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Karl's Irish Tour blog, part 3 - Limerick Here's day three of the "Yes I know Godzilla Tour. There were gray clouds in the blue sky which were looking ominous as we strolled into breakfast on the Sunday morning. The mood was full of excitement as history was being made today! Diamond Head were to play a castle! (the band as you know has played Castle Donnington but this was a REAL Castle) We were after all, making history in the city of Limerick. After filling up on a hearty Irish breakfast, we made arrangements to load Lollipop and head for Limerick. Lollipop and Carrier VW were in convoy. Along the way we had planned to kiss the Blarney Stone but the lines were too long and the weather was rainy.
Lollipop was captained by Andrew Bailey and co-piloted by Nick Tart. Nick was also acting as the resident DJ and playing selections from his CD collections. He was hitting us hard and heavy with some obscure Rockabilly which was refreshing after all the metal and Rock we had heard the previous night.. Although there were moans and groans from the back row and a consistent request for Genesis. The scenery was sublime and very green compared to the totally burnt out California hills I had just come from. Dr Michael had booked us in to the Hilton Hotel and we had heard there was a swimming pool there.. swim shorts were required so we had to hit the stores as we were not prepared for such things.. We arrived in Limerick and headed straight for the Hilton.. Dr Michael had surpassed himself this time.. This was the dogs b*&^%$&s We all had fantastic rooms however Nick and Abbz's room had a connecting suite next to their room which was open..Nick was to conduct his first interview for Tart Television in this room.. After checking in we made our way to the Castle to check out the venue. The weather was looking ominous and we were praying the rains held off. However this stage had a more structurally sound roof.. It was part of a truck which opened out into a stage, totally amazing. The set up was running late for some reason and they were having problems getting the power sorted.. Dr Michael was not looking too pleased.. We unloaded Lollipop and continued to set up.. The drums were being set up by Andrew and Dan and all hands helped to get the backline up... We raised the backdrop and once we had sorted the backline and the Merchandise table we pa-roused the Castle.. This was a once in a life time experience for us all. Here we are playing a Castle with security et al and we owe a huge thanks to Dr Michael for all his efforts. We headed back to the hotel to take advantage of the swimming pool, steam room and sauna... Absolutely marvelous. We all had the chance to totally chill out and relax; almost a vacation; We still had a show to do.
After a couple of hours we headed back to the castle for sound check.We were escorted in by the Castle security and one couldn't help feeling delusions of grandeur. Dan had hooked up with Robert (Dr Michael's nephew) and a few other local digger-deviants proudly displaying the new Diamond Head T-Shirt.. Becky was looking decidedly chic along with her mom ( Rachel) also in new DH shirts. Tor and Steve were still having teething problems with the rig..It was coming together slowly although somewhat behind schedule. Where they had to set up was not ideal and they managed to pull out a great sound.. After sound-check we were to eat in the tower and watch the X Brothers sound-check. We promptly left for the hotel when they kicked off with a Thin Lizzy tune which they had decided to add to their set. The city of Limerick was to hold special meaning for Eddie, this was his mother's birthplace and so a pilgrimage was to be under taken to find the house where she was born. Alas it no longer existed; however a few bevy's were downed by he and Andrew and the mood was set for Diamond Head to Rock the Castle. By the time we got back to the Castle the Castle Val and Pete were there along with Mike and Julie Lace. 'We're all gonna die' were close to finishing their set.. What a great bunch of Chaps.. If your into D-tuned heavy stuff, check'em out.. We were to get to know these guys later during some heavy drinking..
Up next were the X Brothers and they kicked off their set with "Jailbreak" we were not.. how can one put it, amused?? The weather had managed to stay rain free and we were psyching ourselves up to play... We had decided to play the same set as last night. The fans who had managed to make it down to the Castle were in fine fettle and the X Brothers had warmed them up with great renditions of Blue Oyster Cult classics-'Godzilla' and 'Don't fear the Reaper" It was a warm summer evening when we took the stage, the kind of evening that's used to advertise the beauty of Ireland in the TV adds. It's all true.. The City was slowly lighting up, the Castle was lit and the crowd was ready to be rocked.. Mars (our intro started to roll) we had the ceremonial band hug and we were good to go... I counted the band in and we were off again...Yee hah is what I was expecting however what was coming out of my drum monitor was nowhere near what I had set up in sound-check.. There was no guitar, a ridiculous amount of bass, no kick drum and when Nick came in with the first line of 'Mine all Mine' I was moved three inches to the right.. Immediately I shout for Andrew to tell the monitor guy what was happening. Needless to say my monitor was to have a show all of it's own... One minute no guitar- next minute to loud, Then no Vocals No drums, then the snare drum started to sound like a walrus honking on the beach... all I could do was laugh and enjoy the setting.. From where I was sitting the main tower was lit up and in full view, along with all the fans, totally awesome.. The band Steam rolled through the set and I was just to do the big bash at the end of Helpless when all the lights on the stage went off and stayed off. I was not amused "What the *&^%" and shouted something which managed to bring the lights up. Anyway this was to be all made clear after 'AM I Evil' Abbz and I Started. Dum, DumDumDumDum, DumDumDumDum, DumDumDumDumDumDumDumDumDum, Dum. Then Brian and Ed start their intro riff, the Castle erupted.. Brian took centre stage to play his intro solo the noise from the crowd was deafening. This was to be the final straw for city of Limerick.. By the time we had finished 'Am I Evil' the cops had come to kill the show.. Not only had we rocked the Castle we had Rolled the City of Limerick. That was it. No encores. All I can say to the people of Limerick is we will be back.. Thank you all those who rocked the castle with us. C Ya next year. After signing and photos we made our way back to the hotel where the heavy celebrating was to start..
This was to go on to the very late hours of the morning.. Large amounts of Vodka and Cranberry were being drunk by myself and the guys from 'We're all Gonna Die'. Jim, his brother Scott and Jesse. Also having a blast were the X Brothers..(Joe, Andy and Jimmy) Soloway ( Dave, Tony, Shane and Donal) and members of their family.. This was their home town show. Keep Rockin' Guys...
There was very much the feeling of friends at this after show bash and we we all waiting for Dr Michael to arrive at the hotel.. When he arrived we gave him the jolly good fellow cheer and thanked him; he had to sort out the local Guarda.. This historic day for us all would not have been possible without him. Thanks again Doc. It was 4.00 am when the soup I ordered finally arrived at my room; I ordered this at 2am. I was still on California time and had a severe case of the munches.. There was a knock on the door.. It was Abbz and Nick continuing Nick's interview for Nick Tart TV.. Abzz was video man and question master.. I was sitting at the table in my underpants eating Chicken soup at four in the morning answering questions for Nick TV.. What can one say. I had the munches and I was three sheets to the wind. Totally sublime. LOL It was 4.45a when the lights were finally dimmed in room 513 and after one final look at the city of Limerick it was time for bed. What a day!! Look out Galway here we come.. Peace from DHQ. |
