A little back and forth

Tuesday, June 18th

When I first started planning this European adventure I looked up one of my favorite bands, The Gaslight Anthem, to see if they were playing anywhere I was going to be. I found that they were playing in Dublin but I didn't think that I was going to be able to make Ireland work for various reasons. Then I sort of forgot about them playing.

Fast forward to when I've made most of my travel arrangements and booked places to stay and I remember that The Gaslight Anthem is playing in Dublin and I check to see when. Sure enough they are playing while I'm in Ireland but after I've planned to leave Dublin. But I can't pass up the chance to see them so I tell myself it's fine to go back and forth from Dublin to Cork for one night. And this is how I ended up on train between Dublin and Cork three times instead of just one time. I swear I really should hire a personal assistant. Someone else needs to be in charge of my life.

I didn't mind though because I got to see all my cow friends again. And I made some new friends on the train. This older couple sat across from me for the first part of the train ride back to Dublin. The husband made fun of me when he saw that I had two coke zeros in my bag. I should explain that in parts of Europe Coke is running a promotion to "share a Coke with friends". The promotion involves having names on the cans and bottles of Coke classic, diet Coke, and Coke Zero. It's been in Amsterdam, Ireland, and the UK but doesn't seem to be in Barcelona or Germany. Anyway, this promotion has sort of lead to me buying extra soda just for the name. This particular day I couldn't decide between Jessica or Eion. Because I have a friend named Jessica but Eion is not a name you see regularly.

My pulling out two bottles of soda caused the man to question me about having so much and what is coke zero exactly? I proceeded to converse with them about my travels etc. I thought that being in Ireland I would have no trouble with the language. I mean, they speak English. However, I had to ask him to repeat himself at least half a dozen times because his accent was so strong. At the stop where the couple got off a pair of guys took their place. One of them was from Texas and the other Irish. This time it was my Marks and Spencer salad and my neon green headphones (I found new ones in Dublin) that spurred the conversation.

I dropped my things of at the hostel and headed to the theater for my concert. The theater was in the Temple Bar area and it had three levels all of which had separate entrances. In order to enter the theater I had to go around the corner, down and alley and up some stairs. At first I thought I was the highest up but then I realized that there was another level stacked directly on top of us.

Tip #1 about attending concerts: bring ear plugs. No matter what at least one of the opening bands is far too loud and not very good. And simply not worth wasting your hearing on. I never remember this tip but maybe it will help you.

I judge bands by:

1. Their music.

2. Their drum kit. No plain bass drum, thank you very much.

3. ...

There really isn't anything else. Basically I care if the music is good. A band immediately gets extra cool points if they have an interesting drum kit. Walk the Moon, for instance, have brightly colored instruments and a drum that the lead singer plays in addition to the usually drum kit. If I was really good at identifying instruments I would know what kind of drum that other one is, but I don't know.

Moving on, The Gaslight Anthem got instant awesome points for their drum. Then when they started playing this banner unfurled behind them. Instantaneous love. The lead singer was funny and entertaining. Normally I want a band to just play as much as possible but he was really interesting and smart.

 

It seems that it's pretty standard for a band to do an encore these days. It's generally accepted that the first time they leave the stage isn't the end. Most of the concerts I've been to people just wait expectantly for the band to come back. They don't cheer or clap, they just wait. I've thought this was a little weird since I had always thought the encore wasn't something you're entitled to. I'd grown up thinking an encore happened if the crowd was really enthusiastic about liking the performance. Let me tell you, this crowd. This crowd knew how to let a band know they really wanted an encore. They were not quiet. They yelled and clapped and cheered. I thin at one point they were doing a drinking song or soccer chant. Then they started singing the chorus to one of the songs the band hadn't played yet over and over. It was amazing. The band came back and performed a few more songs which were fantastic. I loved the whole experience. Maybe the next concert I go to, I'll keep up the ruckus before the encore.