation. As it happens, by the time we got to Dublin, the roads were definitely clearing. The N1 from Dublin, north to the border, was practically deserted, which was a blessing, as it is normally the most crowded road on the island, and much of it is STILL not divided highway (dual carriageway), making passing difficult (if not impossible in our diesel van). Just about the only other people on the road were from Northern Ireland.

As we crossed the border, the roads instantly improved and it was not long before we were speeding along a section of motorway. We left the road about 10 miles out of Belfast, to meet up with Alan’s brother-in-law. His wife, Vivian, has driven over from Scotland, to visit her brother’s family, and they will drive back together after the tour is over (in 3 days). The rest of us found a pub to watch the end of the match while eating lunch. Sadly, Ireland lost on a penalty shootout, after giving Spain a really good run for their money. In fact, I think they could easily have won.

We drove on to the gig in the rain (yet again). Finding the pub looked hard at first. In fact I thought we were going to get really lost, and so we stopped to ask a couple of young men if they knew where Ormeau Road was. They looked at each other a bit strangely, then one of them turned back to us and said “You’re On it!” So we then asked if they knew the Errigle Inn, and they told us to just keep on down the road for another mile or so and we couldn’t miss it! They were true to their word. In fact people in various stages of inebriation were spilling out onto the road from the pub. It appears they had all been watching the match, and a large proportion had chosen to drown their sorrows. We are playing in a room above the main bar, so this did little to impede our progress, although on a couple of occasions we encountered groups of rather belligerent drinkers, staggering out of the pub and home.

I suppose the fact that much of Ireland was in a state of semi-mourning, coupled with the fact that this show was pitifully badly publicised (no posters were evident anywhere outside the gig itself) explained why we ended up playing to 19 people. But it is important NOT to make the people who CAME suffer, so we did the best we could. I think JJ was more frustrated than the rest of us. To add insult to injury, the place seemed to be extraordinarily smoky! Our clothes, my drums – all our equipment – took on the smell of tobacco smoke – YUK!

Our B&B tonight is a really nice place, run by a cheerful couple, set in a nice street not far from the gig. They even offered their own secure parking place for the van, which was way beyond what they needed to do!