It's become a bit of a tradition in my house to go see Paddy Casey in Whelan's at Christmas. Granted, these days, there's only me in my house, but that's a different story, so let's just ignore that! It's always a packed house in Whelan's for this gig, and the crowd are always in fine form, just looking to sing along and party.
Tonight was no different. I got there early enough and managed to snag a free parking spot outside Whelan's. As nights go, that was a great start. I headed inside, sat myself down and ordered a drink I find Whelan's a great place to people watch. The pub was packed, what with Paddy playing the main venue, and the fantastic Kiera Dignam playing Opium Live next door.
Anyway, it was gig time, so off I headed in to the show. If you go to enough gigs, you'll start to meet the same people, and, given that it's Christmas, everyone was in a chatty mood. I made new friends, saw old friends and met some strange folk who thought I was someone else, that was fun!
I'm not quite sure how long Paddy played for, but judging by the data on my photos, I took my first photo at 21:30 and my last at 23:53, so that's a good 2.5 hours of a set!
The set was peppered with all the fan favourites such as Livin, Sinnerman, Saints and Sinners, Sweet Suburban Sky, Want It, Can't Have It and also a few tracks from his latest album Turn This Ship Around, and, as in previous years, Paddy was joined on stage by the wonderful Shannon Gospel Choir for much of the show.
All in all, another great night in Whelan's! On to the photos:
