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Whelan’s, Dublin

Posted by Charlie in 2002 John Jorgenson & Friends UK Tour

We took a somewhat circuitous route to Dublin, via Monaghan – the reason being that Alan and Vivian were going to come to Dublin with us, in the van, and they wanted to leave their car in Monaghan (where we play our last gig, tomorrow night). In fact, it was a most pleasant experience, as we were able to meet Sorla (sp?), a friend of Alan’s who was largely responsible for getting us the gigs in Ireland. He is heavily involved with the Arts Council of Monaghan County, and has run the Monaghan Music Festival for a number of years, so he is somewhat influential in town. We had lunch in a nearby pub, then bundled into the van and headed South.

The tortuous country roads, followed by negotiating the Dublin rush hour was not fun, but we managed to find Whelan’s, thanks to a combination of great map reading by Vivian and a detailed drawing by Sorla! Load in and sound check took a while, after which we were treated to a fabulous meal in a wonderful restaurant nearby, by the Sennheiser rep for Ireland. Unfortunately this moment of relaxation was short lived, as we had to dash back and prepare for the show. The gig was not full, but there were enough people there to avoid embarrassment! In fact we had people from as far afield as Belgium and Germany, plus some Elton fans who live in Dublin. Thanks to all of you for helping to make the evening a good experience! We eventually reached the B&B in the small hours of the morning, and I dropped into bed.