..And so it was on to New York City. After three trips through the Holland Tunnel, we finally made Manhattan, and got our asses into the indescribably cool ‘Bitter End’ venue in Greenwich Village. Here, we were playing a late night Friday with our great friends and awesome musicians, The Frank Stalloners. We were stoked to find lots of friends already there waiting for us, Claire Burke and her gang, Candice Bullock and her gang, and the unfailingly faithful Kathy Conlon, and the wonderfully drunk Deccy in tow. This was a brilliant start, and thanks so much, ladies, for your support!
The Bitter End, New York City.
The Amazing Frank Stalloners
The Stalloners hit the stage around midnight, and warned everyone we were coming along…we got a few beers into us, and jumped up on the wonderful stage about 1am, to a very enthusiastic crowd. Man, what a gig! We had lower Manhattan getting naked, worshipping Johnny Depp, and joining in in an enthusiastic rendition of what was to become the song of the trip, the briliant Rubber Bandits’ ‘Horse Outside’.
The Stalloners got back on the stage with us for the last set, and we had an almighty jam, with Aine and Danny vying for loudest, blusiest vocal. It was a super beginning to the New York visit, and a very memorable gig. Thanks so much, Matt, Danny and all the Stalloners, one of the best we’ve ever done!
Cheers Claire, Candice and Kathy! x
- Best gig so far!
That evening, we returned to home in Manhattan, which is always courtesy of the wonderful Donagher family- Roz, Patrick and Jameson. Roz had the sitting room of their to-die-for Manhattan apartment all ready for us (Roz, you are an angel!) and we had a bit of a sleep, and were up early next morning to perform at the ‘Get Real’ Festival on 18th Street. This craft beer & food festival – organised by the entrepeneurial genius that is Patrick, was jaw-droppingly brilliant – at noon on a Saturday, there was a hall full of people sampling craft beers, a great stage fpr musicians and a buzz that was unbelievable. Surfchixxx were introduced by the charming Chris Cuzme, who did a great job with the entertainment. So yes- we had a saturday afternoon gig in lower Manhattan with a selection of 100 beers available, great food and lovely people. Rock and Roll is tough!
Get Real Festival
Get Real, Saturday 1pm
We came back again to do a second show at 6pm, even more people, and more fun! We helped ourselves to a few of the tasty beers, and then scrambled back up to Rattle n Hum in midtown for our third gig of the day, a bar gig with the help of trad band ‘Divilment’. Once again, ‘Horse Outside’ stole the show, and not for the first time, or the last time in this blog, do we humbly thank the Rubber Bandits for writing the best song of the year.
Aine Belting it out at Get Real
Next morning, we had one more show at Get Real. After a startling breakfast of Drambuie and orange, and some spicy jumbalaya (As you do… far cry from the rashers and sausages…) we were up on stage again, to rock 18th street. Thanks to Juren for the great photo shoot, and once again to Chris, Paddy, Roz and the Get Real Crew for inviting us along.
The next gig, later that evening, was one we had been looking forward to for ages. We had a spot at the legendary ‘Arlene’s Grocery’, and in order to adequately prepare, we wandered over to visit guitar legend and bartender extrordinaire, Mr. Tom Clarke, who kindly produced one of his classic Bloody Marys to help us along. We got to Arlenes, and it was all we had hoped for and more – Kathy was there for us at the bar, the sound was perfect, and the extremely complimentary folks there recorded and videod the gig for us – we will post it up soon. We met more class musicians and musos, and had a great time.
Then Kathy introduced us to the Meatball Shop – yes, folks, a restuarant
Meatballs washed down with Tequila!
specialising in meatballs. Sounds a bit daft but OMG gorgeous! We celebrated our final night in New York, and 6 gigs in three days with much more food than we needed, washed down with plenty of wine. Ahhh…delicious!
Arlenes...soon to be on youtube...
New York, as always, you are unforgettable! Once more, thanks to Matt and the Stalloners, and best of luck with new ventures, thanks to Claire, Candice and Kathy, thanks to the amazing Patrick & Roz, thanks to the folks at The Bitter End and Arlene’s Grocery, to Juren, Cuzme, Joe Donagher, and all involved with Get Real and Rattle N Hum, and to the nice man on the tollbooth at the Holland Tunnel who didn’t charge us the second time!
Next stop…NEW JERSEY…and the fun goes on!
1 Comment(s)
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It was so great to see you ladies! Seeing you reminded me how much I’ve missed you! I felt like I was back at a pub in Ireland listening to you ladies sing! I’m not sure when I’ll be able to go back to Ireland but I hope it’s soon. If you come back to the states before I can go there you should book a gig somewhere in Raleigh, NC! There are several Irish Pubs I go to that I think you ladies would LOVE! I hope I get to see you again soon! Enjoy the rest of your trip!
Oh, I can’t stop singing “I have a Horse Outside”! My girls and I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!