Hi, how are you?/Pixies gig/Dublin piss-up review

Hi, how are you?

Well, let's get the formalities out of the way.

My name is Connor Hutcheon, I'm 19 and I live in Derry in Northern ireland for some strange reason. I do the whole singer-songwriter thing, expect manys a plug and gig review of my own along the way.

You have been warned.

I wanted to set up a blog to tell folk about stuff, me brother does this to great effect so I thought why the fuck not? Eh?

My first post deals with the gig I went to last wednesday, which was a Pixies gig in the Olympia Theatre in Dublin.

There was a bit of difficulty first-off with getting a ticket for this gig as all 3 dates they were playing sold out in a matter of minutes. Imagine my suprise coming back from me ma's in the wilds of west Cork to find a totally ticketless universe.

I wasn't a happy bunny I can tell you.

I spent the summer asking and waiting and wandering and asking and waiting -and going to Leonard Cohen (brilliant, brilliant, brilliant) and The Swell Season (good night, good craic, good gig).

Anyhoo, I finally got a ticket and after much coersion of various members of my firends and aquaintances, so did me mate Brian, good man himself (the big Donegal hed on him).

I did a bit planning (both financial and logistical) before heading off so as not to make a complete touristy tit of meself and getting mugged or something. I met Brian on wednesday morning and we got the bus to Dublin, which was fairly uneventful, lots of looking at fields and crosswording it all the way up. When we got to Dublin we realised we had an insane amount of time before the gig so we had a wander to try and find the street the Olympia is on (Dame Street, incase you're interested), ending up getting a bit frustrated and deciding to find a pub, have a pint and a sit-down and have a look me da's Dublin street, so, after a daft amount of further wandering we found one that wasn't shut or a shithole, Slattery's on Capel Street (according to the menus a place where Christy Moore among many others played over and over and over again).
We had a look at the aul map and found that we had been essentially walking the direction but in the wrong way, or something stupid like that, and after a few pint of shtout we headed off to Dame Street and infamy. We found when we got there that we still had oodles of time left so we settled our sight s on a lovely, tiny pub called Brogan's up the street from the Olympia for a comfy chair, a good chat and the best pints of Guinness I've ever (and prbably will ever) drunk. Lovely.

As the pub started to fill with excited indie-rocker types we knew we were in the right place. we heard that the band were on at 8:45 (no support that night) so we drank and chatted and drank until half 8 and headed to the gig. The Olympia is a lovely, lovely venue with loads of really cool pictures on the walls of various gigs that have taken place there which looked great.

There was time for another pint and then we headed to the venue bit and waited. Then the lights went down and the band came onstage to mighty roars from an already ecstatic crowd, for most of us this was our first Pixies gig experience and we were going to bloody well enjoy it. They were playing the 'Doolittle' album and all B-sides therein and started off with 'Dance the Manta Ray', where I had a similar experience to when me and me brother went to The Smashing Pumpkins in Belfast of going "Oh my god, that's Black Francis singinig! That's his voice!" after years of wanting and wishing and waiting I was finally, FINALLY at a Pixies gig!!!!

They then played 'Wierd at My School', followed by 'Manta Ray' (probably my favourite Pixies song), which was followed by 'Bailey's Walk' (probably my least favourite Pixies song). Then a few tense seconds before Kim Deal's bass announced 'Debaser', and from then on it was screaming and jumping and sweating (lots of sweating) and shit-easting grins all-round. They ploughed through the album with amazing energy and vigour. I had forgotten the order of the album as I had decided not to listen to it before I went so everything came as a suprise, and a very pleasant one at that. They were all there, 'Monkey Gone To Heaven', 'Wave of Mutilation', 'Hey', and, my personal favourite, 'Gouge Away'. They played and sang perfectly, the screams, thrashing guitar, crashing drums, thumping bass and occasional heartbreaking harmonies were all there and more besides. Myslf and Brian seemed to get thrown together with other guys who seemed as up for the whole thing as I was, whereas Brian seemed transfixed, eyes on the stage (well, he was coming off swine flu). The album ended, they left and came back and did 'Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf Version) and 'Into the White', then left for good, though we all wanted more we knew they were finished, the light and music came on and we were outside, sweaty and ecstatic and knackered.

I rang me mate Scruff who we were staying with while in town and we headed off to Doyle's (where me and me brother enjoyed post-Dylan pints with the very same man a few months before), but before going in totally the wrong direction round Trinity and having to retrace our steps, not fun.

We made it to Doyle's and had a few Smithwickses with Scruff, who, being a Donegal man, got on famously with Brian, while I sat smiling, supping and ogling lovley studenty Dub ladies (it turned out to be Freshers week, shows what I know). After a few pints and a laugh to come down from the gig we went to Scruff's flat, who promptly got the guitar and we drunkenly serenaded each other until we realised there was someone elase in the house trying to sleep and so we should stop.

I woke up miraculously hangoverless and me and Brian walked through Dulin on a lovely morning to get the bus, which we did, Frames bootlegs and 'American Psycho' for me, sleep for Brian. we got to Derry and went our separate ways.

Great day, great time, great gig, great craic.

Roll on Josh Ritter in Belfast on Sunday week!

Cheers