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2024-12-02 Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - The Academy, Dublin

Christmas came early this year for me.  Never did I think that  Me First and the Gimme Gimmes  would be playing Dublin, and never did I ever think I'd get to shoot one of their shows! Well, that all changed last week when they played the Academy in Dublin on a cold, damp, Monday night! I've been a fan since 1997, when one of the lads I worked with, brought in a copy of Have a Ball . It was love at first listen! I did manage to catch them live back in 2019 when they played the O2 Forum in Kentish Town , London, and it was every bit as good as I'd hoped, but it paled in comparison to Monday night in Dublin. So, how did it come about?  Well, back in 2013, I interviewed the band for a now defunct Irish website called Chunk.ie .  Over the years, I've stayed on their PR roster, so I took a chance and emailed my contact there.  Lo and behold, a few emails later and all was sorted, I was down to photograph the show. How was it?  Brilliant, amazing, fantastic,...

2024-02-02 Fuego Fatale - The Grand Social, Dublin

I kicked off the long weekend with a trip to Fuego Fatale in the Grand Social, Dublin.  Was there a better way to kick off the 3 day break?  I don't think so!

We started off the night with three different fire performers, Zephyr Circus, Maiya Mooo and Shannon.  I'd never scene a live fire performance before, so to get 3 of them, one after the other, was superb!  Would I stick a lit torch down my throat?  Hell no, but these ladies did, and they did it with apparent ease!




Zephyr




Maiya Mooo




Shannon
After the excitement of the fire performers, we moved inside to be entertained by two traditional burlesque performances from Scarlett VanTassel where she teased and tantalised as we awaited a glimpse of her tassels!  No photos of those here though, nope, you have to be a paying punter for that!

Zephyr then showed us all how to use not one, not two, not even three, but four hula-hoops all at once!  I got dizzy watching...  As a child, I couldn't even keep one hoop up!  Mind you, that might have had something to do with my love for KP Hula Hoops.

Next up on stage was Kerri, who treated us all to a wonderful pole routine.  I'm always in awe of pole dancers, the strength and agility needed to do what they do is insane, and yet, they make it look so easy.  Amazing.

Things got a little weird then...  Maizy Mooo was back on stage with an industrial staple gun and a deck of playing cards.  I think you can guess what happened next!  Along the way, Kerri was brought back to ably assist in attached some cards to Maizys bottom.  Just check out the photos!

The final performance of the night was from Shannon and her candles... Yes, you read that right, candles.  What do candles make?  Wax!  And that wax was used to "decorate" various parts of Shannon.  I have to say, it was an absolute delight to watch and it was a stunning finale to the night.

And that was that, my first ever Fuego Fatale was over and done with.  What a night, what a show!  Lets do it again!




Scarlett Van Tassel




Zephyr





Kerri




Maizy Mooo


Scarlett Van Tassle





Shannon

The Team!

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