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, just pick your own superlative! The stage was decked out like a winter wonderland and the band were in fine festive form. Oh, and for the curious, the line up tonight was Spike, CJ Ramone, Stacey Dee, Andrew Pinching, and Jake Kiley.
The setlist for the night was:
Jolene
Straight Up
Love Will Keep Us Together
Karma Chameleon
Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard
Dancing Queen
Don't Cry for Me Argentina
Riders in the Sky
Santa Baby
Country roads
Sloop John B
Estos celos
All My Loving
Nobody Does It Better
Good 4 u
Over the Rainbow
I Will Survive
Merry Xmas Everybody
I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time)
End of the Road
Feliz Navidad
