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Karl's Irish Tour blog, part 6 - Belfast Andrew's alarm started to sound at 8-am and like the trooper he is, promptly rose to feed the monster.. I was somewhat awake and thought I would join him for a walk around Dublin City.. The sun was bearing down on the city this Wednesday morning and a walk seemed like a good idea.. However, I was unaware how far Lollipop was docked from the hotel and it seemed to take forever as we scurried to reach her.. Just as we turned into the street where she was docked the monster keepers were on the prowl. With the monster fed it was time to have slow walk back to the hotel for breakfast. We had another couple of hours on the meter before we would have to move Lollipop. The venues parking lot opened at 10.30-am and we could then park there free of hassle because we would be loading the gear out of the venue. The city was warming up in the grip of the early morning sun and the amount of hips, lips and things that make you say ooh were adding to this heat. We made our way back to the La Stampa and just managed to catch Rachel, Becky and Dan before they left for the ferry. With au-revoirs said it was time to have breakfast at the wonderful establishment we were staying in.. Abbz was saying his farewells to Karen and Sam. They were flying back home today. Once breakfast was downed it was time for one last walk around the City before retrieving and loading Lollipop and heading for Belfast. We arranged to meet at the venue at 11.30 for load-out and to say our final farewells to Dr Michael and the guys from Soloway (Dave, Tony, Shane and Donal). Thanks guys keep rockin'. With Lollipop loaded and one more crew member on board (Brian) we set a course of due north for Belfast. Lollipop was once again captained by Andrew with Abbz again as his co-pilot.. The ship felt complete with all the band members on board. Music played and the banter between the band was of the experience of the previous night. The mood was electric as we approaching Belfast. The clouds were gathering and it looked as if the heavens would open up by the time we reached the Rosetta bar. They did. This was only the second time that the band had played Belfast. The first again being on the Megadeth tour.. We loaded in and were met by Andy the house engineer who gave us a phenomenal sound.. My drums sounded like cannons. Once sound-check was over it was time to eat. The promoters Corey & Dale organised Chinese food for us and then it was time to head to our lodgings..
You have to understand that we had just left the five star La Stampa hotel in Dublin when we arrived at the B&B in the city of Belfast.. Talk about Chalk and Cheese. However, it had a bed, a shower, a toilet and warm water. This was also to be the place of Nick's final interview for Tart TV. "It's not that bad" he said "it has an Alba TV, there pretty good" Everyone was in great spirits and looking forward to the show. We headed back to the venue for the show. The place was almost sold-out. we couldn't believe it.. We went into our own psychological warm ups as we prepared for the show. The atmosphere was reaching fever pitch by the time our intro started. Once the ceremonial hug was complete we took to the stage.
The reception we received raised the roof.. There were moments during the show when the amount of noise the crowd made literally stopped us in our tracks. We were gobsmaked. What a feeling. Both Nick and I had to take pictures of these magic moments. We ploughed through our set to rapturous applause. Jim from 'Were all gonna die' gave me a load of T-shirts to give away at the Belfast show which I duly obliged. With the show over it was time to sell Merchandise, sign autographs and all that jazz. For the second time in Belfast I was asked to sign a breast. Now you have to understand this is a great honour. But how do you hold said breast. Firmly? ,this could be interpreted as a feel or do you just rest the pen on the flesh and sign. What a dilemma.LOL Brian, Nick and Eddie manned the merchandise table and I think it was the hardest thirty minutes work they had done all tour. " 'That was crazy" Brian said.. " "I've got a lot more respect for merchandise sellers" While all this was going on Abbz and Andrew were breaking down the back-line. The security guards cleared the venue and it was time hang with Corey, Dale and Andy the sound engineer. We had an absolute blast with these guys and we'll be back next year to play the city of Belfast. Once Lollipop was loaded it was time to head back to the B&B. We unloaded Lollipop into the B&B and headed for bed.
We had an early rise next morning as we had to drive back to Dublin to catch the ferry to Holyhead. 6.30-am came around very quickly and we began to re-load Lollipop. The owner of the B&B graciously prepared breakfast for us earlier than normal. Once breakfast was downed it was to time for us to head due South to Dublin. Andrew steered the ship for the first hour and then Abbz took over. We were all very tired after five shows on the trot. All was smooth and the mood on board was very tranquil when, Lollipop started smoking again from the port bow. Abbz pulled over and we poured water on the excessively hot front wheel. Once again we rocked Lollipop backwards and forwards in order to free the brakes. With this accomplished we made our way to Dublin. Once on board the ferry we traipsed around looking for seats and finally something to eat. The crossing was quick and before we knew it it was time to make our way back to Lollipop. I had control of the helm as we made our way through North Wales towards home.. After a couple of hours it was time for a pit stop and then Brian captained Lollipop for the final part of the journey. The rains were coming down thick and heavy as made our way back to the Midlands. We dropped Nick off and he was pleased to see Nile, Brenan and Anna. Then Abbz, Sam was there to help unload. Then it was over to Val and Pete's to drop me off. And finally Lollipop was to dock in Bowling Green Road. We were home. I hope you've enjoyed these blogs on Diamond Head's first tour of Ireland. A lot of people worked extremely hard behind the scenes to make this happen for us and we would like to thank everybody involved for making this happen for us. Rachel, thanks for all your hard-work it did not go unnoticed. Tor and Steve for Lights and Sound. Soloway- Donal, Dave Tony and Shane for being great bunch of lads. 'We're all gonna die' Jim, Scott and Jesse for the invite to Boston and all the merry moments The X Brothers - JJ Bouchard. Andy Hilfger for the free bees and Jimmy Cacula for being Jimmy. Corey and Dale for the Belfast show And Once again Dr Michael Conway, his sisters Bernadette and Jean for everything. And last but not least Owen, driver of carrier Mercedes for carting us to and from. Thank you. And finally to all the fans who came to see us. Thanks for 'Makin' Music' with us. We'll see you all next year. Peace from DHQ |
